Stop moving the goalpost, Pilgrim

ROBERTA JAMES

AS I DROVE to work Wednesday morning I was greeted by the sight of two murdered men on a bench on the corner of my traffic light in Arima. I thought scenes like this were only in movies but sadly they are now becoming part of our daily routine as we all come to the realisation that TT is engulfed in a crisis as never before. Headlines such as “56 dead in 43 days” or “11 killed in 24 hours” reflect the horrors that face our scared society.

On February 10 I was quite startled by an article titled “A response to Kamla” by veteran journalist Errol Pilgrim who sought to discredit the plans of the UNC leader as enunciated at her party’s congress. In so doing he was attempting to create a narrative of missteps during her tenure as prime minister.

It was rather disingenuous that Pilgrim chose to write on Persad-Bissessar’s record while ignoring the current wave of lawlessness facing our population. One would have thought that with so many years of experience Pilgrim would have commented on the rampant violence against children and women occurring unabated under the current administration.

I would have thought Pilgrim would have questioned the fact that so many young people are falling victims to crime as well as turning towards a life of crime. How can headlines such as “Elderly woman raped” or “Mother shot in front of son at graduation” be ignored to discuss subjective issues which a population already digested and acted upon in the 2015 election?

You cannot change the political goalpost or look to rehash issues that have no relevance to the present security of our citizens today, Pilgrim. What our population would be voting on is the record of this Rowley regime which demonstrates neglect, incompetence and total ignorance about the burdens of our population.

The people of this nation want answers as to why the Government said it knew who all the gang leaders were, yet after getting the Anti-Gang Bill passed it is still unable to make a breakthrough with crime. Our people need to know after five years why their freedom has been impacted as the fear of becoming victims of crime continues to increase.

However, the most astounding part of Pilgrim's article was his total misjudgment of economics. His assertion that TT is in a better economic position than Barbados and Jamaica has never been in question. The question is: Is TT in a better financial position than it was five years ago? The answer is clearly no as our reserves continue to decrease, public debt continues to increase, thousands have lost their jobs and revenue from the energy sector is volatile.

As a matter of fact, the crisis at Point Lisas, which has resulted in major companies like Yaara closing down and is a direct result of this government’s poor negotiations, and the recent tabling of a bill in Parliament to increase the borrowing limit are signs that our nation may not be in a better economic position than our neighbours in the future.

If Pilgrim was being unbiased in his approach he would have informed the nation that it was Persad-Bissessar’s energy incentives which led to the Juniper and Angelin projects that saved our energy sector. Least could be said about the deceased Dragon deal of this administration.

As a taxpayer, I often question how could the Rowley regime have inherited an “abused economy” when it was able to renovate the Magnificent Seven, the Red House, the Prime Minister’s residence in Tobago, President’s House, complete the Brian Lara Stadium, pay a foreign lobbyist millions, pay high phone bills and even settle an exorbitant case of sexual misconduct in high office.

Sorry, Pilgrim, the real economic abuse that our citizens would remember is the three times fuel prices were increased, the removal of VAT on over 7,000 food items and consistent neglect to our key sectors like education and healthcare.

The people of this nation, regardless of the views of some commentators, will choose between Persad-Bissessar’s vision, which is supported by her track record of delivery, and Rowley's broken promises.