A Battle of Perspectives... (Vendors, Property Owners, Shoppers & the Mayor)

Listening to the Mayor of Port of Spain enunciate his utopian vison for the city one cannot help but get swept along with the sheer grandness of it.

Visions of a properly attired citizenry attending poetry readings under the stars, of bandstands alive with the enchanting sounds played to a grateful audience as they walk along pristine promenades and walkways sparkling clean and devoid of any traces of the ills of society; brilliantly lit and festive.

Listening to the vendors rant about the hardships they endure to eek out a life, the appeal for an opportunity to earn an honest dollar to survive and raise their suffering children, one cannot help but be moved by their plight, feeling for the tiredness of the burden and the fear of the unknown that comes with abject poverty.

The pedestrians and the users of the city, while they would prefer a much cleaner environment, pass into and out of the city on their business in the tens of thousands on a daily basis, taking the good with the bad as they go about their way. 

Most shoppers that come into the city are not searching for a sanitized, citywide mall where high prices would certainly abound, but rather a bargain and a chance to haggle a better price so as to stretch the buying power of their dollar, an opportunity not so easily afforded in the more established and air conditioned gentry.

All these groups have been called together to determine the actions of the new Port of Spain City Corporation, led by Mayor Louis Lee Sing - part 'larger than life' super hero, part cartoon character depending on your perspective.

Before I go any further, I would first like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Mayor for at least having a vision for his responsibility, an understanding of the rules that govern the implementation of such a vision, and the will and fortitude to follow it through.

That said, he is earning himself no friends by quoting Karl Hudson Phillips as a standard bearer for his vision for the city regardless of his love of the man, as Mr. Phillips is hardly seen as a champion of the people nor of human rights. He (His Worship) would do well instead to incorporate the teachings of many of the greats who have gone before (the Gandhi's and Luther King's of this world), and should try to incorporate their experience and to emulate wise King Solomon as he pontificates and adjudicates this thorny issue.

It is important to note that not many politicians are familiar with this particular formula of planning and execution, most of whom choose to float along hemming and tucking as they go instead. As is clear by the present (and some would say deplorable) condition of the city of Port of Spain, that approach benefits no one and it IS time for change to come to the capital.

The trick I believe, is in managing all of the different perspectives of all of the different stakeholders as we go about that change, and the weaving of them all into one cohesive national quilt that gives some to all and leaves no one with none.

If I were to give advice to the Mayor I would suggest in his attempt to  cut the proverbial child in half he makes sure that all of the correct parents are present in the first place. Many of the millionaire and I dare say billionaire property owners in the city are the offspring of people who broke the very same laws they are now insisting he enforce, and sold wherever and however to make a living; that they were able to save and invest and to come to be in the highly favored and blessed position they find themselves in today is owed in no small part to the 'looseness' of the enforcement of those very same laws.

It would be a slap in the face of all that is decent that, having been given the opportunity to leave the real struggle behind, they gang up against the next generation of themselves and outlaw and punish the very lives they would be living now were it not for circumstance, good fortune, luck of the draw and the grace of God.

To the property and store owners I would caution against a city devoid of vendors. They are the very draw that your business depends upon, and were Charlotte Street to be closed as a bargain center, the new one that opens wherever it opens may not be as kind to your bottom line. That we need to find a harmonious and workable solution is clear, but it must be based on an equitable accommodating of the symbiotic competing elements of downtown commerce.

To the vendors i would say learn the rules and play by them; when organized into associations, do it democratically and incorporate into all your plans and future endeavors the actual law of the land which, while bendable, should not be broken wilfully or otherwise.

There is much we can learn from this experience, and there are many lessons here for fixing Trinidad & Tobago and bringing it into the paradise we want it to be.

We must not lose sight of the fact that we are all here for a time, and despite the differences in our circumstances and our perspectives, we share this life and we share this land, and for the duration of that time at least and as an example of those we do this work for, we should try to do it with an abundance of respect for each other and an understanding that every creed and race are promised an equal place in this land.

Life has a rhythm and a background noise every where you go, and it is up to us to decide what it sounds like in Port of Spain.

It could either be the hum of a living city, vibrant commerce and a people getting along, or it could be the sound of the different groups in society, hardened in their position and seeing the world only from their perspective, rubbing abrasively against each other, violence, advantage and spite.

Something to think about...