Monthly Archives: November 2012

UWI Speaks…but what is it saying?

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Today there was a march to show solidarity for Wayne Kublalsingh at the UWI, St. Augustine Campus.

To be more accurate: “A Solidarity Gathering in recognition of Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh” was what the notice about the event said. It came a solid two weeks after the hunger strike began and 3 days after the UWI Prinipal’s statement on the Hunger Strike.

A statement that can be described as embarrasing at best. In it the Principal sypathises with Kublalsingh, but is in favour of the Highway, in fact, he wants a Highway that extends to Cedros.

It is a statement that comes across as both callous and misinformed. Why? In it the Principal seeks to distance the University from Kublalsingh by stating he only works for the University on a 2-month contract. Which is intriguing to say the least. Kublalsingh has been on contract at the UWI for years. His is not just a 2-month contract. Kublalsingh taught me…and that was back in the mid-90s.

Further, you’re in favour of a highway for which we can’t even get the EIA report? Interesting.

Last week when news of the Hunger Strike hit the campus you could hear pins drop in the department that Kublalsingh works. People were only whispering on corridors. Sending an e-mail around to see who wanted to go visit the camp and show solidarity was frowned upon. Indeed, the only action UWI was definite about was that Kublalsingh’s classes had to be looked after.

As per a proper position on the issue….mehh! Not even the Guild President….and he was being prompted by peers to issue a statement….but his political affiliation is widely known and probably played a role in his prolonged silence .

Then over the weekend came the announcement of this show of solidarity. And I had to wonder what led to the show of conscience today.

It’s no secret that this institution suffers from incredible amounts of government interference. It’s in bed with the government…and scarily so.

So much so that writing against the government in newspapers columns like I do gets you the attention of management in less than positive ways.

It is also no secret that many key members of the Institute of Gender openly rallied for Kamla Persad-Bissesar in 2010. Some were even awarded by Persad-Bissessar’s government.

So the March took place and the usual suspects were there. the crowd wasn’t large. This is a University whose days of militant activist students are firmly behind it. These days the things that rile UWI students up are the same things that riled them up 10 and 15 and 20 years ago….shuttles to go clubbing and increased tuition fees or removal of GATE. Social awareness and UWI student in the same sentence is an oxymoron. And often times, social awareness and UWI lecturer too.

At this “Solidarity” today I watched a number of people pat themselves on the back for a job well done  – about 100 people had shown up.  They affirmed to each other that this was necessary! It had to be done! 13 days into a hunger strike. I surveyed the crowd and tried to pick out how many members of staff, who had managed to leave their offices and march around the campus had made it to the Re-Route Movement’s Camp in the last 10 days. I recognised only one. Im sure the others meant to get there….they just didn’t.

I looked around too at the many intellectuals and specialists in social science areas and wondered why weren’t more people speaking out publicly about the crucial issues?

To date not an expert from the UWI’s engineering or environmental sciences departments has weighed in on the Highway Protests. the Centre for Economic Studies, SALISES, will hold a forum on it Dec 4th….this protest has been on more than a year and it took a man 13 days of starving himself for the institution to sit up and take note.

But let’s back up a little. There are many more crucial issues that have occurrred before we got to this point in our socio-political history. There have been abuse of process, abuse of state funds, abuse of women, children, the constitution, the environment….and UWI has not been in the vanguard leading any discussions on any of the crucial issues.

So, I had to wonder why today? This show of solidarity was arranged by Gender Studies,…where were their comments during the State of Emergency (its chief organiser was openly in support of last year’s SoE.)? When Cheryl Miller was arrested? When Sita Gajardharsingh-Nanga was openly attacked and vilified? Section 34? Kamla’s attack on Rowley at Divali Nagar? Kamla’s constant use of the National Mother motif?

Maybe I should be heartened that they have finally responded. Maybe this is where it starts.

For now though I am sceptical. Sceptical because many of the key players are people that have openly compromised themselves in the past, so I don’t know that I can trust them to do the right thing about my future. Many of the key players for quite a long time kept silent because the government screwing up was made up of the parties they supported. And for many Trinidadians, loyalty is hushing up and supporting shit. The minute you criticise, it means you anti-everything. God forbid that any of them should come out and openly critique the government they supported.

But I imagine the attack on Kublalsingh has hit home. Wayne is a lecturer like them. Wayne supported the COP, or at least his family does. Wayne was eventually vilified and mistreated. Not that this government now start to mistreat people….but the stones finally start to fall in people yard. So they find a voice.

 

But I am not yet convinced about the reliability of this “solidarity. So, for now,  I watch and wait.

 

De Vice Cyah Done!

 

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Revisiting the PP Manifesto…

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Anyone from the People’s Partnership remember these ideals….take a trip down memory lane.

Speaking Notes of the Honourable Political Leader of the UNC, Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar
Manifesto Launch
May 14, 2010

We come together this morning at time when our nation is in crisis.

We are at a most critical juncture in our social and economic development.

The PNM has governed this nation for nearly 40 years since 1956. And their model of governance is now outmoded and outdated.

It is ill-suited to confront the myriad challenges that now threaten the very foundation of our economy and way of life.

The oil and gas based economic model of development is now on shaky ground. The recent volatility in the markets and consequential strong fluctuations has revealed the vulnerability of our economy. This lopsided approach to economic development is fundamentally flawed and is in urgent need of revision.

A new template for development is needed and I am therefore proud to present the manifesto of the People’s Partnership.

It represents the collective vision, hopes and policy intention of a unique coalition of forces that seek to build a new economy based on not one, but SEVEN pillars.

THE SEVEN PILLARS OF INTERCONNECTED DEVELOPMENT

The philosophical underpinning of our manifesto expressed in our first pillar is the desire to provide “PEOPLE CENTRED DEVELOPMENT”. Under the PNM, we have seen an inverse relationship between economic prosperity and the development of our people.

They presided over an oil and gas boom but have failed to create a society that has prospered and developed alongside the government and private sector.

The investment in our human and intellectual capital did not bring the anticipated returns because some of the skills that were being developed did not match our needs. We intend to create a knowledge-driven, technologically proficient society that will be the core and engine for a competitive and sustainable economy.

Our manifesto will build a new society from the bottom up because we have seen the damage inflicted by the PNM’s top-to-bottom approach to economic development.

The billions spent on empty skyscrapers and mega-projects while the quality of life on the ground degenerated bears testimony to the colossal failure of the PNM’s trickle down model of development.

This is why our second pillar for sustainable development focuses on “POVERTY ERADICATION AND SOCIAL JUSTICE”

Our manifesto seeks to correct this by going back to basics and focusing on the needs of the people first.

It is a fallacy to measure society’s standard of living by reference to grandiose buildings while citizens live under a self-imposed curfew due to high crime.

The standard of living is judged by the ability of the government to provide for its citizen’s basic needs such as:

§  a quality education that is relevant to the needs of the 21st century

§  a safe society based on law and order where people do not have to live in fear of criminals but can enjoy the fruits of their hard work and sacrifice

§ good healthcare , with a dedicated focus on the elderly and children

§ a proper network of roads that minimizes the amount of time needlessly spent in traffic

§ and basic amenities such as electricity and water

There is no point in creating economic wealth if citizens cannot enjoy it (at least that’s what the People’s Partnership believes).

Under the PNM, wealth did not trickle down because too much money was being wasted on mega-projects and summits that brought no relief to the plight of the people.

Our plans and policies therefore aim to better the quality of life and raise the standard of living for all.

They aim to reduce poverty and crime and deliver services to the people in an efficient and professional manner.

When a government cannot deliver needed service to the people, it has failed and that is what we have witnessed over the past eight years. And to ensure the People’s Partnership corrects this situation and can provide more efficient , more user-friendly service, we will create a Ministry of the People that will be dedicated to ensuring a free flow of government services to the people. Most services should, for example, be accessible on-line, from the comfort of your own home.

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

There is also no point in creating economic wealth if people are afraid and unable to enjoy it.

The terrifying crime crisis that has engulfed our nation has virtually prevented citizens from enjoying the fruits of their labour.

This is why our third pillar for sustainable development is “NATIONAL AND PERSONAL SECURITY”.

We shall overhaul the criminal justice system to make it efficient and effective. This will be a major deterrent and weapon in the fight against crime. Criminals must respect the law. I would like to see a trial finish within 3-6 months of a person being charged so that criminals cannot make a mockery of our justice system and law-abiding citizens can feel the system is working.

Given the state of lawlessness and the extent of the backlog in our criminal courts, I think the criminal justice system is need of special and separate attention.

To this end, I propose to create a Ministry of Justice that will be responsible for criminal justice, with the Ministry of the Attorney General being responsible for civil matters.

The Minister of Justice shall be responsible for inter alia:
·        Criminal Litigation and Legislation
·        Reform and Transformation of Criminal Justice System
·        Quicker Justice Initiative Programme (Specialised Courts)
·        Prison Service Reform
·        Forensic Sciences Services
·        Community Service Department
·        Legal Aid Reform ( Legal Aid and Advisory Authority)
·        Youth Re-Offender Programme
·        Sentencing Commission
·        Compensation for Victims of Crime
·        Victims Charter and counselling
·        Technology in the Criminal Courts
·        DNA Lab
·        Witness Protection Programme

THE ECONOMY

Trinidad and Tobago should be the information technology capital of the Caribbean and South America.

Our fourth pillar is the construction of a new area of economic development based on “INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES”.

Affordable internet access for every citizen will be a priority as we seek to create an educated society that is poised to compete with the rest of the world in the 21st century.

IT will be infused into every sector of our economy. We will thus encourage and develop strong linkages among our creative sectors, technological sectors, design sectors and our education and academic sectors.

And continuing the focus on our critical need for economic planning and development, our dependence on oil and gas and the unhealthy imbalance this has created makes our economy very fragile. These finite resources shall remain an integral part of our economy but we cannot put all our eggs in one basket and we must plan now to diversify our economy.

And that is why our fifth pillar is to create a “MORE DIVERSIFIED, KNOWLEDGE INTENSIVE ECONOMY.”

We have immense untapped potential in agriculture and we intend to place the accent on food production and food security.

We should be aiming to export food, instead of importing it!

And our Industrial Policy will identify the areas into which we will diversify the Economy including : knowledge based Industries, Cultural and Entertainment Industries, Ethnic Products, Food Processing, the Maritime Industry, Services Industries, biotechnology, information technology, high-tech manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, food production, processing and alternative energy and third and fourth generation renewable energy industries.

The diversification of our economy for sustainable development will be a top priority of the People’s Partnership government. Tobago’s economy will be given special treatment because the fundamentals are different. A major initiative will however, be the regularization of land titles for Tobagonians so that they can own their land and gain individual economic independence.

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

It has been widely recognised that our present constitution needs to be re-visited.

We have, as our sixth pillar of our manifesto, “PEOPLE PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNANCE’.

We aim to be a user-friendly, responsible and responsive government.

We believe the government must not be aloof and removed from the people, but rather, part of the people, reflecting the will and consciousness of the people.

To this end, we will promote a climate of national dialogue within a framework of civility and consensus building.

We will initiate a process of consultation to rewrite the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. The objective of Constitution Reform will be to establish a framework for good, responsive governance and to nurture and build a participatory culture and to strengthen democracy.

This will move us away from the culture of maximum leadership and develop a politics of inclusion rather than the present system of winner takes all.

Some of the revolutionary ideas we propose to introduce are:

·       A right of recall for non-performing parliamentary representatives

·       Fixed election dates for national and local elections

·       Mechanisms for a referendum process

·       Limiting the Prime Minister to two successive terms as head of        Government

·       Rules governing the conduct of the Government and political parties during an election period.

·       A stronger Integrity Commission

·       Local government reform

FOREIGN POLICY


Our seventh pillar is that of “A STRONG FOREIGN POLICY” that is rooted in a realisation that our voice must be heard as part of a wider Peoples Partnership that is based on mutual interests and objectives to advance common cause.

We see the international arena and the world system as an opportunity to build diplomatic partnerships that can lead to trade and cultural exchanges.

We are part of the global village that has been made smaller by the development of technology.

We are mindful of our size and resource constraints and would structure our foreign policy to advance our goals and aspirations as part of a geo-political block.

Our approach will be realistic and pragmatic and based on partnership with our CARICOM neighbours.

CONCLUSION

These seven interconnected pillars for sustainable development will hold the cradle of the new Trinidad and Tobago that we intend to create together with the people of our great nation.

They represent strong, uncompromising pillars that will deliver a better, safer, more prosperous and equitable society for all of us.

I know that my brief overview has inspired you to delve into the details of our programmes but I welcome questions that would allow me to elaborate on any matter.  

_,___

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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500 MURDERS!
$350 billion squandered
MANNING MUST GO!

Guest Column: Wayne’s Way, the Highway, and other Take-Aways…

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by Christian Hume ( A Pantomime Guest Columnist)
on Thursday, November 22, 2012 at 7:51pm ·

Like everybody else, I’ve watched with rapt interest the unfolding saga of Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh’s hunger strike. Like everyone else, I’m not exactly sure what is the reaons behind this hunger strike. You see, when Wayne first started fasting, his stated reason was because Kamla refused to meet him as promised. Then the reason shifted to being because Kamla promised to stop work until certain conditions were met, and now these are the minimum conditions he listed to the Opposition Leader before he would break his fast – “…the announcement of a multi-component technical group with some element of independent professional/technical, input, detailed to review the alternatives….” When the reason for the fast evolves from “meeting the Prime Minister” to “the announcement of a multi-component technical group”, what is the Prime Minister supposed to do??

 

That aside, as a native of the area under the direct orbit of the Debe – Mon Desir stretch, let me make it unequivocally clear to all and sundry that I WANT that stretch. I want if BADLY. The ability to drive to Port-of-Spain without passing on the South Trunk Road will make sense only to those of us who have lived with the increasing burden of traffic along that road. Up to when I left Presentation College in 1996, I could get to school on time for 8:00am if I caught the maxi “Black Diamond” which usually passed my house around 7:15 to 7:20am every morning. Today, if I were DRIVING my own vehicle, I would have to leave home by 6:30am to be SURE of getting to school on time, and this from a point that is just FIFTEEN MINUTES’ drive from San Fernando if there is no traffic on the road. So you can imagine what people from Point Fortin have to go through, being a good 45 minutes’ drive from San Fernando on a clear road. I won’t attempt to describe in detail the woe people from Siparia, Penal, and Fyzabad, because I’m not from those areas – except to say that when they too decide to use the South Trunk road to get to San Fernando – it makes life much more difficult for people like me and the people coming from Point Fortin.

 

I also wish to make it unequivocally clear that while I want the Debe – Mon Desir stretch, I remain resolutely opposed to the secrecy, nepotism, and corruption that seems to be part of the mix right now. Unconfirmed figures are popping up on facebook that seem to suggest that the cost per mile to build that stretch os way above and beyond anything that obtains anywhere else in the world. As a nation, we need to ask ourselves a collective “Why”?? Is it because of the corruption that I just alluded to, is it becase the highway’s propodes path includes taking it THROUGH the Oropouche Lagoon as opposed to AROUND it?? What’s the reason?? If at the end of it all, this issue of cost is not interrogated, we would have missed a major opportunity to continue the process of fighting back against the systemic corruption that has bedeviled all admininstrations of this country and kept us back from being the leading beacon in the WORLD that we can be.

 

In a strange twist of irony, I am personally happy that Mrs. Persad-Bissessar is the Prime Minister who has to deal with the highway in its present stage, and not Mr. Manning or Dr.Rowley. This is yet another opportunity for UNC supporters to interrogate the propensity of their representatives to flip-flop on major issues depending on which side of the Speaker’s face is closer to them in the Parliament Chamber. We recall Panday’s flip-flop on the Carribbean Court of Justice some years ago, having opposed it in Opposition and then going on to continue with it while in Government. Today we are treated with the spectacle of Dr. Kublalsingh, having been utterly consistent in his positions with respect to the Smelter, the TCL matter in Claxton Bay, and the Debe – Mon Desir stretch of highway; going to bed in a political threesome with Kamla and Moonilal on the night of May 24, 2010, only to wake up on the morning of May 25, 2010 to find them both scrambling to shove him off the bed. How long will UNC supporters continue to put up with this level of flip-flopping?? Kamla early in her tenure as PM proclaimed Roodal Moonilal as her heir apparent, but based on the evidence of his stiff-necked flip flop on the Debe – Mon Desir stretch of highway, if Roody is the best the UNC can come up with, then the UNC, and the entire country by extension, is in a pretty deep cesspool. Can we use this Highway impasse as another opportunity to interrogate ourselves as a country and start holding our leaders to a higher standard??

 

As a native of one of the affected areas, I can say with an authority that people who are not from the area cannot possess, that Kublalsingh’s Re-Route is nonsense. However, this matter has long since ceased to be just about the technical details of the “Re-Route”. There are many questions that need to be answered. Why did Kublalsingh reject the findings of the technical review implemented by the government?? Why have the findings of this review not been made available to members of the public?? Why is this stretch of highway being made to pass THROUGH the Oropouche Lagoon instead of around it?? Why does the HRRM not seem to have a problem with the decimation of the very same Oropouche Lagoon to facilitate their proposed re-route through the Mosquito Creek?? Why does this stretch of Highway have to cost so much more than any other highway anywhere in the world?? Why has the process of awarding contracts for this stretch of highway been so shrouded in secrecy?? Why have Roodal Moonilal and Kamla Persad-Bissessar been given a free pass to perform a naked about-turn from opposing the Highway when the PNM was in government, to suddenly insisting on it now that the UNC forms the government?? Why are the views of the residents of Point Fortin, Erin, Cedros, Buenos Aires, Penal, Siparia, Fyzabad, and surrounding areas not being courted as aggresively as people are tuning in to Kublalsingh and the HRRM?? Why are the people who actually want the Highway not being as vocal about their want and need for the Highway??

 

Take it Away!!

 

NOTE:

 

While I was doing this note, the Higway Re-Route Movement issued the following clarification on my wall of the reasons for Dr. Kublalsingh’s hunger strike:

 

 

“…Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh never asked to MEET with the PM. The reason for this is that we HAVE met with her. The aim of the hunger strike, stated many times by Dr. Kublalsingh on several occasions to the press in my presence, was to get the PM to honour her promise to put works on “hold” as she put it until a review was done. You see, in the 2-3 meetings with the PM and/or Ministry of Works/NIDCO since March of this year, the Movement has never seen a Technical report, Cost-Benefit analysis or Hydrological report from the Govt, all of which we requested and never received. We therefore ask “what review was done, and if so, where is it?”..”

Dear Kamla….Sincerely, The Keith

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The PM responded again today insisting that Kublalsing does not want to meet with her and here are some excerpts from her comments at a luncheon given for the media at the Diplomatic Centre:

A synopsis of what the PM said minutes ago during an address to the media at a media appreciation function at the Diplomatic Centre:

-”I am not above meeting with Wayne, I have done so and would so again but that is not what is being asked of me”.

- Kublalsingh has insisted from the very start that he doesn’t want to meet with me, he wants highway work halted and review undertaken.

- I refute claim from Highway Re-route Movement that I reneged on promise to halt work. Work was halted, and meetings were held.

- after work on Pt. Fortin highway halted, it resumed months later after several meetings and a report from a technical team.

-we simply cannot give in to the demands of Kublalsingh and his team to stop a project which could benefit generations.

-we have tried to reason with the Highway Re-route Movement more than many would allow.

-I make an appeal to Wayne’s parents, wife, to take on “personal obligation and duty” they have for his actions & not transfer it to the State.

-I am fortified in my oath of office. I cannot favour any one group or allow fear to control my actions.

 

then later today Opposition Leader Keith Rowley sent a letter to the PM. Here are it’s contents:

22nd November, 2012

 

 

Mrs. Kamla Persad Bissessar S.C.

 

The Honourable Prime Minister

 

Office of the Prime Minister1

 

3-15 St. Clair Avenue

 

PORT-OF-SPAIN

 

 

Dear Honourable Prime Minister,

 

 

As you will be aware the whole issue of objections to certain aspects of the routing and construction of the San Fernando to Point Fortin Highway has been with us for some time now. This matter of the State versus those directly affected has escalated to a point where a life might be at risk.

 

 

It is now a matter transcending the objectors of Delhi-Mon Desir to one of the national conscience relating to how we deal with one another and how the might and patience of the State is exercised in service to the people, all the people, even those who may be perceived to be stubborn, unreasonable or taxing.

 

 

Yesterday, Wednesday 21st November 2012 I was contacted by Dr. Kublalsingh and requested to speak with him. I subsequently visited him and I am very concerned that if something positive is not done very soon the ultimate tragedy of irreparable harm would most certainly occur. Notwithstanding the antecedents of this situation, it is my view that it is possible for this matter to be defused without the pain, shame and stain which it harbours and promises to promote.

 

 

I asked Dr. Kublalsingh what is the minimum condition attached to his request and he informed that the announcement of a multi-component technical group with some element of independent professional/technical, input, detailed to review the alternatives will suffice to break his fast.

 

 

Honourable Prime Minister in the fullest appreciation of your onerous responsibility and expressed empathy, it is my sincerest suggestion that this is a situation where the age-old principle of “nobles oblige” could be applied for the wider good of not just those directly involved but for the peace, respect and reputation of the nation as a whole. It enriches us all when we see and appreciate, as we always know, that it is far easier for the king to reach down and touch the commoner than for the servant to reach up to the master. A simple request on your part, to have the issue brought back to your office, just one more time, may suffice to save a life and disembark us all from the pathway of destruction upon we may have wittingly or unwillingly entered.

 

 

This is not a time for anger, blame or bombast. This is a time for reaching out and protecting us all from the pain of failure. Ultimately this is a matter of the State versus the people where numbers and dollars may not be all that matter. It may finally boil down to who we are, how much we understand each other and how well we would have served all the people.

 

 

There is no shame in seeking a solution mixing authority with humility and this final effort as requested ought never to be viewed as a diminishing of your esteemed office. It is in this vein that I strongly recommend that you intervene, one more time, and may God bless us all.

 

 

 

Yours in service,

 

 

 

 

Dr. Keith RowleyLeader of the Opposition andMember of Parliament for Diego Martin West

National Mother Strikes Again!

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In a move that seeks to upstage the Spoilt Child comment made by Housing Minister Roodal Moonilal, the Prime Minister, the National Mother and Grandmother with Silk, has written a letter to Wayne Kublalsingh’s mommy….and has ensured that she pappyshow the letter appropriately by releasing it to the media.

Mind you, Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s office is just upstairs from where Kublalsingh is holding his hunger strike/vigil. But I guess it would take too much time to take an elevator and go down and speak to Kublalsingh and the protesters in person, the way a real leader would. It was far quicker to just pen the letter and send it off to media houses…thereby ensuring that she stays in the limelight, but outside of the glare of angry citizens. Well played Kamla Rani, well played.

Re-Routed Values

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Trinidad is a place where we think buildings, roads and bling are a sign of progress. We have no other markers for how we consider our quality of life. Tobagonians seem to want to head in that direction, and I hope they pull up themselves and re-consider their values.
Currently Wayne Kublalsingh is on a hunger strike. And all over the internet you’re hearing that he striking for a highway. There are many who are saying in posts laden with sarcasm that he killing himself over a highway. There are folks who have already posted that he should dead, because they see Wayne’s action as opposing the Government; and in Trinidad once you oppose a government, its supporters always want you to die…or at least lose your job.

Holding vigil…

The issue that I believe is central to Wayne’s protest and that is being roundly ignored as the People’s Partnership rally the circling wagons to protect themselves is quality of life.

This protest has never been about stopping the building of a highway; it has been about shifting a portion of the highway so that it does not interfere with the quality of life of a village. But many think it makes more sense for the village to move than for the highway to change course.

Right now 600 residents are seeking legal redress on the matter and these are the issues they are fighting for:

  • The right to keep their homes and lands in tact. Homes and lands that have been in families for generations.
  • The right to keep their close knit communities in tact.
  • The right to live in communities in which they feel safe, have wide open green spaces, and the quality of life they cannot find in urban or semi-urban spaces.
  • The right to continue with their livelihoods that require these wide open green spaces.

There are several other issues too: the environmental impact, the impact the re-route will have on an archaeological site at Banwarie Trace in San Francique village and of course, according to the Re-Route Movement, the shift they are suggesting will save the Government hundreds of millions of dollars. Of course in the most recently circulated information on FB, masquerading as just facts, the fact givers aren’t talking about the environmental impact on the Oropuche lagoon, a crucial part of the drainage systems in the Debe-Penal-Siparia area.

Their entire argument boils down to skewering numbers and cleverly positioning the names of certain villages prominently; while asking what’s wrong with inconveniencing 300 homes and 13 businesses, when we can build a highways that will benefit hundreds of thousands? And maybe they are right.  What exactly is wrong with uprooting the way of life of a couple hundred people? Why ask hundreds of thousands to endure a re-route that only going to change the lives of a couple hundred?

In response the government has offered compensation, which the villagers have stoutly refused. They have also offered them the opportunity to re-purchase 1-lot plots in the village of Petit Morne. From homesteads on acres of land to 1 lot of land. From having an already established home that generations have lived in to having to re-build and probably attain a mortgage at this stage in life. And some of the residents are in their 50s and 60s, so what kind of mortgages can they really access if they had to?
In listening to the Re-Route issue I had to stop and ask myself how do we really consider quality of life here. Is it only in terms of highways and buildings? Gas revenue that never trickles down to us? Jobs given to us for political loyalty and patronage?

Fighting to protect a way of life isn’t worthy of a hunger strike?

Ok, then what about this…six months ago the Prime Minister, our head of government, a woman who rode into government on a massive mandate gave the re-Route Movement the assurance that she would meet with them and consider the changes to the highway route they were suggesting….she has since then reneged on her promise.

Is holding our leaders accountable worthy of a protest or a hunger strike?

So what’s going to happen when this government runs roughshod over another community and breaks their promises to them (eyes on you East Port of Spain)…we going to turn a blind eye and pretend this isn’t our problem and it’s not our job to hold the government accountable?

If it isn’t our job, then whose is it?

De Vice Cyah Done!

Supporting Wayne!

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Activist Wayne Kublalsingh is taking a stand against the government and he is doing so through a hunger strike. Kublalsingh is protesting, among other things, the Highway to Mon Desir Re-Route that is likely to affect the lives of  several families in the area. To date, Kublalsingh and the members of the Re-Route Movement have been able to thwart the government. But Kublalsingh and the ReRoute Movement continue to struggle in anonymity. Yesterday at  NAPA I engaged a person of the upper class in discussion about Kublalsingh’s Hunger Strike, and her response was she understood the cause but she felt Wayne must be going mad. I then asked if she didn’t think that the atrocities the government has been committing worthy of a fast….and she went silent and refused to be pulled into discussion again.

I mean seriously, isn’t the state our country is in worthy of a fast?

I for one will be going down to the PM’s Office in St. Clair this week and sitting in solidarity with Wayne Kublalsingh.

For those of you who still have a conscience, still care about nation building, and less concerned with sitting at the trough and eating ah food meet Wayne and other members of the Re-Route movement any day this week outside the PMs office from 9 am!

 

The Ethnic Agenda

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In case you missed it, Ambassador Neil Parsan’s wife is black, which apparently is an actual ethnicity, not just a colour; and his wife’s colour apparently gives the goodly ambassador carte blanche to make up information about Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean. Oh, wait you missed it? You missed the speech wherein the diplomat that is supposed to be representing an entire multicultural nation gave a speech that implied he is really only there to serve the interests of a particular interest group: the People’s Partnership? Some of the key points in Parsan’s speech was to point out that the “Indian Diaspora is a formidable force in Trinidad and Tobago, the largest numerical representation in the Caribbean.” And let’s not forget as well that Indians are ” the most well-to-do and culturally strong and progressive ethnic group in the uniquely plural society of Trinidad and Tobago.”

 

I can’t tell you where to find Ambassador Parsan’s speech anymore because it has since been removed from the embassy’s website. What I can tell you is that Neil Parsan is engaging in a not very subtle game of Whose Ethnicity Is More Superior? And that is a game that the entire country will lose. Why? Because it is pitting groups against each other, and making the atmosphere of Trinidad and Tobago more toxic. A speech such as this says plainly that groups here don’t yet view themselves as Trinbagonians but as ethnicities all holding their corner and struggling for a larger piece of the pie. That an Ambassador, a diplomat, representing an entire nation, would be caught delivering such a speech is beyond embarrassing and Parsan should hand in his instruments of appointment and just leave Washington DC because his conduct as an Ambassador in that speech is poor. He is not representing a country.

 

But  Ambassador Parsan is but one in a string of ethnicity-related gaffes we have had coming from the People’s Partnership of late. Since the massive Section 34 March, we have had Minister of National Security, Jack Warner, on several platforms spreading a message of ethnic strife. The Section 34 march was negligible according to Warner because he saw only Afro-descended people in it. As if to imply that Afro- descended people aren’t Trinbagonian enough to be taken seriously. As if to imply that it wasn’t a march of citizens. As if to imply Section 34 is a race or ethnicity issue and not a national issue. Mere weeks after the march, on i95.5 with John Wayne Benoit, MP for Mayaro, Winston Peters in response to a question repeated that he is only representing the people who voted for him.

 

And if that wasn’t insulting enough, Warner then, sulking and petulant, announced that he wasn’t attending the opening of the Nagar because Keith Rowley would be there. Disingenuous as ever, Warner claimed he didn’t want to politicize the issue. Then Sat Maharäj, pundit Harry Maharaj and Devant Maharäj jumped in to support Warner’s position. Mind you, this is Divali and the Divali Nagar site. A holiday celebrated by the national community on lands donated by the state. What Warner was ostensibly saying to Rowley is we don’t want you or your kind here. Please keep in kind that Warner is not the UNCs Minister of National Security, he is the nation’s, obligated to serve the nation, and at a public forum this is how he speaks to the Leader of the Opposition, a man that represents the interests of another part of our society.

 

Of course, yes, you can argue that Warner was there in his capacity as Chairman of the UNC. And in that case, what are Warner’s words and actions saying about the party’s agenda and policies? Is the UNC, the party that is currently leading this coalition government, actively using strategies of ethnic division and polarizing politics as part of its strategy to stay in government? The COP agreed to this? Because I can’t see what other way there is to define what Warner and his supporters are attempting to do if not polarize the nation yet again.

 

And to add frosting and cherry on top this ethnic agenda cake is our Prime Minister. A lady who is mum on most matters, but manages to break her silence at the closing ceremony of the Divali Nagar and used the opportunity to attack the Leader of the Opposition. And on trivial issues no less. What the Prime Minister fails to remember with the whole goar lagay incident, when she decided to bow before the President of India is simply this: the PM was there in her capacity as the head of government, greeting another head of government; two heads of state do not bow to each other. Simple protocol. But it seems the PMs advisers are not strong on protocol, just on beefing up her strategies for her ethnic agenda.

 

If sounding like a petulant child about the international bowing incident wasn’t insult enough, the PM then lashed out at the Opposition Leader’s decision to wear a kurtah to ceremonies at the Nagar. Apparently the PM has a monopoly on wearing ethnic garb in this country and we didnt get the memo.

 

The Partnership sounding scared. They sound jittery. Why else would they need to begin to deploy race politics so hard if not to rally their voter base around them. and that’s an old Bas trick, eh. When under attack rally the troops. So in one breath the PM will talk about representing the nayshun….and in another, she scolding people to get in their section.

 

But I want to take a minute and examine this voter base that the PP appealing to. Persad-Bissessar can only be appealing to a group for whom policies based on tribalism and ethnic division will work on. So then, is the leader of the PP saying that her voter base wants ethnic division? Is the leader of the PP also saying that she is quite willing to use divisive tactics once it keeps her popular. Remind me what was the new politics we voted for in 2010 again?

We won’t be getting any of that new politics anytime soon simply because Kamla and the PP must now rally the troops together and bunker down until 2015. Any loss of her voter base, or the Indian vote to the PNM will be a bad sign. Especially since she knows that she depended heavily on the PNM vote that the COP managed to capture. That’s out the window now since PNM supporters see COP for what it truly is….a Trojan Horse of a party.

Kamla also knows that there is no way she can win the seat of government with just the Hindu government. So the struggle is on. Let’s hope others keep their head on and see this Ethnic agenda policy for what it truly is….divide and rule so that the UNC can live another day….but still, you have to ask yourself what it says about the party’s voter base that race politics appeals to them.

De Vice Cyah Done!

Parsan’s 60%

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You might have missed it, but this week Ambassador Neil Parsan, a man who was appointed to represent all of Trinidad and Tobago decided that he was only batting for Indians…..but not to worry, his wife is a black woman….he says….so that makes it ok. We can trust him to do his job. I wish I could direct you to the speech that he made, but it’s been removed from the embassy’s website. But in it he referred to Indians as being the most well to do and progressive ethnic group in Trinidad and Tobago.

Indians make up roughly 40% of our population, so in one fell swoop Parsan managed to paint every other group as a bunch of ketch ass parasites. The argument put forward by some supporters of the UNC is that the Ambassador pulled a Romney and was speaking to a specific interest group made up of a specific ethnicity and so tailored his speech to suit…..my response after my semi choked Bullshit is this: Parsan is a diplomat, not a candidate for a political post; he is supposed to represent every group in this space; and playing the race card in front of an audience is extremely undiplomatic. That’s not his job. Romney’s 47% speech was bad enough for all its undertones and stereotyping of Liberal America as a bunch of freeloaders, but how dare Neil Parsan decide to stereotype citizens of this country in this way. So no other group has achieved anything?
Every single ethnic group here has contributed in some way or the other to the country’s development. The much maligned urban depressed areas are where much of the culture that has made us internationally known comes from. The Chinese, Africans, Amerindians, Arabs, Portuguese, Europeans have all contributed. So how on earth can Parsan decide that the most well to do and progressive group is the Indians? Is he implying that the other 60% have done fuck all? And what about other Indian activists that just this week claimed that Indians are the most oppressed group here. How do you get to be the most well to do and the most oppressed at the same time?

Do we really want to go down the road here of discussing who contributes and how?

If we were to just look at which group pays the most taxes in this country something tells me the results going to paint a very disturbing picture about who contributes and how. If we were to trace where and how the drugs and arms trade starts and where it ends up, something tells me that we are going to have a very interesting picture of Trinidad and Tobago, crime and contributions.

But let’s stay away from hypotheticals for now and just consider what Parsan’s comments mean.

Because you see, if Parsan had an appreciative audience for this speech it means there are Trinbagonians among us who agree that Indians are the most progressive group in the country. And yes they have made huge strides, moving from being immigrant peasants to the driving force behind the local business and finance sector. But the country is not just made up of business and finance.

For Trinidad and Tobago to be what it is everyone had to contribute in multiple ways. And every group here still has a long way to go.

For Parsan to decide to single out one group is one thing, to pass on erroneous unsubstantiated information just for the sake of stroking the egos of his audience is quite another….and GOPIO? Really? In a multi ethnic space we still supporting and humoring groups that representing the interests of only one ethnicity? When will we learn that a nation is more than the sum of its…..it is its sum total….period.

This ethnic thinking is getting us no where. We still stuck thinking in percentages, and shares, and pieces and parts. That is the new politics promised to the nayshun, I guess.

De Vice Cyah Done!