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Give police more power
I
THINK the government and the Police Service are not solely
responsible for the present crime situation in the country.
In the same breath I say the government and police are the
ones responsible for solving or abating the situation.
The latter is being paid to preserve law and order and the
government is elected to serve the people. It has been given
the mandate to make laws and make decisions to enhance the
livelihood and welfare of the citizens.
If citizens should decide to take the law in their own hands,
the same government and the police would be the ones to suppress
their actions.
Combined, they have to be more diligent and serious about
crime. They must not let fear or intimidation deter them from
performing their duties.
There are a lot of things that can be done to curb the situation.
The criminals know that the government is weak and indecisive
so they run rampant in the country.
Hence, the government must quickly implement strong anti-crime
laws and give the police more power to do their jobs.
The public must also allow the police to do their jobs and
not cry police brutality when extra force is used.
The public can’t have it both ways—they either want
firm police action and protection or they don’t.
I think the onus is on the government and the police to solve
and curb crime in the country.
A wise man once said “To whom much is given much is required.”
Valentine
Young
Brooklyn, New York
Stop piracy with cheaper CDs
The
problem of music piracy has been increasingly in the limelight
recently both locally (soca artistes vs roadside pirates)
and abroad (recording industry vs Internet file sharing community).
Despite the best efforts of Cott on the heels of Carnival
2005, I fear that piracy will only escalate.
Technology is advancing at a blinding rate. The number of
computers at homes has grown significantly and it is very
easy to find and copy local music on-line. Clearly, action
is required but what the action should be is the million question.
The average person knows that the problem in our society is
not the lack of laws, fines etc but is one of enforcement.
However, Cott and the soca community continue pushing for
more laws and heavier fines for soca pirates.
While I believe tougher legislation is required, I do not
think that this is getting at the root of piracy.
People seem to have a very short memory. Before we ever had
CDs we had records and cassette. I recall that a record or
a cassette tape use to sell for around $40. Back then there
was piracy, to some extent, but not the levels we see today.
With the advent of the CD we saw prices jump up from the $40
to a hard-to-swallow $120. The reason? At the time we were
led to believe that it was significantly more expensive to
make a CD. As we now know, it is cheaper to make a CD than
a record, or even a cassette.
My suggestion: drop prices of soca CDs.
I only own one soca CD. It is more or less all I can afford
on my limited budget, however, if they dropped the price from
$120 to a more reasonable $50 or even $60, I can say without
hesitation that I would buy at least five CDs today.
If we also consider that the average roadside pirate sells
a CD for $40, I am sure that nine out of ten people would
rather spend an extra $20 to get the superior packaging and
quality assurance that comes with an original CD.
My plea: make the music affordable. Cheaper CDs mean more
people can enjoy the music. Isn’t that what it should
be about?
D
Ali
San Fernando
Heavy
vehicles causing traffic jam
I
TRAVEL the roads of Trinidad on a daily basis and, like most
motorists, have observed how severe our traffic problem have
become.
I have also read a lot that has been said about this issue
by various politicians, technocrats and citizens. However,
no one has commented on what appears to me to be a, if not
the, major problem affecting the free flow of traffic on the
roads, particularly the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway, namely
the total lack of lane discipline by heavy vehicles.
It is the rule, rather than exception, to find two and even
three heavy vehicles lumbering along in different lanes more
or less abreast, causing traffic to slow down and inducing
the frustrated drivers of other vehicles to weave from lane
to lane to make any headway. This is something you never see
on highways abroad.
Presumably, the drivers of these heavy vehicles must have,
at some stage, taken a regulations test and know that a heavy
vehicle is supposed to remain in the left lane on the highway.
So must the highway patrol, but rather than addressing this
problem, they concentrate their efforts on lying in wait to
prosecute the unfortunate motorists forced to overtake on
the left.
Although this problem may be just another manifestation of
the problems of selfishness and indiscipline crippling the
country, it may also be due to the lack of vertical separation
of turning traffic (overpasses) at the major intersections
on the highway system.
In this context, if a truck east-bound from Port-of-Spain
on the CR Highway was to confine itself to the left lane,
it would be impossible for it to get into the position necessary
to make a right turn at the El Socorro, Uriah Butler Highway
or Curepe intersections, without migrating across several
lanes of traffic at the last minute, posing a moving hazard.
As overpasses are unlikely to be constructed in the near future,
it is incumbent on the highways division to come up with a
solution to this problem that involves thinking outside the
box.
As unconventional as it may be, the answer could be to confine
all heavy vehicles east-bound out of PoS on the C-R Highway
to the two lanes on either side of the carriageway.
Trucks turning right between PoS and the Uriah Butler Highway
intersection could be confined to the right lane and trucks
travelling to points further east could be confined to the
left lane.
The central lanes would then be free to accommodate the free
flow of cars, maxi-taxis and light-T vehicles.
The present works programme, designed to add more lanes to
the C-R Highway, will do little to relieve traffic congestion
unless the problem posed by the mingling of heavy vehicles
and other traffic is addressed.
John
Smith
Carenege
Keep culprits off the roads
If
we can take all the following drivers and vehicles off the
public highway, we could significantly reduce road accident
causalities —a responsibility we all share:
Drivers without a driving permit and insurance
Drivers with expired driving permit and or insurance
Drivers under the influence of alcohol and or drugs (unfit
to drive)
Drivers with poor vision (unable to read a vehicle number-plate
from a distance of six car lengths)
PH drivers (no insurance cover for hire)
Vehicles which are a danger or potential danger because of
their condition—from overloading to defective brakes,
lights, steering and tyres. (Not road worthy)
Consideration should be given to increasing the renewal of
permits from three years to ten years. Notices should be sent
to permit holder one month before the expiry date.
Failure to comply with road laws would lead to your vehicle
being confiscated. This could reduce the volume of traffic
on the public highway by 20 per cent or more.
LB
Hunte
Diego Martin
Baptists should say thanks to Bas
Shouter
Baptists are an ungrateful, thankless bunch.
For decades they were restrained by the PNM until the UNC
came into power and they were finally given a holiday and
land.
Yet once again they have absolutely refused to acknowledge
the man who uplifted them—Basdeo Panday.
Kavita
Jugmohan
via e-mail
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