The Government has lost its grip on the reins of governance. No one is listening to ministers, except themselves and the audience in front of them that must.
The ground beneath the upper and middle class is moving, as the earthquake of uncontrollable crime creeps and cuts across barbed wire fences, remote-controlled gates, security alarms, gated communities and security guards, deep into the belly of families. People are packing up and leaving, forced out of their homes by savage crime. Every family with young children wants to have a foreign passport, as the option of leaving is now becoming a serious imperative.
Fourteen-year-old Amrika Ramdial was kidnapped by four men in a grey Honda Civic outside her home in Gaston Street, Chaguanas, last Friday. People who witnessed the abduction recorded the number plate of the getaway car, but the plates were traced back to a trailer truck.
Amrika was abducted in daylight at around 3.45 pm. A car pulled alongside her, and two men came out with guns and snatched her as she walked towards her home in Orchard Gardens. She left behind one side of her shoes and book-bag. Police roadblocks failed to stop the getaway. What if Amrika was your child?
The day before, Ryan Naipaul, the brother of businesswoman Vindra Naipaul Coolman, who was kidnapped in December 2006, and killed, was robbed. Naipaul-Coolman was kidnapped from Lange Park in Chaguanas. Her brother, also from Lange Park, reported to police that at around 9 am on Wednesday he was in his front yard when two men with guns ran in and grabbed him. Money and jewelry were taken, but—perhaps more importantly—the thieves made off with his two licensed firearms: a pistol and a shotgun.
A few days before, Philippa Talma, daughter of former Independent Senator Prof Julian Kenny, was kidnapped and held captive for nine days.
There could hardly be a better definition of a model citizen than Julian Kenny. He has served this country with loyalty and distinction, and has quite a sense of humility and dignity. His contributions as an independent senator, academic and environmentalist are invaluable. The destabilising torture is seen in his description of the events:
“A normal humdrum routine before the evening ritual of the news; a brief phone call; puzzlement, a brief drive to Philippa’s boutique; her empty car; security arriving; police arriving; Dan arriving; Jean arriving; a neighbour describing to the police the event; the car number; internal confusion; a desperate call to Martin, his visit; his cellphone calls as he paced about the lawn; a wretched sleepless night and endless waiting; two chilling telephone calls; absolute panic, blood pressure 190/120, our family doctor’s visit and a drug-induced sleep—and the machinery moves into full gear.
The ups and downs of blurred time for all of us in the next few days; the calls from many; visits, some simply taking over the routine tasks; the e-mail, really frightful thoughts; mostly deepest despair mixed with hope, and eventually, the one call from Peter on that Sunday morning, nine days later, Mother’s Day—we’ve got her.
Then release.”
The incompetence of a minority PNM government allowed a handful of criminals to blossom and grow from strength to strength. The PNM nurtured these infant gangs with lucrative URP and Cepep contracts. It exploited their vulnerable dependency syndrome, because it wanted to ride the back of the black tiger into political office. Now, it cannot dismount or wound it, for fear that this powerful tiger will indiscriminately devour even the hands of those that once fed it.
Martin Joseph remains firm, despite the proliferation of gangs under his watch. He has probably lost count and can’t be bothered any more. He has armed security.
Blood and tears are flowing like water, and the soul of our nation has been ruptured. The haemorrhaging continues unabated and the situation is desperate and critical. When would Mr Manning realise his government needs to reorganise its priorities to focus on the things that are literally killing us?
Is it too much to ask of our PM that he should stop looking up into the sky at his beloved skyscrapers, so he could see the bloodshed and anguish of those with who live and walk on the ground?
By Anand Ramlogan 2008-05-25