THE EDITOR:
“THE Deosaran Files: Two Decades of Social and Political Commentary”, Volumes I, II and III, which were officially launched recently, have received positive reviews from the social and community organisation, Citizens for a Better Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT).

Chairman of the group Harrack Balramsingh said: “Anyone reading the Deosaran Files will discover that many important social and political issues discussed by Professor Ramesh Deosaran over a decade or two ago have not been seriously addressed until this day.”

He noted: “The Independent Senator has been calling for Police Reform, the implementation of the breathalyser and more transparency in public affairs, but the powers-that-be have been taking too long to answer these calls.”

Balramsingh pointed out that for several years, Professor Deosaran had pointed out the irregularities among teachers and school administrators, as well as the increasing indiscipline and violence among the nation’s children.

“If his comments and recommendations were taken seriously, we may not be experiencing today many of the social problems in our schools and the society as a whole,” he said.

Balramsingh stated that President Maxwell Richards’ presence at the launching of the Deosaran Files was a clear indication that the holder of the nation’s highest office was concerned about the serious social problems confronting our society, and was prepared to support any initiative to make our country a safer and better place for all our citizens.

THE EDITOR:
HO! Ho! Ho!

It’s that time again, Christmas.

Often times, I wonder why during this blessed season the most amount of alcohol and ham, including pork (something forbidden in the Holy Bible) is consumed by many.

This year is the worse; there are more bottles of rum opening, everyone hoping to win one of the cars. How sad, pathetic and regrettable.

But I do not have a problem with that, for they like it so.

What I do have a problem with is why Manning wants to build three health hazard plants in Cedros.

Is it because Cedros is about 85 per cent East Indians?

Why not a fish and shrimps processing plant or any other kind of establishment instead of those that would slowly and gradually kill us or cause physical abnormalities in the human bodies.

TnT is not yet ready for any shelter plants.

Are you mindful of the fact, Sir, that Pope John Paul II, now deceased, the man whom I had the respect for, begged President Bush not to attack Iraq? He bluntly refused.

Look what is happening to the Americans now; and the worst is yet to come.

PM Blair is standing by.

Please, Manning, please desist from building any smelter plant/plants in TnT, for you are not the one who gave us life.

If you insist, you could very well be responsible for a terrible disaster hitting Port of Spain any time within the next three years.

Pharoah had power and spears; Moses had words from Almighty God.

Who won in the end?

By the way, Sir, was I the person who shook your hand at the San Fernando office, on May 4, July 13 and August 3, 2000, when you were the Leader of the Opposition, addressing you as prime minister?

Was I the person who told you to walk like a king, talk like a viking, for Manning will be Prime Minister; and now you want to kill us slowly and gradually? Is this my reward, instead of a job you promised me then?

I would rather die than to sit arms folded and legs crossed joining the fence of Mother Nature. I am a born Trini, but a die-hard Cedrosian.

Manning, you forced me to write this letter by not replying to my personal letters.

THE EDITOR:
TALK to me, minister.

Food prices have gone up, are going up, will go up again, and nobody has anything to say!

Except for “Nutrina chicken”, who plucked up the courage to tell the public what’s going on and why the price of chicken has to increase, it’s only silence.

And, in the meantime, everytime I go to the supermarket, I either have to spend more or buy less!

Is it true what Nutrina said?

If grain has gone up, then all kinds of things have to go up, including flour and bread.

So transport and the Port are also costing more money.

In addition, floods killing local agriculture, so we have to rely on imported foods.

And then, on top of all that, our dollar just fell against the US dollar, while the US dollar’s falling against everybody else!

One minute we are tied to the US dollar, the next minute we floating.

Except that we aren’t floating because it looks more like we are sinking.

End the silence.

Level with your people and tell us what to expect!

THE EDITOR:
TECHNOLOGY Instructors, especially those on a six month “contract”, are up in arms with an official of the Multi Skills Training Programme (MUST).

They are appealing to Orville London, Chief of the House of Assembly, and the Honourable Minister of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Tertiary Eduation, to step in immediately as the official threatens not to renew their so-called contract for trivial reasons.

In the first place, the official dictates what they should score on their Performance Appraisal, in the section they have to fill in for themselves.

The official has gone a step further by saying if they do not attend a brunch organised by MUST, they would be scored as not committed to the programme.

Many did not attend because of religious reasons, especially Muslims, who were told in no uncertain terms to put a bottle in their trunks and come at all costs.

Honourable Minister, how could you tolerate this?

The official, I understand, had a great time, as he gulped drink after drink.

On another matter, we need the Director of Human Resource to tell us if we can be penalised if we fail to arrive at offsite days after 7.30 a.m., when public officers are to arrive at 8 a.m.

Minister, please put a hand before this ranting and raving of this dictator, who talks down to us and never gives a chance to respond, destroys one of the best social programmes introduced by your government.

THE EDITOR:
WHILE most of our major roadways are named after people who are deserving, there are some names that should be removed.

There are names for Butler, formerly Princess Margaret, Hochoy, Claude Noel, Audrey Jeffers, and Wendy Fitzwilliam, deserving yes, but why are we still holding on to Churchill-Roosevelt, Lady Young, Lady Hailes and Beetham, all from our colonial past.

I thought that Trinbago was independent.

There is a major roadway used by many more motorists every day than any of the others, yet it is still called after the city engineer of the day, who was not even the one who constructed it.

This is Wrightson Road.

The person responsible for building it was Ramjit Kumar.

All he has is a small road in St. James named after him.

This artery should be renamed after him, for without him the area would have been a swamp, and development along there would not be what it is.

Is he still being punished for what Cipriani and the governor at the time thought of him for organising the Indians?