I am a national of T&T by birth and having lived here for over 60 years I am educated sufficiently enough to know the difference between success and failure. I also have the authority to say openly that we are living in a failed state called Trinidad and Tobago.
I will outline my reason for saying so:
(a) the education system is a failure; (b) crime is out of hand, nationals including myself can be murdered anytime without detection; (c) the Judiciary is a failure; (d) religious bodies are failing the nation. The list can go on and on.
Every five years the nation encounters a bundle of politicians vying to run this country via the electoral process. The speakers to me are platform actors and when elected they remain in campaign mood for the next five years–doing nothing but holding talk shops.
The educational system has failed years now; our schools have be constructively destroyed both physically and morally. Good examples are some primary schools in the so-called hot spot areas namely, Rosary Boys and Girls, Nelson Street Boys and Girls and Eastern Boys and Girls. They were tops in the sixties to eighties.
The prime body to investigate crime is the police service. They themselves are failing us with bad working attitudes and poor supervision from top to bottom. The public is not getting proper service when crimes are reported, more so petty crimes. Most of our murders arise out of petty crimes that were reported to the police such as threat to kill, domestic violence etc, and the police failed to take action.
The culprits responsible for the backlog of court cases are: defence counsels, police complainants, the accused, and the Administrative Office of the Judiciary. These collectively are responsible for the failure of the Judiciary.
The religious bodies are talk shops on the pulpits–not reaching the people, staying in their safe zones and doing nothing.
Finally, these political analysts, radio and television hosts are speaking to themselves–talking loud and saying nothing.
The crime situation has reached the stage of war. Dealing with it should be handed over totally, without political interference, to the armed forces.
Athelston Clinton,
Arima