Pull Up Selecta... (Go Easy with the Democracy)

With the people distracted by the lifting of the curfew and the return to excess the Government of the day seems in a hurry to push some questionable policies, programs and legislation through in quick time. Innocuous and harmless in intent on the surface, they all seem to share a common trait in that upon closer examination real concerns manifests themselves.

The first of these grand ideas wants to spread taxpayer funds over depressed communities to seed development which sounds like a good thing to do. When the project is named Color Me Orange and aimed at Opposition strongholds it begs questions which it doesn't answer, and even the normally vociferous among the PNM front-liners fail to notice that Color Me Orange could well and deliberately be a euphemism for putting some UNC yellow into the PNM red. If this plan was designed to make it all right for PNMites to support the ruling Party 'just a little bit' then whoever created it deserves an award, but he should not be allowed to use taxpayers funds to do it. Beyond the Machiavellian politics what it will in fact do is further undermine the people of these communities and deepen the dependency syndrome by granting hand outs in exchange for make work labour. And while this capital injection may be a boon to the businesses that lost out to the curfew, what it will also do is leave a trail of destruction in its wake as these same people once again exchange bought loyalty to 'eat ah food,' something that if not sustained, usually results in increased crime. 

I would like to suggest that this same seed money be used to create hundreds of 'Micro Business Development Parks' throughout the country especially in the depressed communities that can provide space at pepper corn rent to encourage and support entrepreneurs and small business start ups.  From tailors to seamstresses, snack food makers and bakeries, artists, crafts men and other small operations, this plan would provide a chance at establishing themselves in a way closed to them before. Subsidized electricity, free broad band and cheap natural gas could also be provided to give them a tremendous competitive edge at the critical start up phase, and properly executed, could move many from being job seekers to job providers in  no time, creating an environment of hope and opportunity once again.

The second issue that caught my attention is the Government's plan at establishing what, to my mind could only end up as a private police force that by passes the constitution, concentrates power in the Executive and undermines the democracy. Yes we need massive reform and redevelopment in our police service but further undermining and undercutting it is not the way to go. We may not be happy with the speed of progress but Commissioner Gibbs is bringing new ideas on stream, and with the bookends of Ramesh Deosaran and Gillian Lucky to provide some stability to the thing we are in an excellent place to begin the work of creating a twenty first century police force. I am loathe to support giving ANY government this type of unrestricted power and I call on the Prime Minister to thrash this idea and return instead to working with and building on the Constitutionally provided for and Service Commission regulated Trinidad & Tobago Police Service. Augmenting duties with the establishment of traffic wardens is one thing, putting unregulated power to restrict liberty in the hands of politicians is something else entirely. This is one idea that should never see the light of day and should be resisted by the population as vociferously as possible.

The final issue that demands our attention is the legislation being put forward by the Minister of Justice that seeks to challenge the rights of a person at the most basic level, is over zealous and allows for the re-violation of a victim in the name of crime fighting. Passing laws that allows the State to violate a person's right to privacy of their very person is the longest drop on the slippery slope and leaves us not much further to go in the surrender of all rights and freedoms. This Bill may have its genesis in good intentions (if that is indeed the case) but it must find its demise in even clearer and loftier ones. The government must be made to know that we will not support legislation that undermines our constitutionally guaranteed civil rights and we insist instead on deepening them further through consultation on a wide range of issues nationwide.

The members of the government needs to be told that the job before them for which they were hired is simple to the able and easily accomplished by the qualified. The bigger question that needs to be asked before we further fritter away our enshrined freedoms is if the people that are trying to do the job are in fact capable of doing so in the first place. That answer may well decide everything else in my opinion and guide as to where we ought to go from here.