The trials in T&T
Editorial
Guyana Chronicle
December 22, 2006
OVER the past few years, Trinidad and Tobago has outperformed most of its fellow CARICOM states when it comes to its economic performance.
Unfortunately, however, the social fortunes in Trinidad have not been quite as healthy as the economic.
An examination and analysis of the headlines in the Trinidad Express over the past two days shows that something, several things in fact, appear to be rotten in the twin-island republic.
There is the, for example, the current Jamaat al Muslimeen 'debt-forgiveness' fiasco, which has embroiled Prime Minister Patrick Manning in what everyone but the mainstream media must be referring to as a political scandal.
With the State closing in on the Islamic group's property – in lieu of debts for damage caused during a failed 1990 coup – Jamaat leader Abu Bakr has alleged that the TT$32M debt had been forgiven by PM Manning in exchange for work done during Manning's 2002 campaign.
In what appears to be the most curious of defences, the government's lawyer – Douglas Mendes SC – has argued that Bakr cannot use the debt forgiveness defence because, even if the allegations were true, such a deal would be illegal and hence not binding.
Mr. Mendes has argued that to have Mr. Manning testify in the case would be subjecting the PM to the embarrassment and inconvenience of a response.
Also, not only is Housing Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley under investigation for allegedly removing building materials from a public project to a privately run one under his control, but there is also talk of a plot against Rowley by members of his own party.
Of course, the worst news coming out T&T is that which is happening outside of the corridors of power.
There is the story of 18-year-old Keston Paul, who was stabbed to death over money – owed to him – for a pair of sneakers. According to an article, Paul had moved out of the crime-riddled Laventille area to work and make things better for himself.
Another story details how, in Laventille, a 12-year-old stabbed a 14-year-old to death after an altercation.
Then there are of course the kidnappings. Even as one woman is released, another one is kidnapped.
The same day that Debbie Ali was freed by her abductors after a two-week ordeal, popular supermarket owner, Vindra Naipaul was kidnapped – her kidnappers asking for $3M in contrast to the $1M demanded for Ali's release.
Kidnapping of the wealthy, or even the presumably wealthy, has become an industry in Trinidad with 58 kidnappings for ransom last year; Naipaul's kidnapping makes the 20th this year.
Even as its wealth increases, and investment in the country grows at rates we in Guyana can only dream about at this juncture, Trinidad seems to be undergoing a social implosion.
There is the well-known Biblical verse, Mark 8:36, which asks: "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the world and lose his own soul?"
This is a question that the people Trinidad and Tobago should be collectively asking themselves at this point.