The Manicou Report

Jerry Narace

One man says we are living under a dictatorship. The other asks, “What are you talking about? This isn’t dictatorship. Pinochet, now that was a dictator.”

Sometimes it’s so easy to identify with the first guy.

I found this story reading one of my new favourite blogs Media Watch. I never watched more than a few seconds of any of Sasha Mohammed’s pieces on the health system in Trinidad and Tobago this week. So I can’t comment on the veracity of Ms. Mohammed’s information or criticisms of its supposed anti-government slant. However I will admit that her work makes me a little uneasy sometimes. Considering I am no fan of the Government that’s saying a lot.

So the story is that TV6’s Sasha Mohammed does this week-long in depth piece about the health sector from which I gather that the government didn’t look too good. Subsequently the Minister of Health, Jerry Narace, hot under the collar for what he calls “inaccuracies”, “unfair statements” and the “lack of balance”, appears on the TV6 set to be “interviewed” by Sasha Mohammed (in a minute you’ll see why I used quotation marks). However instead of Jerry Narace, Heinrich Himmler shows up at the TV6 newsroom, not to be interviewed, but to inform the nation of the evils of CCN.

***NOTE: Apparently TV6 complained to YouTube about the copyright infringement and the video was removed. Geez, these people know nothing about publicity.***

I would have thought that Minister Narace would have wanted to come in and discuss with Sasha Mohammed the source of her facts and pit his against hers. If I were Minster of Health, I would want to show the nation how she was wrong - embarrass her if I could. Why not let the truth come out? Instead, Himmler comes in, reads off a bunch of stats, and refuses any attempt by Ms. Mohammed to interview him - which is probably the way he wanted it. After all, he is the Minister of Health and his word should count for more than that of a lowly reporter. Once he speaks, the citizenry will shed whatever foolish beliefs they held after viewing Ms. Mohammed’s piece, right?

In essence all Mr. Narace did was to bury the truth in an unmarked grave. How is anyone supposed to find out what the truth is? She said her piece, he said his, but what’s the truth? It occurred to me that Mr. Narace’s appearance on TV6 was not to comfort worried citizens, but to bludgeon them with his stats. As bad as this may sound, this fits in perfectly with my own personal view of Mr. Narace i.e. I’m not convinced he’s in government because of a burning desire to serve the people. I’m also not sure he’s the kind of person that stays up at night worrying about the poor and disadvantaged.

Sasha Mohammed also deserves some criticism for that debacle of an interview. Jerry Narace just can’t walk onto the TV6 set and silence her with his finger. This isn’t a post-cabinet news conference. This was Sasha’s turf and she should have been more forceful in making the Minister know that. Kudos to her for having the testicular fortitude to end the interview, but by that time the damage was done and she had already shown herself to be a tad bit weak. Of course I am just the armchair analyst.

Posted in Infrastructure, Media, PNM, Politics | 5 Comments »

URP

Make-work programmes are worse than outright social security handouts, because people think they’re working when they’re wasting time. - BC Pires

We’ll get back to this quote in a little bit. I got back the internet this past Thursday after not having it for about two weeks. Not having access to the internet when I want it is not as bad as going without current or water, but it’s still quite distressing. You never really know how much you value it till it’s gone.

Anyway, I’ve been dying to share with you something I saw just before school closed for Easter. There’s a primary school near where I live that makes use of a bunch of URP workers. My guess would be about 10 or so of them which is easy to estimate since they’re usually sitting together in the shade talking and laughing scandalously i.e. they hardly ever seem to be working.

So one day I was looking out towards the school and I saw three of them doing work for a change, but the manner in which they were doing it was so ridiculous I couldn’t stop watching. Apparently picking up trash in a school yard is such an intricate and unwieldy assignment that it takes no fewer that three URP women working in tandem to accomplish this task - you’d think they were manning a bob sled or piloting Mr. Solo or something.

So these three people were walking together picking up trash in the school yard after recess. One walked with a garden rake, the next a long-handled dust pan and the last armed herself with a trash can. As they came upon a piece of trash URP Woman A places her dust pan in front of the trash while URP Woman B nudged it into the scoop. URP Woman B then completes the trash removal act by emptying the contents of the scoop into (you guessed it) the trash can carried by URP woman C. Rinse and repeat.

Well I was in awe. I never knew that trash collecting required so much manpower. And to think that I reenslave myself everytime my dogs make a mess in the yard. All kicks aside, there is something so obscene about seeing that the other day. What a complete waste of time, money and manpower.
Whatever happened to someone walking around with stick and a bag? That’s all it takes! I know that we here in T&T are not as technologically advanced as other countries, but for goodness’ sake we could put together a sharp stick and a bag. And the point isn’t really that they are making a mountain out of a mole hill, it’s that they really don’t have anything to do. This is why I put up that quote from an article that BC Pires wrote
(that can be found here in its entirety). I have to agree with him, this can’t be work. How can this be work? The scary thing is that these women probably think that they’re actually making a honest day’s wage, which if you really think about it really skews the debate on adequate compensation.

So how many URP women does it take to pick up a candy wrapper? The answer is not as funny as you would think.

(Before anyone accuses me of being sexist, I should tell you that all the workers at this school are women.)

Posted in Infrastructure, Personal Story, Social Issues | 9 Comments »

Prime Minister’s Residence

Construction work on the Prime Minister’s Residence

Some pictures from today’s Newsday that shows construction work being done on the Prime Minister’s new residence in St. Ann’s. I’m surprised that people aren’t more disgusted by this that they seem to be. It’s not just that the old residence was somehow deemed unsuitable, but that local construction workers are not being used to build it. According to the Prime Minister they’re a little on the lazy side. How are people not outraged by that. How insulting.

it does make me wonder though, if there is more in the mortar than the pestle. This is just pure speculation mind you, but is there something secretive going on there that macocious and talkative Trini construction workers shouldn’t be allowed to see? Trinidadian construction workers have built up the vast majority of this country’s buildings haven’t they? So what makes the PM’s residence so special?

Posted in Development, Infrastructure, PNM, Politics | 5 Comments »

Water Worries

Ah sorry boss, but it eh have no water no way.
Maybe we did promise you some water a long time ago but that was yesterday.
Where you from? Carapi-who? How yuh spell dat boss?
It have a place like that in Trinidad? Roger! Rogah! Whey yuh dey, boy?
Rojah, Rojah!Come and hear this nah. You ever hear of a place called Carapi…..boss, whey yuh say yuh living again? Yeah, Carapichina. *Guffaw* *Guffaw*.
Nah boss, sorry no water no matter where. Is dry season, yuh know. Yuh didn’t hear the Prime Minister beg allyuh for patience? Is all about dat doh have water yuh know.
Is Arima, Cunupia, Chaguanas, San Fernando, La Romaine, South Oropouche, Debe, Penal, La Brea and Fyzabad. Is pressha all around yuh know.
What is that about buss main? Yeah well the buss main and them is a problem, we does be lossing plenty water through that. Some ah them main and them around since the 1800’s yuh know. So when Works and them res’ a pave on top ah that the main and dem does buss.
We cyah do nothing about that. What it is you asking me about Alcoa. What Alcoa have to do with anything. Rogah, bossman say how Alcoa go be using the same amount ah water the whole ah Trinidad does use right not and how we promise Alcoa all the water they need. Not me boss man, is Grimes and them who say that. Parder, is millions ah gallons yuh say dey? Whey dem getting dat from?
Anyway bossman, doh frighten, we go put in a work order. Roger, yuh have a pen, boy? Whey dey does keep the form and them?

Posted in Development, Infrastructure, PNM, Politics | 4 Comments »

Road Repairs

Colm Imbert

Minister of Works and Transport Colm Imbert has revealed that the Government plans to ebmark on a major road repair drive that will pave somewhere between 400 and 500 km of the nations roadways at a cost of about $600 million.

Really? In an election year? How absolutely coincidental.

Posted in Infrastructure, PNM, Politics | 10 Comments »

My Shorts - Choc’late Allen and more…

Choc’late Allen
There is little I can say about Choc’late Allen that hasn’t been said by someone smarter and more eloquent than I.

The first time I heard her talk my jaw dropped. I had never before heard a child speak so articulately or confidently. What dey feeding that chile? I think I found out that she was home schooled. Which may explain a thing or two. At 13 my conversation was to the effect of “ummmm, yeah, eh heh, yeah daiz de man”. In fact if you read over this blog, you’ll find that my speech hasn’t changed much in over a decade and a half.

I’m going to resist the temptation to make puns out of her name like the other newspapers, but I’m just going to say I wish there were more Choh’lates in the world (I promise that is not an attempt at a pun).

Faith Williams
Nowadays we’ve become used to people meeting untimely deaths. And because we know the killers just don’t care, we don’t expect anything more from them. But what should we say when 3 year old Faith Williams dies after undergoing a routine hernia surgery because as it turns out the “health professionals” used faulty equipment? The machine wasn’t calibrated properly and so Faith Williams received 17 to 18 per cent more anesthesia than was supposed to be administered. No one bothered to check, no one bothered to calibrate it so she’s dead.

Well if the health professionals are so careless about our lives, far less for anyone else.

Piarco Airport Sentencing
When I first returned to Trinidad a friend tried to win me over to the UNC. One of his methods was to say, “Well we all know dey line dey pockets, but ent we still get airport?” I of course couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I was trying to figure out how someone could be so unpatriotic in order to support a political party. Within weeks of being here I realized it was a sentiment that had been expressed time and time again.

For the record I’m a patriot. I don’t care who you are or what you’ve done in the past. If you tief, you should be thrown in jail. Don’t try to smooth it over by saying “well at least we get schools, at least we get airport”.

I just can’t wait for more charges to be laid in connection to a certain non-existing hospital in Scarborough. (Sorry law, I know I promised to blog about this, but for now I think the moment is gone. When it pops up again, hopefully I will get a chance then.)

Cornell Glen
Well it’s no secret, by boy Cornell got fired. Whether or not that has to do with the arrival of the new Fresh Prince of L.A., I have no idea.

What has me laughing is the interview he gave on CNC 3 last night. When asked about where he was going to play now that he’s out of a job he replied (and I’m paraphrasing), “Well I want to play in a foreign club for sure. If I have to play down here (scoffs and laughs at the same time then pauses) I guess I’ll play with one of the top teams like Joe Public or San Juan Jablotech. “

But what de jail is this? Who is he? Now I know the boy has some mad skill eh, but who is he to say who he will play for? Son, you have to be offered a job in order to play eh. I know yuh good, but you just can’t dictate who you’ll play for. Remember, you’re not all that fit at present.

Having said that, I wish him a speedy recovery, because I think he’s one of the better players (and one of my favourites) on the National Squad. I hope that he gets a big contract somewhere.

Posted in Football, Infrastructure | 5 Comments »

My Shorts

• And just like that David “Buffy” Millard is free, and just like that Jilla Bowen’s killers have not been brought to justice, and now may never be brought to justice. First is was the debacle of the Bakr trial and now stemming from that, since witness and police alike are afraid to testify, the DPP was forced to drop charges against Millard who was extradited from Guyana earlier this year. Who ever said that our justice system was in a mess is a genius….oh wait that was me (and countless others I guess). Instead of rabidly pursuing smelters and construction of tall buildings, why don’t we invest some of our oil and as revenue into that areas that deserve the most attention - namely, crime fighting? What good is our justice system when we are still depending on eyewitness testimony rather than DNA. DNA doh cower. DNA doh shiver at the sound of Bakr’s name.

• And the Bas shall soon be back. The Sunday Express reported that the UNC may consider Basdeo Panday in the role of a temporary political leader since “that’s what the people want”. However, it will just be on a temporary basis as a political leader is yet to be elected. Right. The UNC is becoming more and more irrelevant every day as well as a bigger and funnier joke. What else is new? How they can consider Bas once more as even an interim political leader is I guess the mystery of the week. So why no Kamla? She’s already the Opposition Leader, and therefore almost a de facto Political Leader. Why summon the ghost of Basdeo Panday? This goes to show, I can’t pretend to understand the United National Congress.
• But a a. I watching the fourth ODI between the West Indies and Pakistan and during the commercial break and who do I see advertising for Call 555 but Sat Maharaj himself - Sat Maharaj doing a spot for the Ministry of National Security. Well yes. I was a little shocked and plenty disturbed.
• Well finally the Windies have won a game against albeit a depleted Pakistani side. We won the fourth ODI against Pakistan in Multan today. Pakistan was restricted to 209 all out and the Windies , although we got off to a shaky start (11/2), won it in the 35th over with Marlon Samuels leading the way with a 99-ball century. We can no longer win this ODI series, but we can at least draw it.

Posted in Cricket, Crime, Infrastructure, Politics, Sports, UNC | 2 Comments »

Misplaced Priorities

You know them people who does be real poor, dey doh have nothing to eat but yet they rocking out with the latest fashions? Dem so does be fighting other people for 10 days, but dem have the latest Jordans and all kinna brands your working self can’t afford to try on? If you lived just one day of your life in Trinidad, you have to know someone like that. I know people like that. In fact my cousin is their de facto leader.

How about you passing by Beetham Gardens and you seeing rows of shacks and on the shackiest of shaks you seeing big maco Direct TV dish heng up on front of the house? Yuh doesn’t ask yuhself why? You want Direct TV too and you want Jordans too, but you know you can’t afford that and toilet paper, so you choose toilet paper.

I think the scientific term for that is misplaced priorities. And you think this mentality is reserved for some people only, meanwhile our very own Government Ministers sho signs of this illness.

Enter Colm Imbert. In the wake of Monday’s flash floods, Minister Imbert has voiced his Government’s intention of ensuring that the new rapid rail system is elevated in some areas so as to avoid contact with the ground in areas that are prone to flooding. Now I’m thinking, why not fix the flooding itself?

I’m sure the rail system when it arrives will be the most complicated, technologically advanced infrastructure Trinidad and perhaps the Caribbean will have ever seen. It’s going to take all the expertise we have here as well as from foreign sources in order to get this thing started and to keep it going. So if we could accomplish that and yet remain unable to tell some rainwater, “No, you doh stay here, you go so. You go down in that drain and take a left. You set ah water, go down so and take ah right. I eh want to see allyuh liming in this area here.” What business we have building billion dollar rapid rail?

Why do we want to develop from the top go down? it’s like a caller to a radio programme said, “They want to build a houssse by building the roof first”.

It’s not like they don’t know what’s causing the flooding. They know. They just won’t deal with it.

People who live in areas prone to flooding, must accept that that’s how life is.

Posted in Development, Infrastructure, PNM, Politics | 9 Comments »

My Shorts

Woeful Windies

Well the autopsy result on this ICC Champions Trophy defeat would read “Death by Batting Collapse”. It’s actually the leading cause of death among West Indies teams. Now I have to go eat the words I gloated so willingly to my Aussie friends after we beat Australia in the group stage of the competition. I hate eating my own words. The night before the game I dreamt I was walking through my old neighbourhood and asked a guy I knew what the score was and he told me 449/1, which was completely bizarre because I would never really talk to the man under any circumstance.

I ended up getting up too late for the game and I ran down stairs as soon as I got myself together. I put on the TV and I though I was watching a between-overs commercial break. However the third commercial in a row told me that it wasn’t between overs, but innings. One of the sides were routed cheaply….hmmm I wonder who. Turns out it was the Windies - 138 all out. Needless to say, we couldn’t restrict Australia to under three runs an over. So we lost and handed the Aussies their first ICC Champions Trophy victory ever.

Breathalyser Law

Well the breathalyser bill was finally laid in Parliament donkey years after citizens and lawmakers alike started calling for it. Alcohol has had an unrestrained hold on Trinidad for a long while. It’s against the law to drive drunk, but there are no means by which to detect drunk drivers who aren’t falling over themselves. The introduction of the breathalyser into Trinidadian law is a welcome addition. The law itself will allow a .08 alcohol limit. The express reports that limit translates to 80 milligrams of alcohol out of 100 milligrams of blood. Let me tell you something, if 80% of your blood is comprised of alcohol, driving is not your biggest problem.

I’ve mentioned before how I feel about seeing people popping open beers at 7am, which seems like nothing in Trinidad. I even saw a policeman one day driving a dump truck downing the last of a Carib while behind the wheel. Can you believe that? I report he so fast eh, but I doubt his friends did anything more than talk to him.

But sometimes you really have to wonder about the lawmakers themselves. When asked by Opposition Caroni East MP Ganga Singh how many alcohol drinks this .08 alcohol level translated to, Works and Transport Minister Colm Imbert said:

“That is between two and three beers, about three beers. When I return I will give you in terms of puncheon rum, in terms of whisky, so people will know. After three beers you will be over the limit that we have prescribed in this legislation.”

Hasn’t he done enough research to know that alcohol tolerance differs from person to person and hinges on factors such as body weight, gender, body fat percentage and even genetics? Of course not.

Parang Death

On Saturday night Kenneth Subero was shot and killed by a man as he limed at a Parang fete in Tabaquite. And yes, the crime spree continues. You used to think that if you didn’t cause trouble, drink a lot, smoke weed, hang around with bad friends or anything our parents told us not to do, you wouldn’t die a gruesome death. Well it hasn’t been that way for a long time now. And honestly you really can’t be shocked that this man died because he was at a Parang fete. You don’t have to do anything bad to die these days. Whether it’s getting into a taxi, helping out a friend or sleeping in your own bed at your own house, murder in Trinidad has no modus operandi.

Posted in Cricket, Crime, Infrastructure, PNM, Politics, Sports | 16 Comments »

Cruise Ships for Cricket World Cup

Well at least someone is taking the bull by the horns. At least someone’s thinking. In light of the Carifesta IX fiasco which resulted in hotel rooms for the 1200 performers being scarce, someone has decided that cruise ships would help solve the problem. Because if we had trouble finding space for just 1200 performers it will be chaos with the thousands of Indian spectators alone.

I think it’s actually a good idea. In lieu of building massive new hotels which I’m pretty sure Patos has been itching to do, utilizing the instant hotel that is a cruise ship, is the best thing.

The best part of it is that it shouldn’t really cost the Government anything since the ships themselves would be earning revenue from the bookings themselves. Sounds great if you ask me.

I’m sure that I like many other people would love to get through this Cricket World Cup and not be embarrassed. Although I want Grenada, Jamaica or Barbados to also shine, the vast majority of my concern is set aside for Trinidad. It’s almost like a cricket version of Room Raiders and I don’t want for us to be caught with our pants down.

For sure, you and I know that there are embarrassing situations just waiting to happen. Hell, I walk down the streets of Port of Spain all the time and see things that are potentially embarrassing. Whether it’s how we treat the homeless or the filthy streets, there’s always something. And oh gosh that filth is something. I will hate for the thousands of tourists to come to Port of Spain or even drive along our highways and see how dirty and smelly Trinidad is. I honestly hope that the Government is planning to do a lot of clean up work for the country in preparation for the World Cup - a NARescent National Clean-Up Day if you will. The clean up of High Street in San Fernando was a great start, but Trinidad definitely needs more.

In fact, think we’ll do well to take a few lessons from Rotenburg, Germany, the city that hosted the Soca Warriors during World Cup 2006. But I won’t hold my breath for that one.

Posted in Cricket, Development, Environment, Infrastructure, Social Issues, Sports | 7 Comments »