Let Arima’s Flora bloom again

THE EDITOR: Five years of loses must come to an end. Arima has lost so much under the PNM administration with former MP Anthony Garcia and Mayor Lisa Morris-Julien. It’s a shame. In the daylight it’s obvious the cleanliness of the streets has gone; the rats scurry down drains as evening nears.

The Warden/Inland Revenue Office has gone. The WASA sub-office and the borough corporation office have been moved from the heart of Arima.

Social Development has been relegated to a nook in the office of TTConnect, “upstairs Pennywise.” The efficiency and quick handling of birthpapers have gone at Legal Affairs. Now it’s hours on end waiting and then it’s “come back tomorrow.”

The ease of movement in and out of Arima has gone. Now heavy lines of traffic snake through the main arteries of the town, happy to get out.

At night, except for one or two bars, the gambling dens and street vendors, there is no night life. No artistic productions. No night games or sports for the young and young-at-heart with energy to burn. People racing home after work look left and right for muggers and bandits. These will strike even near the police station on Broadway or the park by the Santa Rosa RC Church. The sound of a pan is heard only on Borough Day and Carnival, if at all.

Outside the town centre, in Calvary and Mt Pleasant, sporadic gunshots make us wonder what Garcia has been doing to secure his constituency. Even Central (Arima Secondary School), the pride of Arima when it comes to education in the district, is gasping to stay relevant with incomplete construction works and an aging plant that the former MP, the Minister of Education, has shown no sense of urgency in rescuing.

Residents wait for days and sometimes weeks for “water to come.” This is happening right now in a place whose name in the Amerindian language means “water.” With no new plans for employment generation, businesses are scraping by. The flower shop on Lopez Street has closed down.

Arima cannot afford another five years of this malaise, neglect and slow death.

Flora Singh, the candidate going up against the PNM’s Penelope Beckles, has brought a breath of fresh air to the borough and has raised the hopes of Arimians. She is passionate, honest, a nose-to-the-ground worker and a woman with a big heart. She has worked tirelessly with the under-privileged, bathing the destitute, sharing meals and clothing, praying ceaselessly for a better life for the people.

As a councillor from 2010-2013, Singh spearheaded the Arima queen competition that became a looked-forward-to event. It was a boost to local talent and creativity. The widening of the river at Beckles Lane came through her persistence and concern for residents. Sports and culture found life under her stewardship.

As the neglect of Arima is doomed to continue with the choice of Beckles for the PNM, the chance to put a tough, genuine worker in the Parliament has been offered once more and should be grabbed with both hands by Arimians. Her election will happen with votes from both sides, for Arima comes first for the real patriots of this eastern town.

Singh has already ignited a fire by her acceptance of the candidacy. It is now up to the level-headed decision of 20,000 plus voters on election day to make her the next MP. Her election will save all of us from the jaws of continued neglect, it will save us from the parched dryness seen in our taps, it will save from the the lack of ideas, lack of vision and poor service from the elected office holders. The town should not be losing more flower shops.

On August 10, by voting for this gifted woman, we will see Arima’s Flora bloom again.

JEROME CHAITAN

Arima