Trinidad is not a real place

Paolo Kernahan

DOES THE Prime Minister truly understand what's meant by the phrase "Trinidad is not a real place?" The popular axiom is a grasping attempt by citizens to express the frustration of life here. Dr Rowley says "...TT isn't a torn nation or failed state..." There's this unsupportable notion that a deeply troubled nation must have bombed-out buildings, roving gangs of militias, or people lining the streets draped in tattered clothes with faraway looks in their eyes.

Most people are loath to say it but we judge ourselves by the state of that pitiable relative in our Caribbean family – Haiti. "Sure we have problems, but this isn't Haiti."

The Express newspaper asked citizens if they agreed with the PM's sentiments about TT. There was an astonishing response worth paraphrasing here: "The people who believe this country isn't a real place wouldn't make it anywhere else. That's because the kinds of things we can do in this country we can't do anywhere else without getting into trouble. So those people should just be quiet and be happy with how good we have it here."

Not for all the pyramids in Egypt would I have bet on a response that perfectly exemplifies why this country isn't a real place. The irony of the commenter not getting the irony of their comment...let's just say this has been a big week for irony in this fantasy island.

Trinidad isn't a failed state, but we're trapped in a perpetual state of failure. Dereliction, incompetence and outright malfeasance in governance, widespread criminality, simmering racial hostilities (fomented in no small measure by politics) abysmal infrastructure, and public service delivery – these conditions, while not unique to Trinidad, wouldn't be tolerated by citizens in other nations.

That's the crux of it, isn't it? There are a million points of failure along this fragile strand of existence here. Like mini-strokes in the brain, they're all leading to a slow, but inexorable demise.

What does Trinidad not being a real place look like on the ground? When you go to the police for a certificate of good character only to be casually told, "You know the system dong, right?" How could a civilian just off the street know of the workings of a police "system?" "Yeah, it dong. It will take a month for you to get that certificate." Imagine that! A whole month. Why not six months?

Maybe you take a day off to go to Licensing to transfer a vehicle. You spend upwards of six hours there only to be told an error was made on a document (by a licensing officer). Consequently, you have to return in three weeks to complete the transaction. It was impossible to correct the error right there and then – it would take nearly a month to accomplish that feat. Mexican workers in the US are building homes in that time frame.

Still not convinced? How about when a woman called the police to report someone parking in front of her driveway? "Ma'am, that is the guvament road. What you want me to do about that?" That's the free education we hear about practically every time the election tents go up. These are the indignities and frustrations we suffer daily knowing in our hearts that change is impossible in this unreal place.

After five years of shutting down a refinery that the nation was assured would never be shut down a government spokesperson cavalierly says, "After going through the formal process they've not been able to secure an appropriate investor. We're now going through a bit more of an informal process where basically people who have an interest in the refinery can express their interest to us."

In what world does a major business or state entity abandon a formal process for a more relaxed, casual one? It happens here, in the world we made of mud, lies and looking the other way.

There are no consequences for misconduct in public office – only promotions. No one contemplates the repercussions of unchecked failed governance and rampant lawlessness. This madness can only persist in a nation not wholly constituted.

Understandably, this is a land the PM doesn't recognise. We're talking about a man who has never even used an ATM – he doesn't live the experience of ordinary people. We aren't all PNM supporters so many can see what Dr Rowley can't...or won't. So no, Trinidad is not a real place, and that's as real as it gets.