Open Letter To The Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Planning and Development

Minister Camille Robinson-Regis,

I got your note in my mailbox. I am sorry to say that it has no date, so I do not know when you wrote it. I must commend the use of bond paper and full colour separation on the double folded piece of paper - it was a nice break from my routine of looking for the bills which I receive late from T&TEC, WASA and others. It is very impressive to hold in one's hand, but it has the misfortune of not being porous. You see, Honourable Minister, then it would be practical. This is no reflection on your person; I appreciate you to taking the time to bulk mail me a generic letter at the expense of the good people of Trinidad and Tobago; indeed, I thank each and every taxpayer who has donated to this wonderful piece of work. I'm sure that when presented with the option to send me this letter, the good people of Trinidad and Tobago screamed, 'Spare no expense!'

That is just the way Trinbagonians are. Impression does seem to be given more merit than action. It is my failure and the failure of everyone involved in my childhood that I do not mistake words as actions; I fear that I am flawed in this regard and as such I am immune to the rhetoric presented in your letter. But it is a very nice letter!

Let us speak of the contents of this letter. There are many characters in the letter itself, somewhat fewer words, and 13 paragraphs. I am certain many people were suitably impressed with this.

You wrote:

I wish therefore, through the medium of this letter, to alert every household in Trinidad and Tobago of the wonderful revolution that is currently taking place in our beloved country.

Revolution. Where? You must forgive me, I see no revolution. I see a nation quickly becoming skilled grass cutters through the CEPEP program where many of those people might be paid to contribute toward data entry on all those reams of paper records succumbing to mold and mildew, or enjoying air conditioning so that they do not. I admire seeing large work crews manhandling curbs with their buttocks and getting increases in pay, I really do - but what most I admire is that two people get paid to hold a sheet between two sticks so that the brushcutter doesn't spray grass onto passerby... since the safety shield was removed.

Imagine this, though. I recently verified myself on a website using my Trinidad and Tobago Driving Permit - it was verified by a company in the United States - but there isn't even a computer where I get my driving permit! If one loses one's permit, paper log books are the order of the day. But if I want to verify my age with a company in the United States, they are able to verify me. Dear me. However could they have that data but citizens of Trinidad and Tobago not have access to something similar. Of course, the people of Trinidad and Tobago wouldn't need those little details. Spending hours renewing one's driving permit is so ingrained in our culture that people would get confused if they had time left over. They might actually get some work done. Productivity might increase. Imagine that.

Revolution. Internet penetration in Trinidad and Tobago is so dismal that you didn't send me an email - that certainly would have been special. People from Princes Town and Rio Claro travel all the way to San Fernando just to deal with phone service issues, and internet connectivity in those areas is laughable. The Copyright Organization of Trinidad and Tobago runs around charging people for playing radios, but video stores which pay the government continue to rent and sell DVDs downloaded off of the Internet by someone who is part of the 12% of the country which has an internet connection.

Revolution.

You wrote,

Vision 2020 is not just multi-storeyed structures, impressive bridges and new roads, because infrastructure alone does not constitute development. Vision 2020 is essentially about improving and empowering the people of our nation!

Very exciting! I am glad that you thought to write me of this, but I don't need a reminder of that. I see buildings being put up without Town and Country approval - even by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago itself - but then I hear that the Town and Country division was also used as a threat for dismantling cell towers. So what I am seeing from these actions is that building without approval is ok, as long as it doesn't give the appearance of advancing the infrastructure of the country. And when it came to the dangers of these towers being discussed, where was the government voice explaining that 2 watts of power transmitted 50 feet in the air was not a danger? Better throw away those microwaves, those could be really dangerous.

You wrote of the new roads and I am left wondering... where? I have seen roads with new asphalt added to them, but I have not seen new roads. To the credit of the present government, they patched a pothole in the road in front of my house after 25 years or so... when last the ruling party was in power. The buildings are quite impressive, of course. The new bridges? I believe I saw one - on land rented by the day to the government. You are right to say that this infrastructure work alone does not constitute development; I would go so far as to say it may be a detriment in the way it is being done. Of course, that might be considered a political statement, but I must assure you that the previous party seemed equally effective in many regards. After all, they didn't patch the pothole that I had become emotionally attached to, even when the representative stood in it while trying to get myself and my father to vote for him.

You wrote:

Vision 2020 is about ensuring that a system of equity prevails in society and that everyone has an equal opportunity to benefit from quality education, an efficient health service sector and an efficient Social Services framework. And it is about having the freedom to move around the nation in relative safety and security, without fearing harm to life or property.

Equal opportunity would mean that people would have access to the same services no matter where they lived. Yet people from the South East of Trinidad go to San Fernando to deal with phone issues. That doesn't seem like equal opportunity. Places North of the Lighthouse have better access to just about everything (including urban flooding), whereas anywhere that visitors to the country would not go do not.

And an efficient health sector - the health sector in Trinidad and Tobago is a sitcom, with patients sharing beds as if they were in a village in Africa. On one occasion, I visited someone in a hospital and asked the nurse for where to find the patient. She told me to walk through the ward and see whether I could find him... and if I found him, to tell her who he was so she could check his chart. There was no soap in that hospital for me to wash my hands; there was no water.

Social Services I cannot comment on. They sound very important, perhaps in your next letter you could explain what they are.

Freedom to move around... in relative safety and security? Relative to what, downtown Baghdad? Kidnapping remains an issue which is more politicized than addressed. I no longer read the newspapers; I simply ask people about the latest statistics. It saves me suffering the local media and the political rhetoric. Do not give us politics, give us results.

You wrote:

It is fundamentally important to our Government that all of us should share a common understanding of what Vision 2020 means, since it is imperative that each individual take ownership of the process and assumes individual responsibility to make it happen.

Really? I thought you meant to write that it is fundamentally important to the people of Trinidad and Tobago - not the Government, the people we hire through election to pick our Ministers. It is indeed imperative that the individual take ownership of the process and assume individual responsibility; we include Ministers and other members of a democratically elected Government in this. Please share that with your acquaintances.

You wrote of some of the initiatives that the Government claims to be positive, and I must tell you that I chuckled when I read this:

Helping Young People Prepare For Employment (HYPE); and Multi-Sector Skills Training Programme (MUST)

MUST HYPE? That, perhaps, explains the reason I got your lovely and well intentioned note in my mailbox with an election imminent. Let me tell you something, most Honourable Minister: You talk a good game, and others have done the same for decades. When words are measured against results, Government in Trinidad and Tobago is a dictionary. It has lots of words, but the plot is rather dull and it is not very entertaining or practical. You might better have sent me a bottle of Johnny Walker that I could use to bribe an official if circumstances find me in a bind.

I do not want your words, or the words of anyone else. I do not want the partisan soap opera enacted daily by a political parties made up of the same people for decades, wandering around like lost children and exchanging party favours. The people of Trinidad and Tobago who I have spoken to have received your letter - some read it, most threw it away because they have heard lofty words before. The words cannot hide an Aluminium smelter, the lack of internet penetration which holds the country back more than its CARICOM contemporaries, the rampant crime and all these other things which have become tolerable through silent oppression. It should be sad that it has become tolerable, but distraction is one of the better things out there.

Do I blame the PNM? No. Do I blame the UNC? No. Do I blame anyone else? No. I blame all political parties involved; there is a mockery of government in this country which serves more for entertainment than Trinidad and Tobago Television... but it is also an insult slung at the people's intelligence every day.

Vision 2020 has been going at least since 2002. It is now 2007, heading to 2008. Next year, this country will have 12 years to become a developed nation - but by then, what a developed nation is will have changed. And at the pace which Trinidad and Tobago is moving there is no doubt in my mind that Trinidad and Tobago will be a poor, polluted developing nation in 2020. Lots of money will have been spent, lots of words will have written and spoken, and not very much will actually be done.

But it was a very nice letter. Please encourage the other Ministers to write us; I'm sure that it will be entertaining. Please also continue the Vision 2020 website with the annoying 'blingy' Flash on the front page which is designed to crawl on a 56K modem; not that many people have ADSL. Don't worry, though. Only 12% of the population have internet access, so only 12% of the population are impacted. That isn't that many votes.

Perhaps that is why internet connectivity is so low?

Still, nice letter and I warmly thank you for it. Please write again.

Sincerely,

Taran Rampersad.