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Blaming UNC ludicrous, Khan
Works
and Transport Minister Franklin Khan’s accusation that
“UNC corporations were abdicating their responsibilities
towards infrastructure maintenance” in Penal, Debe and
surrounding areas is ludicrous.
Such a pathetic falsehood must be seen as a miserable fig
leaf to cover the disregard for quality local government in
UNC-controlled districts. And as we the nation have come to
know, next to Jarette Narine there is none more given to blaming
the UNC for the PNM’s failures.
In addition, this should be seen as a slap in the face for
the Penal/Debe Regional Corporation who hosted the Prime Minister,
the Works Minister and their entourage in earnest sincerity,
minus any political recriminations.
How shameful and shameless of Khan to say that regional corporations
were not doing their best. If he had been following news coverage
of the flooding, he might have gotten an education and learnt
that it was in fact his government that had contributed to
the flooding by closing down Caroni (1975) Ltd.
As we know, Caroni had looked after much of the waterways,
drains and so on in these areas, and post-closure everything
had just been left in abeyance.
He should also know better, since the dredging of major rivers
usually falls within the budget of the Ministry of Works.
Indeed, the issue of budgetary allocations has always been
one of contention, since it is no secret that not enough money
is ever made available to UNC corporations.
Instead, money is gleefully chopped from their budgets to
fund Cepep contracts to known PNM supporters, thereby inducing
UNC members who have no other employment to support the PNM
for “a bread and butter.”
However, it makes me reflect on the flooding frequency in
downtown PoS. Every time it rains, the East Dry River overflows
and there are floods throughout. I remember only recently
there was a river outside the NHA, yet you never hear Khan
blaming the PoS Corporation, lest he upsets Mayor Murchison
Brown.
Did the UNC cause the flooding in Tobago as well? And what
of the Mammoral Dam that the Government allocated funds for
in the 2003 budget which was supposed to bring much relief?
I am so sick of hearing the PNM try to pin blame for its incompetence
on the UNC.
Lystra Marajh
ystra40_@hotmail.com
Indian judges not good enough?
As
we stutter and splutter towards abolishing the Privy Council
and replacing it with the Caribbean Court of Justice, it seems
as if the false starts will never end.
The inauguration has been “adjourned” and postponed
so many times now that most people have lost count, if not
interest.
Some of the more important countries have not even passed
the necessary legislation to date, including T&T, where
the court is located.
The Government’s strategy of creating and funding the
court and appointing judges to put pressure on the UNC when
it does table the necessary legislation in Parliament is naive.
When Panday digs his heels in, nothing and no one can move
him.
The ordinary man in the street has never been consulted on
this major change and the possibility of a referendum is nil.
To top it off, six judges have been appointed but not a single
one is of Indian origin.
I wonder how Manning expects Indians in Guyana and T&T
to feel? Is this how they hope to purchase their support and
“buy in?”
Surely there are Indian judges in the region who merited appointment
(Sat Sharma, Anthony Lucky, Wendell Kangaloo, Mustapha Ibrahim,
to name a few).
By excluding Indian judges from this initial crop of CCJ judges,
Caricom has sent the wrong signal to the Indo-Caribbean community.
Such thoughtless actions will only increase the worry and
suspicion that they will be ignored and marginalised while
an African-Caribbean judicial elite is created.
Justice must not only be done but must also appear to be done!
Dianne Kistow
diannekistow@yahoo.com
CDAP
no cash cow for pharmacies
I
have observed with great interest recent comments suggesting
that CDAP (Chronic Disease Assistance Programme) is a virtual
economic cash cow for private pharmacies.
Others have opined that the programme is corrupt. Fifty eight
per cent of those polled by the UWI/Ansa McAl Research Centre
thought so.
These conclusions are based on public perception and misconceptions
rather than fact, as the economics suggest otherwise.
The programme was initially introduced as a pilot project
in February, 2003. It was expanded in March, and again in
November in the Budget Speech.
Prior to the programmer’s expansion, the Commission earned
from CDAP could have paid a pharmacy assistant at minimum
wage.
While an expanded programme means increased commissions, this
must be assessed in the context of decreased profitability
due to decreased sales of CDAP drugs coupled with increased
upgrade expenses—the need for computerisation and hiring
of additional pharmacy staff.
In addition to its economic benefit, since drugs are dispensed
free of charge to patients there is also a social component:
the waiting time at a major hospital dispensary is five hours,
compared to five minutes in a private pharmacy.
This comparison is not exaggerated but is the result of work
and time measurement studies conducted at the dispensary of
a major public hospital.
In an expanded CDAP programme, the private pharmacies are
more fluid and responsive to the needs of the clients they
serve and a reasonable and practical patient waiting time
can be maintained.
CDAP in its original form was discriminatory on two counts.
Firstly, it discriminated on the basis of age. The vast majority
of working class patients age 18 to 60 who contributed to
the programme in terms of taxation were not beneficiaries
of the programme. However, the expanded programme announced
in the budget removed the age barrier.
Secondly, CDAP is a cocktail of 35 generic drugs covering
eight therapeutic classes. It therefore limits the doctor’s
choice of first-line treatment. It is viewed as a precursor
to the National Health Insurance System and for this reason
it has received temporary acceptance in the pharmacy fraternity.
It will always be a pilot project irrespective of its expansion.
There is however a glimmer of hope with the recent announcement
by the Minister of Health that a compulsory NHIS was on the
horizon for 2006. One will recall that this was the brainchild
of John Eckstein way back in 1991.
Successive governments failed to grasp the concepts, benefits
and opportunities that the NHIS can present. It’s implementation
was not politically prudent since it involves the unpopular
executive decision of increased taxation.
The NHIS was conceptualised by a past government and its successful
implementation will depend on the present Government. The
political will must prevail above all odds.
The health sector is ailing. The prognosis is poor. We cannot
survive beyond 2006. We are a nation waiting to exhale.
Kenrick B Cumberbatch
Retired Public Sector Pharmacist
Arima
Flooding will only get worse
Climate
changes are currently occurring at an incredible pace. The
effects of it are being felt all across Trinidad and the rest
of the world.
The polar ice-caps are melting much faster than expected,
raising the level of water in the oceans. Hurricanes, floods
and earthquakes are going to be the “new norm” in
the near future.
Flooding could affect Trinidad as it affected Venezuela in
December 1999. Then, Venezuela experienced the heaviest rainfall
in recorded history, resulting in massive landslides and flooding
that killed approximately 30,000 people.
Total December rainfall in Maiquetia, near Caracas, was almost
four feet (1.2 m), more than five times the previous December
record.
The high death toll was attributed to population growth in
vulnerable areas and forest clearing on steep hill slopes.
The next 50 years will mean a much different Trinidad with
a rapidly receding coastline. It will take a wise government
to stop the onslaught of the sea by building sea walls in
the most vulnerable areas. This may not happen since the Government’s
modus operandi seems to be building more houses and focusing
less on the important factors facing the nation.
Flooding will only increase with the Nariva, Oropouche and
Caroni Swamps becoming flood plains. People who are living
in those areas should sell (while they can) and move to higher
ground.
It may seem a bit premature but logically no one has any control
over the rain and flooding, even the mighty PNM.
Khem Harrinarine
khem37@yahoo.com
Drivers ignoring Maraval stop sign
This
is a plea to the responsible authorities to please do something
to educate citizens who drive in Maraval.
It is also a plea to enforce a simple traffic signal that
is often ignored and could eventually lead to serious injury
or even death at a Maraval intersection.
The intersection in question is where Long Circular Road ends
and joins Saddle Road. There is a stop sign at the end of
Long Circular Road that either motorists do not see or simply
choose to ignore. This is especially so on work-day mornings.
If you are driving towards Port-of-Spain along Saddle Road
and reach this intersection, cars zoom into your path from
Long Circular Road, not even braking for the stop sign.
Please address this situation urgently.
Dr Nigel Camacho
Maraval
No one cares - and that is that
DR
Wahid Ali was mugged and that was that. Ellis Clarke was mugged,
the bandits are serving time in jail and that is that.
PNM’s Rowley has been accused of assaulting a UNC member
of Parliament, the DPP says that no useful purpose would be
served to prosecute Rowley and that is that.
One hundred and eight million dollars missing from the NWRHA
and that is that. Money missing from the THA and that is that.
Shameful cost overruns on the airport runway and that is that.
PNM fanatics given millions of taxpayers’ money as entrepreneurs
and that is that. PNM people given taxpayers’ money to
repair their houses and are not required to repay it and that
is that.
People who in any other country will be called treasonists,
murderers, kidnappers and a menace to society enjoying the
undivided attention of high-ranking governmental officials
plus lucrative contracts and that is that.
And now the PNM youth officer who is reported to be a pastor
carrying a pistol, was made to cry like a baby, was robbed
by a gun-toting bandit, and was humiliated in front of his
wife and friends, I wonder if that will be that?
Lystra Lythe
Sangre Grande
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