Policies to enrich select few

THE EDITOR: For far too long it has been bandied about that public servants and by extension employees of WASA make no positive contribution to society and should be dispensed with. And the respective organisations privatised.

I would like to challenge the fair-minded citizens to look at the similarities in time that exist whenever these calls are echoed loudest. And dare I say it is always under a PNM administration? Why?

Is it because of a more sinister plot to hoodwink the populist into believing that privatisation is the way forward, only for these entities to land in the hands of a very entitled few?

Can it be to cover up wanton corruption in these organisations? Or for the betterment and benefit of us, the wider population?

There is an age-old saying that the fish rots from the head. That is where the changes need to be made. The average lower-tier staff working for a humbling $4,000-$5,000 monthly (or less in many cases) is not to be blamed for the inefficiencies. However, they are usually the casualties in this dangerous game that is played. No allowances, no perks, no entitlements in hand, but blame placed squarely on their shoulders with bellowing cry of "they lazy, send them home."

Most people are unaware that these are the very workers who report to work daily, trying to give of their best in spite of the ills they face. They work in an environment five years, ten years and more still classified as temporary. They are unable to attain mortgages, many living in debt. Not because of vanity but mere survival.

They try to assist the public despite the fact that the levels of bureaucracy so many face in the system are far above them.

This same level of scrutiny should be aimed at our failed government and its policies. It is elected to improve the lives of all the citizens, yet it puts every measure in place to make our lives more difficult, frustrating us into poverty and enriching a select few.

R DOUGLAS

via e-mail