There is a sense of helplessness which pervades the society and enfeebles everyone; police, magistrates and judges, Government and its bureaucracy, the cabinet, the Opposition, the Parliament, those business individuals and institutions which have the responsibility to be entrepreneurial, citizens who remain on the sidelines complaining, parents who continue to nurture potential criminals, “toute moon” as cultural icon Holly Betaudier used to say.
The exceptions are the choke and rob group, the drug dealers - low and high, those who possess a frightening and murderous intent and the corrupt disposition in government and big business. They are flourishing in the face of the inability of those with the power to take action.
Society must find the sources of this malaise which afflicts us so we can grasp what it takes to become a proactive people, intent on fashioning a society of achievers.
There are exceptions though: significant numbers of our young scholars from primary school up to postgraduate studies, go on to make meaningful contributions to national life; but others get dragged down by the powerful currents of the times. But there are also those who start from lowly and challenging circumstances and are driven by ambition and energy to achieve.
These are not merely abstract meanderings; they have groundings in our national life. Head of the T&T Manufacturers’ Association, Roger Roach, notes the ability of the commercial sector to gobble-up “an inordinate supply of forex,” while contributing zero to the forex account. Succeeding governments have not been able to devise means to staunch the outflow and engender an export ethic.
The inability of the authorities to make a link between those who may supply information that identifies a bank customer who has withdrawn large sums and walks into the trap of a waiting criminal awaits resolution.
Our inability to emerge out of the static political culture which carries with it the germ of criticism for the sake of it, often without substance but designed to ignite subliminal passions in an election period, awaits action.
How many more decades and multi-billion dollar programmes to fix WASA and T&TEC so they can come off the feeding trough of the national treasury? We remain helpless and unwilling to end the practice of handing-out senior counsel titles on the basis of political patronage and corruption.
How do we shake this jumbie of killing ourselves and others on the roads? In this rainy season, even admitting there are aspects of nature which cannot be easily overcome, even curbed. Indeed, the floods have already started with no sense that the authorities will do better than last year.
How and when will the wrangling between the Tobago House of Assembly and the Central Government be attended to in a manner which leads to a more progressive and productive relationship?
When are the large problems of constitutional change, the settlement of a tax system, which allows for the maximum collection, to be settled? When will the maturity of mind and effort allow for political agreement to establish the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final court in both jurisdictions?
The answers hinge around the capacity and will of our people to come to maturity, to take responsibility for ourselves, to develop systems to service real needs and most of all, to decisively and with effort take action.