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Arrest of Panday a shameless PNM ploy
THE
arrest of Basdeo Panday on Tuesday was yet another chapter
in the tragedy that is T&T’s politics.
The fact that a former Prime Minister, now Leader of the Opposition,
four years on from vacating the highest political office of
the land, is still being charged with criminal offences allegedly
committed while in office is a troubling indictment of his
tenure as Prime Minister as well as the state of political
play in T&T today.
The objective eye cannot overlook the timing and method adopted
by the police in the execution of the warrant for arrest.
My information is that the files pertaining to this particular
arrest were sitting on the desk of the DPP for some time previously.
Therefore, one can only speculate that the DPP, acting on
the advice of the Attorney General, awaited the most appropriate
time to issue and supervise the execution of the said warrant
for arrest.
The arrest seemed to have been timed to create the most embarrassment
to the Leader of the Opposition, since it coincided with an
official visit from the Speaker of the Indian House of Representatives
and other officials of the Indian Parliament to Mr Panday’s
office.
There is no doubt that Mr Panday is a symbol of strength (though
dwindling) to the East Indian community in T&T, a community
that has been under tremendous pressure from the perceived
largely Afro-based PNM Government since it was handed the
reins of power by former President Robinson in rather dubious
constitutional circumstances in 2001.
Because of the polarisation of T&T’s politics, the
PNM believes that it gains ground by taking the wind out of
the East Indians’ sails at every opportune time. This
has led to a feeling of distrust and persecution by the East
Indian community and is counter productive to the development
of the nation.
The way in which the arrest was conducted would appear to
be yet another example of the political one-up-manship practised
by this Government at the expense of the psyche of the East
Indians in the community and the country’s international
image.
In addition, the arrest came at a time when accusations of
governmental corruption, impotence in dealing with the spiralling
crime rate and announcement of the construction of an $850
million stadium to host a few warm-up cricket matches in the
2007 Cricket World Cup were stifling the PNM Government.
As such, this arrest will not and cannot be seen as anything
more than a shameless political manoeuvre by the PNM Government
regardless of the merits of the case.
Mr Panday, on the other hand, by refusing bail and as misguided
as it may seem, will try to make a martyr of himself as a
result of the situation.
Unfortunately, this kind of politics does little to benefit
the ordinary citizens, whether Indo or Afro, but will certainly
continue to dominate the political culture of T&T unless
there is a shift from the politics of ethnicity and religion.
GARVIN NICHOLAS
Light
up, upgrade grounds with $850m
The
PNM Government has already insulted the cricket-loving public
by negotiating the negligible “Brown Package” for
Trinidad for the Cricket World Cup 2007. Now to add further
insult to injury, they are going to use $850 million of our
taxpayers’ money to build a cricket stadium they say
will meet the contractual requirements.
Well, my people, $850 million to get the “Brown Package”!
How ludicrous! Is someone insane? Mind you, we already have
five beautiful stadia. Can’t the Government just help
to upgrade the Queen’s Park Oval for these practice and
preliminary matches?
The Government’s defence is that it will help the fight
against crime and keep the youth off the streets. What a big
joke! Is Tarouba a high crime area? I thought from reports
that the worst affected areas were Laventille, Morvant, Cocorite,
etc.
My humble suggestion to the Government is if they want to
use sports to make a dent in crime, use the $850 million to
floodlight and upgrade every single recreation ground in T&T.
Many of the youth have nothing to do after 6 pm when they
get in from school or work except lime on the blocks at night.
Their excuse to the football, cricket, basketball and athletic
clubs is that they get home late from work or school due to
traffic, hence the reason they cannot train. With night facilities
for training, team sports and track and field, there would
be a great revolution in sports achievement in the country.
Could you imagine night facilities at grounds like Carenage,
Diego Martin, Queen’s Park Savannah, Barataria, Aranguez,
Curepe, Constantine Park, Tacarigua, Sangre Grande and all
over the country?
Come on Government, drop it and take my tip.
ROLF O BARTOLO
Diego Martin
Agony
of crimes against children
In
these days of national agony, as our sense of our security
is vanishing in the flames and smoke of anticipated violence,
many of us wonder what—and how much—to say to our
children.
The very shocking nature of the multi-pronged attack on our
children in Trinidad makes it all the more crucial for moms
and dads to find the right words, and the right way to communicate
a message of safety and family security.
I am urging and pleading with all parents, grandparents, guardians
and caregivers to please look after your children. Being a
parent is a real sacrifice.
The parents of Neisha Seeratan are among the lucky ones to
have had their child return to them in one piece. Not many
parents are given the chance to experience the return of their
child safely home. My plea also goes out to the parents of
the ones doing these grisly acts. As we can all see, it’s
our own nation’s children—they are the offenders.
Criminals aged from 16, 17 and barely 18 years are what our
society has within it.
As the older heads in our society, parents need to devote
more time to their children; for they comprise our future
generation.
I am not a parent, but as I watch the news, or turn on my
radio while driving to work, it hurts my heart to learn about
what our nation’s society is inflicting on our children.
I’m sure I can only begin to imagine what a parent can
feel to have their child ripped away from their lives by irrepressible
crime.
I am also asking the Government to please take some action
and put in place whatever is necessary to stop the assault
on our children.
To the parents of Radha Pickie Lakhan and all others experiencing
immense grief as a result of this country’s sordid crime
era, my prayers are with you and your families.
N George
South Trinidad
House
hunting? Read contracts carefully
I
wish to tell unsuspecting property buyers to make sure they
read their contracts carefully and totally before signing
so they would not end up like me.
My story began in July 2003. There was an advertisement in
the newspapers “Gated community, Central Trinidad”,
etc. Thinking it was time I owned a home, I made the biggest
mistake of my life.
I signed all documents in December 2003, but up to this day,
my so-called beautiful home still stands at the foundation
stage and the so-called developers keep on making promises
of “two months” everytime I call to inquire about
status of the project.
Now they have become so brazen as to tell me, “if you
want back your deposit, just send in the request in writing.”
Today, this project is on the backburner while the developers
work on another project elsewhere.
M GREENIDGE
via e-mail
Don’t
blame Sonia for your plight!
After
watching the news and seeing all the distressed Trinidadians
at the port in Tobago, some questions came to my mind.
Why did these Trinidadians wait until the last minute to return
home to catch work for Tuesday morning? I mean, after all,
you have to work and most likely you were in Tobago since
the previous Thursday—so how much sun, sand and sea do
you need?
If you all were serious about it, you would have organised
yourself and be back in Trinidad on Monday morning for the
latest. It is almost child abuse when you persistently make
children remain in Tobago half-tired, to later march them
off to school after an exhausting day battling with people
on the port.
Trinidadians must realise that this “contact” thing
is not working out because there were many honest people wanting
to return home and thanks to your “contacts” you
made them late and kept the whole boat back. Don’t blame
Sonia, blame yourself!
UWI STUDENT
Westmoorings
Nothing
will come of this farce, smokescreen
It
would be remiss of me if I did not express the utter shame
that it is to be a Trinidadian at this time.
I have no beef with Patrick nor Basdeo; in fact, I am sure
they really are concerned about my welfare as I am about theirs.
What is really going on here?
Firstly, the person who initiated the inquiry to the Piarco
scandal should be jailed! How has that benefited the population?
Who paid for it?
Millions of dollars have gone down the drain year after year.
People are being arrested, charges have been laid and to date
no one is being punished.
This was just sensationalism on the part of Government to
feed a bacchanal-loving populace.
There was a live television broadcast, “he say”
this and “she say” that! Just how we like it!
Now the Opposition Leader is arrested. So what!
How long have the others been arrested? What is happening
there? Has there been any progress with regards to righting
the wrong that is being investigated?
As far as I see, no. But now more honey in the pot to feed
the followers of the PNM and the detractors of the UNC! Arrest
a few more.
The only thing I see coming out of this is another ten-day
wonder until something else catches our attention.
Why is this tactic of distraction being employed? Frankly,
I don’t care anymore. There are other more important
things to deal with such as the murders, robberies and existing
corruption that is wining on the Treasury like a jamette on
George Street!
Could the Government get a clue and actually function in the
capacity for which they were put there? As far as I see, this
whole thing is a farce, a smokescreen and nothing will come
out of it. If anything does, really, will that make me sleep
safer at night?
The murders will decrease because as we all know, the bandits
will be very afraid now that the Government has caught the
UNC big thief. All robbers would run to bury their guns because
they know that the Government means business. After all, after
the Opposition, who else is there to arrest?
We are now in a worse-off position, yet we find time to idle.
I hope Panday gets a speedy trial due to his high profile.
This case must be handled efficiently so that real issues
can be dealt with. And after seeing that, I will wake up!
RYAN MARTINEZ
Gasparillo
Govt
initiative to waste our money
Has
T&T entered the Twilight Zone? The fact that Government
can put out $850 million to build a cricket stadium and then
promptly call an emergency press conference to defend its
construction after a cry of “foul” by the business
community leaves me bemused.
And then to say that it will “curb crime”, “create
jobs” and “we have no choice” should send a
clear message to our people that this current administration
has no clue about the present serious issues confronting our
nation or us as its inhabitants.
This foolishness must not be tolerated like we tolerated the
“Miss Universe Windfall”, U-17 World Cup two-week
wonder, $1.5 billion airport, et al.
To allow it, is to allow the continued abuse of all citizens.
We need first to fully utilise the five stadia already built,
together with the numerous youth facilities, sports grounds
and other cricket grounds, etc before building yet another
sporting facility on a dream of “for youth development”.
Can Government indicate how the current stadia have been used
since the completion of the U-17 tourney and how many youths
have benefited from the many social/education programmes that
I presume are going on there?
And since Government may say that was the last government’s
initiative, what has Minister Boynes done in the last two
years with them in terms of social/educational outreach programmes
for young people?
It is an insult to continue to abuse the Trinbagonian citizen
and waste his money with such initiatives. And if this money
is not taking away from the National Security Ministry’s
budget or any other ministry’s for that matter (education,
health, community development or social development, etc),
it is certainly taking away from the NGO community, who still
do the majority of the effective social service delivery in
T&T.
For all the YMCA has been doing over the years, our annual
government subvention is still only TT$82,000 for Youth Outreach,
plus a further $30,000 for general administration, etc.
And with an annual budget of over $2 million to manage a multitude
of youth programmes, we would welcome some of that $850 million
so we could improve and expand our service delivery.
This stadium project must not be allowed to materialise!
GREGORY SLOANE-SEALE
National Youth Outreach Director
YMCA of T&T
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