Contempt
for Parliament again
It
is clear that the concerns, first expressed by a small group
of local residents, over the proposed aluminium smelters,
in the still tranquil and pristine southwest corner of Trinidad,
are now receiving national attention.
As a result of the increasing apprehension and questions
raised by citizens, the Joint Select Committee of Parliament
chaired by Senator Mary King sought to have the principals
involved in the project(s) appear before the committee.
Had this meeting taken place as envisaged, the country would
have been much better informed over the many troubling issues
surrounding the project(s).
But this was not to be. For one reason or another, the three
most important men involved in the deeply troubling smelter
project(s) found it inconvenient, or perhaps unworthy of
their time, to appear before the committee. Whether there
were more sinister reasons for their non-attendance is left
to the imagination.
I would like to remind Senator King, however, that 20 years
ago, when I chaired a similar committee—The Public
Accounts (Enterprises) Committee—one of the men, Prof
Ken Julien, was to appear before the committee but never
did so. At the time, the committee was investigating a state
enterprise in which he was a principal.
His non-appearance before the committee appeared to have
the full backing of the government of the day. I would be
quite surprised, Senator King, if the same were not true
today.
In this regard, I take the concerns expressed by government
members of the JSC as nothing less than attempts to stymie
its work. It is reported that Rep Bereaux has chastised
you for improperly convening the meeting in question without
the input of committee members. Is this a rouse designed
to give comfort and protection to the absent executives
while belittling the chair and undermining the committee?
Bereaux’s demand to be treated with respect must also
apply with equal force to the respect that he and his government
must show to the people of the southwest peninsular, and
indeed the citizens of the entire country.
Once again we witness the Parliament being treated with
contempt. Has the sanctioned contempt of 20 years ago contributed
to the crime and corruption of today? This too is something
upon which our people must ponder.
Lincoln
Myers
Gran Couva
Bring on new credit union law
I
write to convey my utter dismay, distress and embarrassment
at recent charges and breaches levelled against the board
of directors of the Eastern Credit Union Co-operative Society
Ltd by its supervisory committee.
What makes the issue ludicrous is the suspension of the
board by the committee on grounds of misspending.
The board needs to be commended for not cowering to the
ill-advised actions of the committee, totally ignoring the
suspensions and proceeding to do the excellent work of the
institution as mandated by the membership.
Imagine, in this enlightened age of technological advances,
the supervisory committee frowns on the purchase of laptops
for directors which, incidentally, remain assets of the
co-operative.
Imagine the song and dance about stipends that a “C”
class director in a state enterprise gets? Imagine the purchase
of a vehicle for the office of the president which legitimately
belongs to the institution?
The regulators at the Central Bank may be having a good
laugh at the expense of the childish and infantile behaviour
of the supervisors.
I pray the legislation will be soon coming that will guarantee
fit and proper criteria for all officers of credit unions,
including supervisors, so that proper guidelines are established
for modern and sophisticated credit unions in T&T.
Gerald
Seon
Mt Lambert
Act
now to save next generation
If
we do not help our youths now, we would have to pay the
price of losing the next generation. A six-year-old raped,
brutalised and murdered. Two boys 13 and 16 years charged
for this savage crime.
What are our community leaders doing to stop this new type
of hideous crime?
What is the Ministry of Education doing for children who
drop out of school?
Are school supervisors going to allow teachers to send home
children who did not do their homework and be unsupervised
while their parents are at work?
Should adults question students seen out of school during
school hours? Should the community police be called if the
reason is not satisfactory?
I call on all adults to save the next generation. Whether
we are victims or not, we are all involved in the security
and safety of our community and we must play our part to
ensure that all citizens enjoy peace and tranquillity.
We are now living in dangerous times with evil stalking
the land. Our freedom has been taken away and we are unable
to go about our business as usual. Crime is escalating and
causing T&T’s reputation to decline at a rapid
rate. Every citizen must therefore stand up to the crime
challenge.
We cannot run from it. We cannot escape it by not dealing
with the problem. We must confront this crime virus.
The time has come when every civic-minded citizen—elders,
teenagers, right-thinking individuals—must come forward
and save this country from damnation and destruction.
The Ministry of Education should set up a system whereby
schools can report any problem children who may need immediate
attention. The Ministry of Social Development should set
up hotlines in every community so that parents with problem
children can call for assistance if they need it.
The Vision on a Mission programme should be extended to
interview prisoners at least two weeks before their release
in order to counsel them and arrange for shelter and financial
support.
Crime Stoppers should also be extended into the communities.
The same type of system used by the Crime Stoppers’
call-in programme can be copied by the Ministry of Education
and Social Development for children with problems.
All radio and TV talk shows must join the fight against
crime and start the journey to bring our youths back on
track. Stop promoting Trinidadians as people from different
parts of the world. Start promoting one nation, one people,
one love.
Crime is everybody’s business and no government can
do it alone. More guns, more police vehicles and more blimps
would only assist in making it a little more difficult for
criminals. We must help our youth now in order to save the
next generation.
Balliram
Maharaj
Arima
Smelter will kill country
I
am concerned about the aluminium smelter plant which the
Government wants to allow in this small country. It says
the smelter will create jobs for about 500 or so but what
about the rest of the people when it contaminates our rivers
and seas? The reef in Tobago is already half dead; our coastline
and land would be infertile.
Think about the poor people who depend on fishing for their
daily meals and income. I would imagine the crime rate would
escalate because of the attitude of the Government. It wants
to give us one fish a day when we can fish for a lifetime.
We are not stupid. This is a subtle way of keeping us down
so we would always be dependent.
Vision 2020, to my understanding, is seeing beyond the years
to come.
Mr PM, if you allow these people to come to Trinidad and
build this smelter, you would be giving them permission
to do to this country what murderers do.
Please do not lead us to the slaughter.
Maria
Matthew
Upper Santa Cruz
Good for Central but not La Brea?
I
am waiting to hear the views of the UNC on the issue of
building smelters in Trinidad.
I am certain that during its term in government the UNC
had agreed to build an aluminium smelter somewhere in central
Trinidad. At that time the smelter business was seen as
very important for the economy and would bring many benefits
for the communities in Central.
Now that a decision has been taken to build a smelter in
La Brea, we are hearing that the UNC wants to object. What
is its objection?
Is it that a smelter is a good thing for central Trinidad
but it should not be built in La Brea?
There is much hypocrisy about the smelter industry and people
are using the issue for personal and political gain without
considering what the people want for themselves. La Brea
people can speak for themselves, they do not need outside
voices to talk on their behalf.
L Phillips
La Brea
