Skip to main content

overnight water



The past week has been hectic, in Tobago with family, stuff happening and a fried brain. Tobago as usual was delightful even though the poor island is being treated like a bastard child by an administration that is not only usually favoured by the Tobago electorate but where the PMOTT is a son of the soil. The guy even wrote a book 'From Mason Hall to Whitehall' although he had not yet actually completed 24 months of his term as PMOTT and worse, 'Whitehall' has been in a state of disrepair and abandoned by successive Administrations. I guess this is a sign of not so good things to come.

Before I get vex I just want to deal with something that really bothers me. Hot water or a lack of it. We came home from the sister isle to a non functioning water heater. In my early days in Arima I grew up with what I have termed 'overnight water'. In Arima the old man would store water in a galvanise storage tank, zero insulation, and the water would reflect the temperature of that night. Getting up to go to school and having to jump into that shower, the shower head was wider than your body and you could not escape the deluge of freezing water. One of my first jobs was working at a large commercial bakery in Park St in Port of Spain and being the newest employee I was given the graveyard shift - midnight to 7.00 am. Leaving town and heading home after work of course one had to bathe before going to sleep. Do you know how long it takes to wash off flour?  'Overnight water' watash, I swore that the first investment I would make would be a water heater. The second hand Zephyr 6 somehow took preference and I was forced to bathe in icy water for many years. Now in the twilight of my life all of a sudden I am back to Arima days. I do not care what people say cold water is cold water!

So where have we reached on the Rock.


  • We have a new President, affectionately referred to as 'Auntie President' by a local columnist.
  •  A National Security Minister who has been found guilty of fraud in the USA.
  •  A payment of $150,000.00 to a former personal assistant to a Cabinet Minister with accusations of sexual misconduct and wrongful dismissal.
  • A rehashing of an old scandal involving the now PMOTT with a national housing issue.
  •  The collapse of the sea bridge.
  • The collapse of the Tobago economy.
  •  The continuing saga of the newly purchased ferry and the complete lack of transparency.
  • The Chief Justice and no action taken other than the CJ going on vacation.
 One can leave the Rock for a day and somehow it hits the fan. The MP for Tobago East makes the statement 'nobody in Tobago suffering'. The MP is obviously speaking with the 'red and ready' crew and not having a conversation with anyone else. The MP is obviously in 'apogeean mode'. The economy in Tobago has tanked and the PMOTT is solely responsible for the collapse. Not even the Minister of Finance can claim responsibility for this act of gross mismanagement, incompetence of the highest order and a dereliction of duty never seen before in our Republic. The people who are eligible to vote in the THA election have every right to file a class action suit against the Central Government. The Tobago air and sea bridge is deemed an essential service and the Administration has failed to execute its responsibility to the citizens. Deal with them!

There is talk of a third political party to save the country. I have a different view. We do not need a third party, we need a political movement to drive out the current political system forever. Not for one term or two terms, but forever. The new movement will change the direction of this country making us the nation we should be. An entirely new movement, an entirely new way of governance must be established. Out with the old, dump the failed system, throw out the traditional political system and let us move this Rock forward.
Let us not be afraid, a system was created in 1956 which took us to another place, a new system is what is needed now to take us yet further.

Good night people of the Rock and good luck, the change is on its way!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Peace and quiet

When you hear the words 'perfect' or 'the best' it makes you feel like a million dollars. Human nature is weird, a simple compliment can turn a whole story into a week of joy! And, yes, I am speaking about the Sunday night popcorn! Apparently, tonight was exceptional. I hope the rest of the week translates into 'perfect'. The horrible news of the deaths of two cyclists over the weekend came as a real shock. We both know a number of people who cycle for good weekend sport and to hear of Joe Brown being killed in an accident was truly heart-rending. When we heard of the accident we started to think of all the people we know who cycle and just hoped it might be somebody we did not know. Is this how it works, you hope that it's not someone you know, what about all the people who actually know the person? Truly a sad day! RIP Joe and Joanna! The issue of cycling and motorists is one that every country I am sure goes through. Is it that the main roads are for...
Post a Comment
Read more

Keith Noel RIP

Today will always be remembered, as it is the anniversary of the last time I saw my good friend Keith Noel. On this day in 2005 at around 8.00pm, we told Keith goodbye after we had a lime at a local bar, the following day was Corpus Christi, a public holiday. The next morning at around 4.00am I received a phone call informing me of Keith's murder. My life changed, our lives changed as my life partner and I became heavily involved in trying to make a meaningful change as to how we lived here on the Rock. Our children were involved, our eldest son was Keith's good friend as were many co-workers and friends of Keith Noel. Keith's murder was classed as no. 136 on the police files. During our awareness and petition campaign, we were called names by many people who obviously disagreed with what we were doing. I guess the success of the movement, then called the Keith Noel 136 Cmt, created quite a concern amongst those who should have been concerned. Keith would have been 55 ye...
Post a Comment
Read more

R&R

We had two of the four grands spend the weekend with us whilst the parents went off to the North Coast for some rest and relaxation. From all reports, the sojourn was well spent with both singing the praises of our North Coast, no beach, just R&R. We are ten minutes from the coast and I hate to admit it but it is rare that we venture north. One of the selling points of coming to live in the wilds of Maraval in 1983 was the fact that Maracas Bay was a mere 30 mins away. Maracas could have been next door it did not matter, we just do not do it. Having grandchildren I think puts you in a very different place. When our kids were growing up we were struggling with building a business from scratch, living off of a teachers salary, impossible then as it is now, and generally ketching. But as it is with all things in life we survived. Looking back at those years it was difficult, kids, dogs, mortgage and other loans, but you knew why you were putting yourself through all this hard...
Post a Comment
Read more