I imagine Deyalsingh the great will prevail

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh

THE EDITOR: All hail Minister Terrence Deyalsingh! I was left in awe after listening to him speak about his stewardship as Minister of Health in Parliament. Even having crossed the grisly milestone of 800 covid19 deaths, all these grieving families should be comforted by the thought that it would have been worse.

I shudder to imagine the thousands more who would be dead if this minister’s expertise and brilliance had been lost to a lucky pharmacy somewhere in Trinidad.

This exemplary performer could well have begun his affirmation of self-confidence like the man from the Saw movies: “I want to play a game…” A game of death. After all, he invited the nation to imagine how many more lives would have been lost to covid19 if he was not at the helm.

It reminded me of an old joke about a little boy who, having missed his bus, ran behind it until he realised he had reached his stop. He made his way home and triumphantly boasted to his mother that he had saved his $1 fare. She then chastised his stupidity for not running behind a taxi and saving $5. “Smart-man” antics are not new to TT. Despite the science behind Dr Avery Hinds’s prophetic graphs, Deyalsingh’s presentation was but a crude attempt to deflect poor performance and sell us dreams.

So I acquiesced and stretched my imagination beyond the red zone. I imagined that Mia Mottley was prime minister of TT and a competent medical practitioner was our minister of health. One who could at least count the amount of vaccines in his medicine cabinet. Not a minister who would shed a tear over promenade limers taking a shot of puncheon, and yet ignore granny who stood in the rain with soaked feet to get an imaginary vaccine.

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I was transported to a place akin to John Lennon’s paradise. Strangely, the dark clouds of death over our country began to recede, Pfizer vaccines were available to the 99 per cent and the country was working again.

Emboldened, I further imagined that George Weekes and Uriah Butler were alive and fighting the covid19 variant that has attacked the voice, belly and spine of labour leaders. The “Massa” from Maraval had to remove his knee from the neck of the working class. Imagine he’s now even threatening to pull CAL planes right out of the sky. Still, nobody eh riot yet. Butler was aghast.

Look, Brian Lara scored 501 not out, but those were runs. More than 800 deaths under Deyalsingh’s watch and he too is not out. Imagine Haiti is now telling us they are sorry. Great is Minister Deyalsingh! I imagine he will prevail.

ANDREW CROSS

Tacarigua

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"I imagine Deyalsingh the great will prevail"

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