Sometimes I think that Trinidadians only learn when they receive a very harsh, very painful lesson. Not that I support hurting anyone, but there are times I feel that something will be done in health, education, crime etc only when something really bad happens to the relatives of those really high up.
Imagine Tattoo or one of his relatives getting mugged on the way to or from the bank. Or Brian Manning getting shot and that gun stolen, or even part of the $9M basketball money going in a bandit's pocket. Imagine Jerry Narace or a relative getting burnt or perhaps, Malaria or Dengue (both of which are on the rise). Imagine the kidnapping, rape, torture of a female government minister, or relative of any PNM ministers.
What started me on this train of thought was the editorial in today's Guardian.
In January, 11 Chinese working on the Performing Arts centre in Port-of-Spain were reported to be undergoing treatment for dengue. Udecott did not respond to requests for more information about the incident.
In March, 30 cases of dengue were reported in the Chaguanas area, and the Health Ministry's Insect Vector Unit was said to be out of the pesticide malathion at the time, a spray used to control the spread of the mosquitoes that carry the disease.
Other cases have been reported in the last few months, including seven officers of the Highway Patrol Unit who fell victim to mosquitoes from a fetid drain near their outpost.
At the heart of these incidents are two issues; one: the will of the Government to acknowledge the growth in cases of dengue in Trinidad and Tobago; and the other: the will to eradicate this manageable disease.
During his tenure as Minister of Health, Colm Imbert offered many responses to the issue of dengue when they were raised on his watch, dismissing many cases as being merely acute fevers and minimising the threat of the disease.
With more than 100 cases of dengue reported during the first quarter of 2008 alone, it is clear that the level of infection is unacceptable.
More than 100 cases in 3 months, of a potentially lethal disease that spreads prolifically. Even if care and concern is not there for our own citizens, think of the hazard with the frequent movement of people from country to country these days. These idiots are not only playing with Trini lives, they're playing around with lives in other countries as well.
They know what is to be done; they have the resources to do it. What they don't have is the brainpower and willpower to do it. The question is how to make these idiots feel?
