The Trinidad Guardian -Online Edition Ver 2.0

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All I want for Christmas

Well it’s that time of year when one traditionally asks Santa to bring lots of gifts. As I already have “my two front teeth,” I thought I would ask for some other gifts:

Modern road network

So Santa all I want is Ken Julien’s cheque book so I could employ a couple of thousand Chinese engineers and workers to build a new road network in Trinidad and Tobago. And, don’t forget to put immunity from prosecution in my Christmas stocking.

Top priority is a submerged four-lane tunnel in front of the existing Port-of-Spain port connecting Diego Martin and Sea Lots (with a beautiful park on top).

Then a six-lane highway with proper clover leaf intersections connecting Sea Lots with Manzanilla running right along the side of the Caroni (as shown for the last 50 years on all government plans).

Followed by a four-lane highway down to Mayaro and on to San Fernando before turning and shooting down to Point Fortin.

In the meantime all the connections to the Solomon Hochoy highway would be upgraded to full cloverleaf status. If we started now Santa it could be ready in time for elections in five years’ time. Modern political scenario

And Santa, could you give me modern politics, where when a party leader fails to win an election he resigns? Be he Manning in 1994, Panday in 2002 or Dookeran in 2007 thus building a culture of accountability? And with term limits like the US so we don’t get stuck with a leader who becomes totally out of touch with reality?

And who believes in referendums as being the only acceptable form of consultation on big issues like Barbados?

And with mid term recall provisions like Venezuela?

And with full disclosure of political party funding like the UK? (and who get their workers to remove all their campaign posters the day after an election rather than leaving our country looking like a third world eyesore) Make all information available online

Would it be too much to ask Santa that all the information Public Servants have collected using my taxes, be made available to me on line?

I don’t know why I have this nagging feeling Santa that as I paid their salaries and they collected the information in my name, I should be able to easily access it? Or am I just day dreaming when I think all street maps, survey data, minutes of meetings, planning applications, etc should be downloadable like they are in first world countries?

Museum to slavery and indenture ship

Now Santa, don’t you think it is perfectly reasonable of me to ask for a museum documenting the whole history of slavery and indentureship to help heal the wounds our history inflicted on us? Just like the Museum of Apartheid in South Africa and the Museum of Child Labour in the north of England? President and PM who respect us

And Santa, what are the chances of getting the president and prime minister and all other government officials to wait in the traffic like the rest of us rather than using their police escorts to force us off the road so they can push their way through? Angry police

Now this next one is tough Santa, even Martin Joseph underestimated the challenge. What I really want Santa, is a Police Force that is as mad as hell at people who kill them, and hunt such people down, regardless of how long and how much it takes.

The way I figure it Santa, if the police don’t care if their own get killed, there is really no hope they will care if ordinary people like me are murdered. See what I mean Santa?

Oh, and if they tell you they don’t have enough officers, just remind them they have three times as many for our size population as the UK and Canada.

And don’t forget to ask them, how come 5,000 officers only manage to make one arrest each per year, when the average in other countries is 20 arrests per officer per year. Vagrant-free streets

You are a caring person Santa. You must be extremely embarrassed every time you visit T&T to see how badly we treat our homeless people.

Do you think you can get the so called social services to take these people, who are breaking the law by sleeping and defecating on the streets and put them in proper facilities where they can be re-habilitated?

And please Santa, don’t forget the stray dogs and cats. Any chance of health for all?

When I read that people in impoverished countries will live ten years longer than us, and when I see a baby is more likely to survive its first few months of life if it is born in a war zone like Palestine than T&T, I wonder if you could help us sort out our health problems, Santa?

Barbados spends three times as much per person on health than we do… but I guess Government Campus Plaza is more important than babies lives eh Santa? Hurricane preparedness

Santa, do you think you could have a word with the authorities who insist on putting more and more cables up on poles, totally ruining our attempts to beautify the country and making us more and more vulnerable to hurricane damage?

I will understand if you decide we really don’t deserve any of these “goodies” because I really can’t hold my hand on my heart and tell you we have been “good” this last year.

After all we had a chance in November to show that we wanted to change…but...well you know what happened.

Anyway let me forget the wishful thinking and wish a Merry Christmas to all my readers.