State of the Nation

Perplexing photographs of senior citizens baking in the hot tropic sun while waiting for COVID 19 vaccines that never arrive provides just another painful expression of how an administration can shoot itself in the foot despite its best intentions.

While there may be justifiable argument to show that “No one is to blame”, such excuses ring hollow for citizens who have been faithfully following every rule during this distressing “lock down” where deprivations that were once thought to be trite and harmless are proving to be of serious consequence to an unprepared nation.

Vaulting ambition recently came to a screeching halt when Acting Police Inspector Mark Hernandez was charged for misbehavior in public office recently. Hernandez was appointed head of SORT (Special Operations Response Team)  by Police Commissioner Gary Griffith a few short months after he himself had assumed his exalted position.

That these two “Red Men” seemed to enjoy a special kind of synergy in the black-dominated TTPS, was evident in what Hernandez was attributed as saying when he was charged.

In this connection, the  46-year old aspiring DCP was reported as expressing hope that the SORT unit, established by Police Commissioner Gary Griffith, would not be tainted by him (Hernandez) being charged.

As Trinidad and Tobago’s tired  Prime Minister  Dr. Keith Rowley looks for someone to replace deceased Energy Minister  Franklin Khan, it’s obvious how weak the government front bench really is.

Besides Rowley himself, the only one left to stoutly defend the besieged Balisier-entwined democratic republic is Works Minister Colm Imbert, a veteran who ranks high in political experience but low in people appeal.

Most genuine Trinis would have by now said a quiet prayer for  Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley who was recently tested Positive for Covid- 19. However, it’s not surprising that some of our yellow-hearted citizens could still find room and time to deal a few mal-intentioned jabs at our beloved “Tobago Ah we Boy”.

“I hear Rowley dying”, my east Indian tailor mournfully chimes in oxymoronic tones that ring of gratitude and optimism, as he takes measurements for my order. As disappointing as it is, this is the kind of naysaying and negativity which the populace has to deal with even as we keep plodding towards a future filled with possibilities of progress and prosperity on the cutting edge of destiny.

One of the more obvious developments arising out of the Tobago House of Assembly elections over the past few months was the manner in which Prime Minister Keith Rowley exhibited a consciousness that this would probably be his last term in political life.

Already displaying the effects from the recent cuff to the solar plexus received from his recent heart condition, the usually enthusiastic Tobago Ah Wee Boy was less than jocular and more than sombre as he presided on a few occasions at the various meetings which would decide if his PNM would be put in power again.

As the colonial sky caves in from the accumulated weight of lies and deceit with which it has been historically branded to maintain the illusion of superiority over the dumb and innocent, the serfs remain timid about taking their freedom.

Men whose voices turned to whispers under the yoke of slavery now peep surreptitiously through the bars of their self-imposed comfort zones which they call home.

What is the root cause of this tragedy where strong black men now stand limp with mighty phalluses hanging loose in a bag of uncertainty? The eagle has forgotten how to fly. The lion is now a vegetarian.

He said that a PNM in Trinidad and a PNM Administration in Tobago “has afforded the kind of development that has never been seen in the history of Tobago.”

Evidence that the political windmill continues to tilt in favour of the PM who weathered the COVID 19 storm and kept public sector workers well pampered, was seen in the last General  Election campaign when the PNM brought two seats comfortably home.

“What lies in store for us now?”, Rowley is being asked by the same public servants who are no longer prepared to blame the COVID 19 pandemic for an economy teetering on the brink.

As Trinidad and Tobago circles off the brink into a fresh life-cycle hologram of consciousness, she finds herself confronted with the challenge of owning a new mind-set and summoning hitherto underutilized resources to best facilitate the creation of a future.

The Proposition

A toxic cocktail involving low energy prices laced with reduced production forecasts has left Trinidad and Tobago in an economic tail spin with decision-makers running helter-skelter in a desperate effort to stop Chinua Achebe’s proverbial  “things” from falling apart.

The announcement by international oil giant bpTT that it will soon cut 25 per cent of its work force here has only rubbed salt in the wounds of a country which has been bravely weathering the storms of COVID 19 and growing social discontent. 

Speaking to Ira Mathur in an exclusive Guardian Media interview at Whitehall, Port-of-Spain, Rowley told of the impending job loss at the country’s largest natural gas producer when asked about how COVID-19 had affected this country’s economy.

It’s about five o’clock in the morning and you can see the golden sun rising in the west where DeeKay is singing a bhajan to Mother Lakshmi to send him money and to keep his job secure at the city council.

For today is the day Deekay looks forward to every month end when by nine o’clock, after taking a number of his elderly clients to the bank, he will be loaded with the bulk of their old age pension cheques.

Having done this for years, DK has accumulated tons of cash but not enough class for his empty legacy at the Royal bank where people still call him “The Indian Shark” and recall the story of  how his sister was nearly raped by a close relative when she was small.