THE EDITOR:
TRINIDAD and Tobago does not have Bird (Avian) Flu.

But the epidemic is afflicting poultry worldwide and has led to reduction in prices of chicken.

With bird migration, it is quite possible for the disease to hit Trinidad shores soon.

Government should, therefore, take every precaution to keep out the dreaded disease which not only afflict birds but humans as well.

The government should issue advisories to the public to watch out for signs of the disease, especially if dead or sick birds are seen anywhere. The same is done worldwide and TnT should be no exception.

With almost every region in the world experiencing the dreaded disease, the arrival of avian flu in the Caribbean is now increasingly likely though not certain or even very likely.

The government must make a mature assessment of risk and issue appropriate precautions.

There is a chance of the flu being introduced among the chicken population and that it could mutate and attack humans, and mutate again to become infectious between humans taking us back to the bubonic plague and the Black Death.

The flu strain known as H5N1 has taken eight years to spread from Asia to Europe to Africa.

In that time, it has killed 110 people who have been in intimate contact with diseased birds.

Hundreds are ill at present.

Tens of millions of birds have been culled (killed and destroyed).

In India, along, over the last month, the govern-ment destroyed 10 million chickens.

The World Health Organisation is concerned and has issued precautions.

I do not mean to scare people about the flu strain.

But we must minimise the risk of the disease by being on guard.

Right now, there are no risks consuming chicken.

As a matter of fact, I ate chicken in India and Grenada last month and in NY all of this last month.

However, this does not mean we must ignore the threat.

And aside from health risk, the economy will be affected.

The Avian flu has sharply affected the poultry industry worldwide, driving down prices.

People are increasingly avoiding the consumption of poultry.

In Trinidad, the price of chicken has gone down sharply.

Avian Flu will devastate TnT’s small economy, wiping out poultry farmers.

THE EDITOR:
THE results of the recent Peter Wickham poll saying Dookeran will defeat Manning does not reflect the reality of recent political events.

The poll says, “Dookeran is more popular than previously thought”.

But the pollster did not say what he thought was exactly Dookeran’s popularity.

If indeed, Dookeran is as popular as the poll claims, how come there is no empirical evidence to back up that assertion.

Dookeran’s popularity is certainly not showing in the size of crowds at his meetings.

Dookeran’s meeting get an average of about 25 people in attendance, which include his cheerleaders who accompany him everywhere. A recent meeting in Bamboo, for example, pulled 12 people and another in Oropune pulled 20 people.

At weekly United National Congress (UNC) meetings where Dookeran, Panday, Jack Warner, and Kamla speak, the crowds average between 50 and 100.

I suppose that makes Dookeran more popular than previously thought because his crowd doubles.

Dookeran, the leader of the UNC, was booed at Mid-Centre Mall on February 19, at a massive rally by the supporters of the UNC. It has never happened in the history of politics in TnT that supporters booed their own party leader.

Clearly, Dookeran was rejected by rank and file UNC supporters.

So it is not possible for him to have more popular support than Panday or Ramesh.

I believe the poll was prepared to undo the damage caused to Dookeran at the rally where he attacked Panday and Ramesh, leading to the booings.

It is well-known that a public relations expert working for Dookeran recognises the damage done to Dookeran at the welcoming Ramesh rally on February 19.

(Incidentally, this PR “expert” was responsible for the collapse of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) and UNC Governments).

So Dookeran’s PR expert contracted Barbadian Wickham to do a survey to show Dookeran as more popular than Panday and Ramesh and that he will beat Manning for Prime Minister. That is not reflective to reality.

Dookeran has been in the UNC since the October 2002 general elections. So far with Dookeran, the UNC has lost elections in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 and will lose again in 2006.

Compare this with Ramesh’s presence in the UNC.

Since Ramesh joined the UNC in 1991, the UNC went from six seats in 1990 to 14 seats by 1994.

And in 1995, the UNC won 17 seats and formed the government.

In 2000, with Ramesh, UNC won 19 seats.

In 2001, without Ramesh, the UNC lost government and has continued to lose support ever since.

Compare this with Dookeran in whose presence the UNC lost seats and votes. Dookeran lost support: 800 votes in the 2002 elections from his St. Augustine constituency.

And throughout the country, the UNC lost 25,000 votes with Dookeran.

Is this a demonstration of confidence in a leader?

How could he be more popular than Panday and Ramesh?

The internal UNC election does not show any evidence of Dookeran’s popularity.

Dookeran lost badly against a weak Panday slate.

Compare this with Ramesh’s weak slate which won a landslide against Panday’s slate in 2001 internal UNC internal elections.

What does this say about support for Dookeran?

It is clear the recent Wickham poll is without foundation.

THE EDITOR:
IT is disheartening to see that although Southern Games attracts athletes from countries other than Trinbago, they are still operating in the 1950s.

Imagine hand-held timing and no photofinish cameras, yet our caring government prefers to spend millions of dollars on a stadium which will be used as often as the ones we already have, and millions were spent on their party retreat.

Just because oil money is pouring into the coffers there is squandermania and not productive spending. The National stadium had a mondo track laid less than 10 years ago I believe, now a new one is to be laid.

I guess those Carnival fetes at the stadium, which they allowed, damaged the track, but what the heck; money is no problem. Spend, spend and spend, Trinidad full of money. Don’t care about the rainy day.

THE EDITOR:
AS a long-standing investor, I am concerned about the performance of the Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) Growth and Income Fund amidst the stony silence of the corporation.

Since the middle of last year I have lost a great deal of my life savings ($40,000), as the offer price of the first scheme fell from $19.50 to its present $16.14.

What I don’t understand is that the economy is growing and performing, the banks and conglomerates are reporting mega profits, yet the offer price of this fund or scheme keeps tumbling. Does the UTC not have a responsibility to communicate with its investors about these strange trends and make a statement about the situation?