TRAGEDIES

 On Monday last a PNM Minister of Government and her family were tragically killed in an early morning fire. But then it was reported, when criticisms were levied against the Trinidad & Tobago Fire Service (TTFS) for their poor and inadequate response, that the TTFS were  defending themselves by saying that there was an inadequate water supply at the time. And then the argument started. 

The (PNM) Minister of Public Utilities,  defending the Water & Sewage Authority (WASA), said that it was not true and that there had indeed been an adequate water supply. then a  "senior official of the TTFS told the Express ..." newspaper that there was in fact an inadequate water supply and that the water pressure was too low and that was why water trucks had to be brought in.

Now clearly somebody is lying. The Minister cannot weasel out of what he is reported to have said by saying that there was a supply of water (as opposed to an 'Adequate' supply). And then it is clear that the "senior TTFS official" cannot say anything else as he could, at worst lose his job, or be disciplined for challenging the Minister.

But a citizen, And her Husband, And her Children all lost their lives in this fire. Left unanswered is the question that (assuming always, but not accepting, that the lie is with the Minister) would the family have survived if the water problem had not existed? Frankly, it sounds to me that both sides are to blame for this tragedy - and that is itself a tragedy. But we'll probably never know! And that is another tragedy!

TROUBLE AHEAD

The coming year is going to be a tough one for us in T&T. Take a look at what is happening around the world - at least with our biggest trading partners:

First of all , there is the incoming President of the United States. Trump has promised to levy import tariffs of 25 percent on all goods coming into the States. This will affect not only the Canadians and the Mexicans, but the Europeans as well. Every thing is going to cost more as a result - especially down here. Then there is the problem of the war in Ukraine: Trump has promised to end it immediately. But he has little or no leverage with Russia which has to mean that he will put pressure on Ukraine by cutting off American aid - which amounts to billions! 

But who will that hurt the mist besides Ukraine? Answer - the American arms manufacturers. Most of the money that America gives to Ukraine is spent in the States on military equipment, while a small portion of it is spent in Europe. Ending the war abruptly as Trump has promised will cause the many arms manufacturers to shrink their spending as well as their staffs. In other words, costs as well as unemployment will rise. 

The United Kingdom also is in some turmoil, which is set to get worse as the new Labour Government finds that it can't keep their election promises. And France too has its problems. They have just fired their Prime Minister because of his budget and the confusion in that country is enormous.

And back home in T&T the PNM Government is facing all of these problems together with some of their own making. For example the Prime Minister has just given himself an 85 percent pay rise while telling public service workers that they can only get a 4 percent rise in pay! Dr. Rowley seeks to justify this enormous pay rise by saying that he didn't do it - it was the Salary Review Commission1 Unfortunately for him, nobody believes that line. It is more likely that the Prime Minister believes that he stands a good chance of losing the elections due next year and therefore is probably 'padding' his pension - a Prime Minister gets his salary for life!!

Unfortunately for the country the UNC has so far been unable to convince 'floating' voters that it has the answers or the necessary leadership to fix the problems. Clearly, the PNM message in the next elections due next year (2025) and that the UNC under its present leadership will only make things worse. The UNC will counter that by saying that they do have both the answers as well as the leadership to fix things. We'll soon find out who is able to sell its product more.

In the meantime prepare yourselves for hard times regardless as to who wins next year. Unfortunately, both sides seem to have forgotten the injunction: there is only one reason for politics -  there is only one reason for Government: To make life better for the people. There is NO other reason.