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'igbekele'






Had a great weekend with the youths spending time with us. We are ever so fortunate to have our children and grans all living on the rock. I know, I have said this a thousand times before but really we are very lucky to have found ourselves in this position. The trick is now to create the space for them to stay and have a successful, happy, healthy life on the rock.

Someone told me today that there is one word that we all need to understand and that word is 'trust'. We as a people have been let down so many times by people who we put all our trust in. We would say 'this time, this is the one' and whatap it happens. The people we trusted let us down, break the campaign promises, start making the excuses about what really happened. After multiple times of that being the case why would I want to cast my vote? Imagine some go as far as to say 'there was a typo in the manifesto'.
So how do we fix this? If for instance a promise is made for the Right of Recall as part of a manifesto commitment then one should not have a problem with signing an undated letter of resignation as a Member of Parliament to be used in a non-binding recall exercise, if it is the process of the Right to Recall did not make it to the parliament floor. Of course terms and conditions will apply. My point is how do we ensure that our contract with those elected is a good contract and not one sided in the favor of the elected. There must come a time in the history of a country where the 'trust' is sacred and where once that trust is broken, its time for action. We have to find a way where our elected officials are aware of the power that we have throughout their term of office.

Today I listened to the PMOTT talking about taxpayers and money and how we are all accountable to the taxpayer as to how we spend and account for the funds. He was relating the history of the CL Financial bailout. At the time he had been relegated to the backbench by the then PMOTT and therefore had no Cabinet responsibility, but he as an MP soldiered on insisting on the taxpayer being satisfied with the terms and conditions of the bailout.
Today the PMOTT made it very clear that his job was to protect the taxpayer and I assume the treasury. But then, as always, I started to think about the current CL Financial status. What really is the real story? You cannot have an agreement where there seems to be a myriad of different interpretations and therefore a serious case of money leaks, including the new issue of the real and true valuation of 'No Man's Land' in Tobago. Another thought was of the tripling of the cost of the vessel leasing for the Tobago run. The PMOTT has had direct involvement in the Tobago ferry issue so where now is the protection of the taxpayer? You see where the issue of trust comes right back into the fray. Out of office one says one thing and then once elected does something totally different.

The word 'trust' means the trait of believing in the honesty and reliability of others.

Tomorrow we celebrate Emancipation Day. It's a public holiday here in T&T and has been celebrated since 1985, the first country in the world to do so. You see there are good things that we do. I see the head of the Emancipation Cmt requesting all to respect the day and more so asking for all businesses to close. I have found that over the years if the celebration is not part of one's direct interest then people in the society continue with their daily routine. Public holidays are observed by different interest groups but others head off to the beach, go shopping in Miami, St James is open on Christmas Day for those late shoppers especially if you are buying a fan as a gift. Each to his or her own. I see that the President of DOMA explained in detail how the members of his organization react and assured the Emancipation Cmt head that his members will observe the holiday and as a result will open.
There was more holiday talk with the President of the Republic moving the National Awards, traditionally given out on Independence night, to Republic Day. I guess if you are the President of the Republic and not the President of the Independent, then Republic Day it is. Big deal!

Let's not forget the word 'TRUST'. In the Yoruba language it is 'IGBEKELE'

Goodnight ate ti o dara orire!



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