THE EDITOR:
TRADE Unions throughout Trinidad and Tobago have been clamouring for the enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act which was passed by Parliament several months ago but which the government has failed to implement.

The excuse that the Act is “flawed” is not acceptable because the Act could have been implemented and amendments brought to Parliament to deal with the offending sections.

In the meantime, while the nation awaits the reintroduction of this critical piece of legislation, workers are losing their lives or sustaining serious injury on the job because of the negligence of some employers.

Many employers are using the absence of the law to avoid implementing minimum standards of safety in the workplace.

Those deaths are regrettable and the actions leading to them are totally reprehensible and must be comdemned in the strongest possibly terms.

Employers must provide safe and healthy work environments and must be compelled to do so by law, if necessary.

There are many negative effects of poor safety standards that result in injury to workers which are not always made known to the public.

Teachers are also falling ill or being injured on the job, on occasion resulting in permanent disability.

The indifference of ministry authorities to such situations is indicative of the importance given to health and safety by the Ministry of Education.

The action taken by the Police (Second Division) Special and Welfare Association at the St. Joseph Police Station, and other police stations in the past, is necessary to force official action to remedy these situations. More and more public officers will be driven to take similar action as government offices, including schools, deteriorate in the face of a failing maintenance and repair programme.

The Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers’ Association (TTUTA) declares its unequivocal and unreserved support for the immediate implementation of the Act, and advises its members that they must take steps to protect themselves by refusing to work in any situation where their health and safety may be compromised.

TTUTA believes that Trade Unions should come together to force government to implement the OSHA.

THE EDITOR:
OVER the years, I have read with detached amusement, Kevin Baldeosingh’s (he of the “naturally” curly hair) efforts to disprove the existence of God and his scorn of anyone who differs with his perspective.

Two of his recent efforts, however, have caused me greater concern. First, Kevin ridiculed the successful “A’Level” and “Cape” students who publicly thanked God for their successes. He also expressed his “horror” that these students will be the leaders of tomorrow and that their belief in God will cause them to make decisions that are not rational.

I hope that God grants Baldeosingh a long life to see these same students become outstanding and God-fearing leaders of our future.

Second, on October 7, 2005, Baldeosingh in his Newsday article “Good Thoughts” put forward an argument in support of abortion that was so flawed in its rationality that he seemed to have outsmarted even himself.

He stated that “for a body to have rights, it must belong to a person. The foetus may be human, biologically speaking, but it is not a person.

“A person is a member of a social group, and only a person can have rights.”

My Pocket Oxford Dictionary states that, interalia, a person is an “individual human” or “one’s body or bodily presence”.

Does a foetus have a body?

If not, what does it have?

Baldeosingh further states that:

“… to even begin to have … rights, a person must develop consciousness.

“The foetus, however, does not show brainwave patterns that reflect consciousness of any sort until after 30 weeks of development -- well into the seventh month.

“Ergo, abortions before that cannot be truthfully called murder, and virtually no abortions are performed after the second trimester.”

I would refer Baldeosingh to a wonderful documentary made in 2005 by the National Geographic Society called “In The Womb”.

This documentary, using medical and computer technology, chronicled the growth and development of a foetus from conception to birth.

It clearly shows the ability of the foetus to feel pain long before the seventh month.

I am not a biologist or psychologist of any sort, but logic dictates that for an individual to experience pain there must be some sort of consciousness.

We seem to have fallen into the trap of playing semantics with words. The same dictionary defines the following:

Pregnant – “with child”.

Abortion – “expulsion of foetus from uterus during first 28 weeks of pregnancy, either spontaneous or induced”.

Foetus – “developed embryo in womb or egg”.

Embryo – “unborn or unhatched offspring”.

Foeticide – “killing of the foetus”.

Abortion can only happen after foeticide.

It is time for us to stop trying to play smart with foolishness!

Baldeosingh even admits that the foetus may be human!

I assume that the foetus may be human and alive.

Therefore, when you take the life of a human foetus, anytime after conception, have you committed murder?

When you are killing it, does the foetus feel pain?

Do we have any awareness or remembrance of our consciousness within the womb?

If we don’t, is it that we never had it?

Maybe Baldeosingh can enlighten me.

THE EDITOR:
KINDLY grant me a space in your newspaper to express my agreement with the Municipal Police wanting to be treated equally as a regular police officer.

Why should they be treated less equally?

Their job specification is similar but yet they are degraded when they should be treated as any other regular police officer.

A municipal police job entails: general duty police work to preserve the peace and prevent and detect crime.

If they are doing this what are regular police suppose to do?

A constable in the municipal class performs routine duties in law enforcement and in the prevention and investigation of crimes.

Duties include making regular patrols, directing traffic, investigating accidents and crimes and performing other specialised police activities at great personal risk.

Their work may also involve clerical functions and is performed in accordance with prescribed regulations and procedures.

An officer is expected to exercise sound judgment independently, to give tactful and courteous treatment to the general public not forgetting academic qualifications and training are the same.

Therefore what is left for the regular police to do?

Their spec is already covered and when was the last time you came across a courteous police officer?

Probably if they are flirting with you or parked outside a bar having a few.

And when was last time you heard a municipal police being charged of any crime?

If Commissioner of Police Trevor Paul was to be astute he will grant Municipal Police their wish of being treated equally as any regular police officer. After all, they are putting their life at risk too.

THE EDITOR:

IT must be remembered that Warner personally sponsored the campaign to Germany from the very start until the match against Bahrain.

Where were all the persons and the government who suddenly want to jump onto the bandwagon?

And why do they, including the government, want to jump onto the bandwagon now?

For the very same reason -- to make money off the campaign to Germany without investing in the campaign to Germany, like Warner did.

Let us give Jack his jacket.

He invested his money in the team and by right, he should be allowed to recoup his investment like any other business venture.

So to those unscrupulous businessmen and the government who want to make a quick buck now that the team has qualified, back off.

Warner should have first preference.

I may not be a fan of Warner but must express my appreciation for his support, financial and otherwise, to the football team.

He showed quite clearly that the football fraternity will not be a bunch of beggars.