The emperor’s new coat of arms

THE EDITOR: Prime Minister Rowley recently announced that he is changing TT’s coat of arms. “You see them three Columbus ships in the emblem? They will go,” he boldly pronounced at a meeting of the political party he leads. His subjects roared in approval.

Having made this reckless proclamation, Dr Rowley must now identify and quantify the economic and social impact of his decree.

Financial costs will include redesigning and reprinting birth certificates for more than 1.4 million people. Death certificates will need to be redesigned. New driver's licences, identification cards and passports must be issued.

Are the relevant government offices prepared for the additional workload? As it is, it takes hours, sometimes days, even months to obtain certain government-issued documents.

To date some people have not yet received their notices of property tax due. Ironically, property tax notices were sent out on letterheads and envelopes on which the coat of arms was imprinted. New rubber stamps are an additional cost.

Existing signs on government buildings will be torn down and replaced. These buildings include ministries, schools, offices of Members of Parliament, and embassies and high commissions. Podiums and banners will be replaced.

New currency notes and coins will be instituted. The nation vividly remembers the torture to which we were subjected when the Rowley-led government decided to change over our $100 bills. People – young and old, healthy and infirm – stood in lines for hours to relinquish their old notes for the promise of the new. What was the benefit of that punitive, tortuous exercise? Similarly, what is the benefit of changing this national emblem?

Rowley is setting a terrifyingly dangerous precedent with his dictatorial decision. At his political party’s meeting he told his faithful that he wanted to mention “something that is not so substantial in law…” Can you imagine a prime minister wanting to “mention” something as critical as changing our national emblem without first consulting the citizens of the country?

Furthermore, if a matter is not “substantial in law,” does that give him the supreme right to impose his will on the people? If so, what next? What happens if he gets up one morning and considers the words of the national anthem or the national pledge to be humdrum? By George, let’s change those!

Rowley should carefully note that as he changes one coat for another, in the interim he will be like the proverbial emperor – completely exposed.

JASODRA RAMPERSAD

Couva