Way to a better tomorrow

STEVE ALVAREZ

I CAME IN at the back end of a radio programme on power 102FM on April 14. Andy Johnson was speaking to a woman and they were trying to understand why governments of the past could not deliver on things that they agree should be done. They were unable to arrive at a conclusion

One may wish to suggest that the answer is very simple. They do not know how to do what they want done.

Almost every politician, commentator, social activist and preacher agree on the following:

* There is need for food security.

* We need a better solution to our traffic problems.

* Our water distribution system is deplorable.

* Our system of justice is ineffective and contributes to an escalation of criminal activity.

* Our Police Service is unable to operate efficiently.

* Our healthcare system is unsatisfactory.

* Our public service is inefficient.

* We need to diversify our economy.

How one goes about arriving at these goals continues to be the challenge of the many political parties that had the opportunity to manage the governance of TT. These goals remain elusive in the main because the people know what to do but the politicians don’t.

Ask the farmers and they will tell you what foods grow best under what conditions. They know what crop is most profitable, they know what products are in demand locally and internationally and they know how to get it done. They know the problems, constraints and solutions.

The real problem with food security lies with our inability to have a meaningful conversation with our farmers.

The traffic solution is easier. We need a train system along the most congested routes. This will assist the taxi drivers as they will be able to complete many more trips – from the communities to the train stations – rather than lose hours sitting in traffic.

Our water distribution is no less complicated. The system of trying to pump water to everyone is costly, inefficient and destructive. In attempting to get water to those at the far end of the distribution network, the pressure at the near end destroys the infrastructure.

The answer is a gravity-fed system that evenly distributes water and reduces the problems associated with unbalanced pressure. The other solution is management. It is not difficult to dictate that every time the road is dug up it is repaired immediately.

Our system of justice must move from one where justice is delivered over years to one where it is delivered in the shortest possible time. That can be augmented with plea bargaining and a special court for gun violence and homicides. Our citizens must know that it is not likely for them to break the law and continue evading justice.

Our police must be given modern equipment backed up with updated laws. The details are too complex to fit in this short article.

Our healthcare system must be free of the inefficiency endemic within the public sector. The new healthcare system must include a modern health insurance system that ensures citizens can access the best healthcare locally and abroad.

The public service has to move away from a system whose modus operandi remains rooted in pro-independence operations to one of modern business practices. Governance and government services ought to be restructured to allow for greater community involvement.

Diversifying the economy has to be well planned along sound economic and business disciplines. The tourism sector, for example, ought to be a major player in that restructure. The infrastructure needed to bring our tourism sector to international standards must be financed from international partnerships rather than funding from the Treasury.

The details to most of these are in the Democratic Party of TT’s revised “Vision for Trinidad and Tobago.” That together with the ideas and contributions of other political parties must chart the way forward for a better tomorrow for all the citizens of the country.

Steve Alvarez is the political leader of the DPTT