Things are falling apart

STEVE ALVAREZ

FOR THE last two weeks there has been a massive leak on the sidewalk at 4 Hyderabad Street in St James. Thousands of gallons of water are flowing into the drain, and nothing is being done to fix it. This is even though the leak has been reported since it first appeared. The water pressure is so strong that it has broken up the sidewalk.

This is not uncommon in St James or many other communities throughout TT. Leaking pipes, potholes, hanging cables, damaged manhole covers, pumps that do not work, floodgates being removed from their location and roadways that have deteriorated to the point of being impassable seem normal.

At the airport it is reported that the radar system is not working properly, the police service fingerprint system has been down for months, causing many to be unable to complete any business that requires a certificate of good character.

Court cases are being delayed for various reasons, causing such a delay in justice that many trials take decades to arrive at a conclusion. The appointment of a commissioner of police is now poised to take years again.

There are reports of hundreds of police vehicles awaiting servicing and similarly hundreds of Public Transport Service Corporation buses. The procurement law seems to have reached a roadblock and there is no indication when this legislation will be enacted.

Local government reform, including a new structure for property tax, is a work in progress for over five years.

Almost everywhere there seems to be a series of failures and the inability of government to get things right.

While there may be a rush to blame the PNM Government, there seems to be a bigger problem in our society. One may be led to conclude that the levels of civility required for an orderly society is missing.

It is not the politicians that indiscriminately steal cables from the utility poles and leave them hanging dangerously along our roads. Who steals the manhole covers and floodgates? Who is responsible for now ensuring that there are back-up parts for the country’s radar system?

There is nothing to be gained, no comfort, in pointing out the failures of the Government without solutions. What are the solutions to our lack of national pride and social responsibility? Simply crying out for an election now is not the answer.

Hope for a better tomorrow must come from a well-structured plan for order in our society, for unity among the electorate, for improving our infrastructure to encourage development and growth, for practical plans to deal with crime and the judiciary.

That kind of hope must come from our people willing to look beyond our present racial voting patterns and embracing a new political structure that unites all our people and utilises the talents of the best of us to rebuild our nation for generations to come.