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PNM Gladiator
Minister Colm Imbert is responsible for three projects that have eased the strain on many citizens. I refer to the interchange, the water taxis and the much-improved Tobago ferry service. The traffic gridlock was the cause of much stress and anxiety. Now, the situation on evenings heading out of Port-of-Spain has noticeably eased up with a saving of at least 20-30 minutes in travel time. The relief has added a few years to the lives of people who were forced to endure the nightmare of endless bumper-to-bumper traffic.
This week, after many good reports from friends about the excellent water taxi service, I decided to try it out. I was surprised and impressed by the polite and courteous staff (with the exception of one security guard) and the high level of professionalism of the staff. The waiting terminal in San Fernando is clean and comfortable. The chairs are high quality and the ambience is calm and scenic. The toilets were clean. Trinis are not accustomed to queuing and I was pleasantly surprised by the organised manner in which customers are seated one after the other in sections, on a first-come, first-serve basis. The vessel was clean and comfortable and the journey was smooth and quick (45 minutes).
There are some fantastic sights and the arrival at the Waterfront makes you feel as if you’re in a different country. For the first time, I felt proud of PM Manning’s vision and his Waterfront Project. The tall, imposing buildings, the magnificent fountain, the Hyatt and the local indigenous signature Femmes du Chalet, formerly the Breakfast Shed, came together in a wonderful mosaic. As I walked off the water taxi and into Femmes du Chalet, I couldn’t help but sample some good creole food. I have been patronising the Breakfast Shed since I started working and was not happy that the old shed was going to be destroyed. There was something special about it. I miss the long benches and constant chatter but the new facility has grown on me. Modernity has won, but in a good way. The toilets could however do with some work.
But back to the indefatigable Colm Imbert. It is rare to see a minister trading punches and personally defending his ministry. Many ridicule him for taking time that could be better spent, replying to critics via letters to the editor but I commend him for doing this. It shows that he is listening to what the public is saying and is prepared to explain and defend his conduct and decisions. While his colleagues shy away, he is the political gladiator of the PNM in and out of parliament. He is not afraid to face the music, as was illustrated by his readiness to testify before the Uff Commission.
The goodly minister was on the Internet edition of the Guardian well after midnight, responding to the controversy created by Devant Maharaj’s Indo-Trinbago Equality Council (ITEC) over the use of trucks and other vehicles from Imbert’s ministry during the Emancipation Day celebrations. He denied ever receiving any request for similar assistance from Indian or Hindu groups and said there was no issue of discrimination. In a pointed and convincing response to one e-mail, he said: “There is no need to be insulting. That achieves nothing. You guys need to understand that quite a lot of what is published in the newspapers is inaccurate and designed to provoke controversy. In this particular case, the allegations make no sense, since if Sat Maharaj or Devant Maharaj had asked me for assistance with any of their cultural events, I would have responded positively, within reason, and they both know that.”
Apart from this, Colm has no qualms over picking up the phone and calling someone if he feels the need to chat things through. I myself have not escaped unscathed, as he has called me on a few occasions to convey his position on certain matters. He was able to immediately defuse the crisis over the use of a Christian priest alone to bless new buses purchased by the state for the Summit by calling Maharaj and explaining that he had no knowledge about the matter (it was PTSC) and that he acknowledged the point.
As if to confirm his stance, the inter-religious representation at the opening of the interchange was elaborate and conspicuous. Time management is critical; it is a challenge for all leaders and professionals. Minister Imbert deserves full credit for his tireless efforts and personal sacrifice. Whatever his shortcomings, no pun intended, he has distinguished himself as one of the best ministers in this administration. Given the level of mediocrity, he stands head and shoulders above the rest!
By Anand Ramlogan
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...Gladiators were brought into the arena and were supposed to fight lions...?...a "mouse that roars does not a lion make..."...no matter how hard or how often he roars...!...he still remains a mouse...!
...as part of a regime in power for more than 47 years, the claim here to have achieved "something" after almost half a century and the uncounted many of the people's Billion Dollars wasted, perhaps Trillions of Dollars, it would be unconscionable to even consider this mediocrity of the regime's performance as an achievement...and this is all a great part of it...!
...this is all just plain Machiavellian thinking at it best, perpetrated by this governmental regime through its Ministers,that it would make Plato and Aristotle look like kindergarten school kids...!
...after all...the end justify the means...and one should not care at all about the means he is to employ...so like Machiavelli...in this regime, its politicians chooses the ends very carefully...thats their modus operandi...from its leader right down...!!!
...and since Machiavelli was considered so immoral, that he too could learn from the ruthless ruler, Agathocles...well here we have the mouse that roared...!...fool them once...fool them twice and...fool them again...what morals...?...by what leader...?...so to even stand by or help a ruthless leader...commit these horrendous acts against and upon its own people, is just as immoral as the leader himself...!!!
...to recall an old philisopher's saying..."that if good men stand by while evil is being committed and say or do nothing, then they are as evil themselves as the men who are actually committing those very same evils..."!!!.
...so as for Skylines and Tall Buildings...well, check out Detroit as you pass by the Detroit River...if you dare to go that close to Detroit...not to mention visit or invest your money into a business venture there....or also check out New York a few years ago, before Mayor Juliani cleaned up the whole crime infested mess.. that it was also a place not to go or visit...until now...and yes, look at NY now, a few years later..!...he got rid of the maggot infested drugs and gangs and crime...and the crooked policemen in the Police Service also...but it took a lot of effort by him, including his own integrity and trust of the people to rebuild it...how about our leaders in the Land of Milk and Honey...anything come close...any reminders here...???
...the point is that the people have to come first before Tall Buildings and Skylines...and yes, New York also had a water taxi service - run by Private Investors between New York and Toronto...and it folded within six months ...as it was not profitable...and two other private investors have backed away from that venture for the very same reasons...the cost benefit analysis show the same results...people will travel in the beginning just out of curiosity...but that's all...not worth the money or time...so where's our cost benefit analysis here...anyone seen it lately...???!!!
...so where are we, the people, and how much better off are they with regard to Schools and Education...?... with regard to Crime and Detection and Security of persons and property...?...and with respect to Justice and Fairness and Equity within the Judicial System...?...with regards to "Health and Hospitals and Medical Care..."?...with regards to "Running Pipe Borne Water in their homes..."?...we still keep hearing the same old tired story of wait for another (30) thirty years from now...and everything will be there...but for whom...and why thirty years from now...???
...all of this is "so kids game political propaganda"...to achieve a particular end by a regime in power, that this Minister may certainly stand out amongst the many mouse that roars...but surely not amongst men...men of courage and conviction and integrity...as in Obama said, "by the people and for the people..."...as no politician worth his salt, will stand up to defend the regime's every action notwithstanding whether its right or wrong...and not be there just to score cheap political points and achieve a particular end...all for and the sake of a stale and tired political regime...bankrupt of any morals or integrity...???
...a political regime, who's leader has his very own agenda, written down somewhere in his back-pocket and yet to be delivered to the people whom he have now all converted into mice from men, and his Minister stands tall amongst them all.....the Mice that is...but certainly not the Men...!
...so move over Mr. Mouse and Roar amongst Lions if you can...!!!,...in fact stand up tall amongst the men and show us some courage and conviction and integrity...and speak out against the ills and evils being foisted upon our people by your regime and its leader...roar out loudly...!!!
...or better yet, stand up tall and speak out to the men and women and children of our country...of the many ills and injustices also...then we'll know you're a "Real Gladiator..."...and not just "showboating"..or as we are used saying down here...just plain "gallerying"...for the people and for the leader of your regime...nothing else...?.?.?
...until then, this is just a mouse that roars......some Gladiator eh...???!!!
...goodluck...Trini.t.o.o