the rock

Good news for the Roman Catholics, me included, we have a new Archbishop of Port of Spain. The announcement was made today and we all welcome Fr Jason Gordon, Archbishop Elect. Knowing some of the history of the goodly priest we can all look forward to many years of astute leadership of the Church. We say farewell to the outgoing Archbishop Harris and thank him for his service.
Of course the talk has already started, why him and not him? Lord put a hand on these people who regardless of what one does it is going to be a story. Sometimes it is better not to listen to any talk just go ahead and do what you know to be the right decision.

The poor residents of Central and South Trinidad, flooded once again. Seeing a farmer holding up a bunch of flood-damaged produce saying that this was the second time for this year that he has lost his entire crop is heartbreaking. In this particular instance he claims that it is as a result of the new highway being constructed from San Fernando to Pt Fortin. Regardless of why surely someone must be in charge of the project and be in a position to deal with this situation. In Central there must be another reason for the Caroni River bursting its banks and flooding the immediate area around Piarco Airport.

Every year we go through this pain and suffering. Every year we hear of watercourses not being cleaned, persons blocking drains and stuff being dumped into the drainage system creating havoc for the residents. The cost in lost production and personal loss is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the weather people the rain being experienced is normal rainy season rain and not any storm.

Somebody needs to ask the question why? We are giving the Ministry of National Security, probably the worst performing Ministry, the largest budget and have been doing so for many years. When we say that our public spend is all wrong-sided this is what we are talking about. Good hard working people whose only sin is that they live in what some foolish politicians refer to as 'the lagoon' are made to pay the price of having their lives turned upside down with no relief in sight and others are being compensated and supported for negative results.

• The Capital city floods after 20 mins of torrential rain, fact. 
• The Caroni River breaks its banks after 'X' amount of rainfall, fact. 
• The Godino River floods and the Mosquito Creek is awash after a spring tide coupled with 'X' rainfall, fact. 

The historical data is there, and every year the pictures of the devastation are the same, the question is now why? Administrations come and go yet the problem is ingrained.

Illegal structures, squatting, debris, poor maintenance, inadequate drainage systems, poor planning,  bad engineering and design. All of this is man-made, it has nothing to do with an Act of God, yet every year it is the same thing. Donning a pair of 'tall tops' or a drive through by the officialdom with many photo ops, to me is more insulting to the people, who once again, have suffered. Fix it! Shims man!

The rock is very fixable, it is a space that if we stop with the stupid narrow-minded thinking then the farmer seen tonight would actually be contributing to the economy in a positive way. From the smallest contribution by a farmer to the supply of trillions of cubic feet of natural gas is what is required. As someone famous once said, "We're all in this together".

For those of us, who for what ever reason live on the rock, there is no better place!

Good night and good luck!