The win or lose topic for the elections of 2020?

THE EDITOR: It is my humble, unpaid, unsolicited view, that in true TT fashion, the swing voters will be forced to gravitate to whichever political party that can prove, to the last cent, who thrived less, not more, on misdirected funds. With the current Non Profit Organisations Bill (NPO) struggling through Parliament, the proof of the political pudding will be in the eating of this delectable political fare.

It is only a pre-preschooler who could be fooled into believing that every single TT NPO is squeaky clean. Even if there are only five among the reported 7,000 NPOs, we need to weed them out. Money laundering is a global cancer and we live in a global village. Can laundered funds be unwittingly used to fund terrorist movements? Or, as we say here in TT, is the Pope in the Vatican always a Catholic?

TT cannot be exempt from worldwide examination. It moves beyond the political to attempt to water down this much-needed scrutiny. If your favourite NPO cannot face being registered and screened, it means there is something questionable happening. Which genuine lover of humankind will want their lovingly donated money being used to destroy lives? Genuine volunteers and patrons will not run away from genuine establishments. Never. Not when it is a true labour of love.

Image is everything, with political image being the most delicate to keep from being fractured. Protesting too much against the efficacy of this bill will mark you for political death. There is no way for the innocent contributor with a big heart to prove that their money is always being used wisely. Those who are born to inherited wealth will still need to prove that their money is being distributed with good intentions.

At the end of it all, there is no race but the human race and we all live in a global village. Village life, over the centuries, has always meant everybody minding your business.

TT should not be blacklisted because of selfish greed.

Lynette Joseph

Diego Martin.