Let us hope the Government uses the once again promised retreat to pull things together and start to focus on its programme, if indeed it has one.?
True, it's been only about 100 days since in power and many of the ministers are still finding their feet and, yes, it's the civil servants who keep government services ticking over. But surely it's time for the Government to show some unity and direction and the retreat and the coming budget are opportunities to do so.?Luckily the Minister of Finance seems to be one of the few doing his homework and, despite some glitches (the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund error and the comment on the salary for the new Commissioner of Police), he is not talking much or leaving the country on trips that do not appear to be worth the money spent. I would have expected new ministers to say little or nothing for the first few months whilst they learned how their ministries function and who are the real power brokers within them.
Instead they appear intent on posing for pictures with individuals who they personally seem to have helped and not because of their ministry's policies. They also seem to want to follow in the footsteps of the loquacious Minister of Work. What is it about this ministry that makes people in charge there believe they know everything? First we had Imbert and his endless letters and smirking remarks, now it's Warner, the latest Mr Know-It All. Whether it's roads, traffic schemes, barriers, water taxis, flooding, crime, the death penalty, football, he knows it all. It also seems to be the general opinion in the media that he not only knows it all but he is Mr Get-It-Done, except that one must ask the question: what exactly has he done, except talk a lot at four o'clock in the morning and look busy on his cell?
It is true that, in the Caribbean, the person who talks most is the one everybody believes is doing the most but this is carrying the thing to absurd levels. Ideas are one thing, deeds are another. Mr Warner has undoubtedly taken advantage of Mrs Persad-Bissessar's prolonged absences to seize the limelight. Simply put, the PM has been travelling far too much. Since her election, she's been out of the country for 19 days or one in five. Any new enterprise needs to have its leader on hand, to lead and to give direction as well as to keep discipline among the troops.?A pattern is being set up or has been set up where individual ministers seem to be out of control and mouthing off on various aspects of government policy and it is confusing.
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Take the Children's Life Fund. Is it on? Is it being developed? How much money is in it? Who is in charge of the $100 million? The Minister of Health says it is in the process of being set up. The PM goes away and comes back with promises of money and medical assistance from some group of doctors.?Who selected them? Who advised her? Why have some children already been selected to go away? Who decided this? Was there medical input into their selection? Is the choice of children to go away to be a political one??Transparency, objectivity, a recognised process have to be put in place. And quickly, before the euphoria of removing the PNM evaporates. The members of this Government and the PM especially, should not forget that people did not necessarily vote them in because of their personal qualities or policies.
Most of us just want to get on with our lives whilst the Government interferes the least possible. We especially want to see a plan for crime control and for getting the economy moving. One would have to look long and deep for any analysis of its policies which, so far, appear to be a set of promises. Giving children laptops or raising the pension for senior citizens are not policies. They are political "initiatives." Mrs Persad-Bissessar should not forget that many people, apart from the UNC faithful, as intolerant as the bigoted "PNMites for life," voted not for her but against Mr Manning and the PNM. She is not there because of anything special she stands for or did in the past, but because of what Mr Manning stood for.?Yes, she seized the moment and, firstly, with the help of the UNC rank and file, got rid of Mr Panday and we must forever be grateful for that.
Then with the assistance of the Udecott scandal and Mr Rowley's machinations, even during the middle of the election, as Mr Imbert keeps subtly and not so subtly reminding us, she succeeded in putting together a coalition of anti-PNM forces. We are double grateful to her for that.?But surely she must know that her coalition is full of man-crabs, her Cabinet is increasingly beginning to look like a crowded mud-hole, and its raining heavily.
Kindly take charge, madame.
