The Prime Minister's gone to Cuba to get a tumor removed. He surveyed the length and breadth of our islands and decided there was neither a well equipped hospital nor one single suitably trained Trinbagonian surgeon in our entire country that could perform the procedure. He ditched us all and went to Cuba with his expense account, while we disbelievingly watched him go, choosing to put his life in the hands of Cubans instead of any of our own.
Unlike the Prime Minister we ordinary people are trapped with no expense accounts to fly overseas to treat a medical emergency. Heaven help us! We are left to deal with the evidently inferior medical services provided by our local health care professionals. I wonder what our local nurses, doctors and surgeons must think after being so snubbed by the man responsible for overseeing the development of our country, including our health care system and our hospitals.
This move is truly a defining low on the part of our Prime Minister; indeed it is a National Shame. I wish him everything he deserves during his recovery.
As Manning’s expense accounts grow our standards of living deteriorate. Obscene amounts of money are spent to maintain his life of luxury, while for us nothing changes.
This weekend 16 year old Tony Jaggan was beaten, stabbed through the heart and murdered by six men. Jaggan’s mother told the Trinidad Express “While walking towards MovieTowne, [his friend] Nicholas was struck by a car, and in retaliation he slapped the car's driver side window. The car stopped and its occupants, six in all, came out of the car, she related.
At the time of the incident Jaggan was some metres ahead of Nicholas, she said. When Jaggan saw what was going on, he ran to his friend's assistance. At this time the men in the car began taking out several weapons out of the vehicle, including at least one knife and an ice pick, she said.
When Jaggan and Nicholas saw the weapons they ran off. But in the attempt to escape injury, Jaggan tripped and fell, she said. Some of the men started to stab and hit Jaggan all over his body. Jaggan sustained a broken arm along with several stab wounds about the body, she said. Nicholas was also stabbed in his arm during the incident.
Jaggan's other friends stopped a van and the teenager was rushed to the Port of Spain General Hospital. Trinidad Express December 15th 2008
Someone’s child was senselessly murdered, but the Prime Minister is safe in Cuba with his sons and our tax money. Childhoods are lost, billions are spent but our young people are not any safer.
"$42 million will be spent on 200 luxury vehicles for use during the Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meetings."
$42 million that could instead be put toward buying ambulances, improving our emergency response services or upgrading our police patrol teams. A rapid response ambulance or the arrival of police on regular patrol might have saved the life of Tony Jaggan. Obscene amounts of money are squandered but lawless savages seem to be winning day after day.
"Manning’s travel expenditure for 2009 is $3.5 million, one million more than last year, even without his private jet.
Manning budgeted $1 million for medical expenses in 2009.
The Prime Minister's Establishment in the 2009 budget has $16 million to spend in the new year.
Manning has fired his army and police guards and is now paying the Executive Security Service $14 million of taxpayers’ money for private security.”
Richard Charan - Trinidad Express Investigative Desk Sunday, December 14th 2008
In 2007 “$1.6 billion was spent to keep 5,000 CEPEP people wastefully engaged in non-productive employment at a cost of $300 million. The other $1.3 billion went into the coffers of the PNM contractors and agents. When the URP criminality funding war chest is added to CEPEP it will turn out to be a $2.5 billion bonanza. That windfall was neither subject to accountability nor transparency. It, however certainly transformed Laventille and Morvant into killing fields.
$1.6 billion was spent under the UNC Administration and Trinidad got a new airport to show for it, large deposits secretly stashed away in foreign bank accounts and supporters facing the courts and in jail for alleged theft.” Shame and Scandal in CEPEP by Stephen Kangal February 24, 2007
In 1986 the PNM was defeated by the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR). The PNM won 3 of 36 seats with 32%. But Trinis have amnesia or else they are incredibly masochistic. There is no difference between our country 22 years ago and today except that many innocent people must die in order for us to remember that the PNM’s legacy is failed development, mismanagement of funds, criminality, and “all a we tief”.
Nelson Mandela called Robert Mugabe a 'Tragic Failure of Leadership' for while Mugabe lives in his palace in Harare the people of his country continue to live in a state of humanitarian crisis - they cannot afford food, are dying because of poor medical care and are brutalized by Mugabe's private army; any political opposition to Mugabe is met with intimidation and harassment. (Manning instructed one of the nation's security agencies to investigate Opposition MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar. "I have monitored the relationship between the Member for Siparia and the individual concerned for years," Manning told the Parliament in December.) In this regard I believe the term "Tragic Failure of Leadership" applies to Manning as well
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