The need for dialogue

THE EDITOR: What is that UNC activist trying to achieve with his releasing of all those telephone numbers to the population? Is he trying to show that he has access to the telephones numbers of important people in our society? Is he reminding the nation that he once sat in a place of power and influence, where he was able to collate these telephone numbers, legally or illegally.

But who gave him the right to lay these numbers in the public domain? Did he get permission from the owners of these telephones to make their numbers public? Or is it the sheer frustration of the society that he is seeking to sensitise these people about?

The argument has begun on this controversial matter. For so many people in our society are hiding behind their cell numbers. Most of us are guarding our numbers. Only special people are allowed on our phones and even then there is an editing that goes on before we answer.

Most secretaries are cautioned about releasing the cell numbers of their superiors. Ministers, MPs, lawyers, CEOs, chairmen et al are doing the same thing. It is impossible to speak to a minister on his/her cellphone. The amount of “gatekeepers” standing in the way makes it an unsurmountable hurdle to speak to ministers, et al.

Why should this culture be perpetuated in our nation? Ministers and MPs are employees of the people. This is a fact that needs to be repeated in the ears of these ministers/MPs. The people need to enjoy healthy communication and healthy communication is not monologues but dialogues. There are too many monologues coming from this Government and people are frustrated.

The whole Petrotrin fiasco is as a result of poor communication and egoism. At the end of the day, both the OWTU leadership and the Government will have to deal with the consequences of their failure to preserve our patrimony. The impact of that fiasco has just begun.

The Minister of Energy seems to be now awaken to the value of having our own refinery, where the small volume of regular gas could be provided to our fishermen at a reasonable price. It is not economical to import a small volume of regular gas. The fishermen now have to purchase super gas for their boats. There is now a series of reactions in the fishing industry that will cause the price of fish to skyrocket.

There was always an alternative route to the closure of the refinery. However, both the Government and the OWTU refused to have dialogue and allowed their strong-headed egos to cloud the alternative route.

Dialogue is not only absent in the telecommunication arena with this Government. It also absent in the postal arena. It seems as though there are no secretaries or administrative assistants working for these ministers. For there are not even acknowledgment of letters.

I am still waiting on acknowledgments for letters sent to Dr Keith Rowley in 2014 when he was the opposition leader. Letters were sent again when he became Prime Minister and still no acknowledgment.

Letters were sent to the Minister of Works in 2015, 2016, and 2017; the Minister of Finance in 2016; the general secretary of the P.M. in 2015; the Minister of Agriculture in 2016; the Minister of Rural Development and Local Government in 2016; the CEO of the Land Settlement Agency in 2017, and the Minister of Education in 2015 and again this year.

Some of these letters were sent twice but there has been no acknowledgment. I also complained to my MP, who advised that the letters be brought to him and he will deliver them by hand. This was done and still there is no response.

I have stopped writing to these people. Frustration creeps in when one is treated in this manner. This is a trend of politicians that the citizens have accepted as norm. Politicians are allowed to spend five years in their “holes” hibernating and then after that five years, they appear again to get one’s vote. This has to stop. These politicians are the employees of the people. It is the people who pay their salaries.

REV ROBERT DASH

Baptist pastor

Tableland