Letter to PM Patrick Manning: "Let someone else take the mantle."

Dear Mr. Manning,

A couple of years ago, before the last general election, I wrote a letter in the newspaper explaining the reasons why I could not vote for you and your party. It seems as though I have been spot on as regards to the results of your mis-governance.

I have decided that I will now list some issues of national importance and the reasons why you have lost the moral authority to lead the country and therefore must resign.

Your administration has been in office for almost 10 years and during that time, this country has experienced a windfall of revenue such as we have never seen before. What have we to show for it?

Eight buildings built by UDECOTT? TT$300B have gone through this economy in the last 9 years and can we really say that our quality of life is better? When all and sundry was warning you and your government about the reckless spending as well as the inevitable decline a la 1983, what did you and your government say? "We are insulated."

You were part of the government that squandered our last oil boom in the 70s. This might be forgivable. But to do this again is unforgivable. You were warned about a fool and his money but you were too busy building your ego and your Empire at the expense of the people.

Now that 'de money gone' you want to impose new land and building taxes on a population that is not only overtaxed but under represented and taken for granted by its leaders.

This new tax will not only make the poor poorer, but it will wipe out the middle class who have sacrificed over the years to make a better life for themselves during their sunset years.

Simply put, you and your government have squandered a once in a lifetime opportunity to build up the country's finances and thus make the economy less dependent on oil and gas which is a depleting natural resource.

For this alone, you should resign, more-so since you did not learn from past mistakes. With respect to crime, where do we start?

Basically, we should look at the genesis of crime. Your government has created a gimme gimme dependency syndrome among your PNM supporters that quite simply, it is either you give them a 10 days or they become bandits and murderers.

To make matters worse, the example that your government has shown towards fighting corruption has basically given people a license to be criminals.

You have failed your PNM supporters making them the most vulnerable group in the society, despite their loyalty to you and the PNM. You have also failed to appoint a Police Commissioner, met with so called 'community leaders', called Martin Joseph your best minister, allowed a government minister to get away with taking out her money from a failing financial institution, bought useless blimps that don't work, said that "crime was a temporary problem" and referred to murders as "collateral damage."

Ten years and some 3500 lost lives later, can we say that we are fixing the problem? What about the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who have lost loved ones? Can we bring back their loved ones?

As head of the National Security Council and Prime Minister, you would have been history in another country.

Your consistent defense of Calder Hart is to say the least abominable. It also shows your lack of appreciation and understanding of your role as PM.

What has UDeCOTT done for our development? Built the Hyatt, an Emperor's Mansion, a tall empty building on Wrightson Road which was to be the headquarters of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) now defunct, an arts centre seating 1200 people at a cost of $500m which works out to a cost of $417,000.00 per seat. The only way this could be viable is if people are prepared to pay $5,000.00 to attend concerts. Who is paying that?

Add to this, UDECOTT is still building a cricket stadium for World Cup 2007 (who knows when this will be finished and what the final price will be?) Have these buildings brought any tangible benefits to the people of T&T?

You treat the country's finances as though they are your own, accountable to no one and for nothing while billions of dollars are misspent, wasted and disappear. How could you not possibly understand that speaking to Calder Hart (after the AG told you that "he has a case to answer") is wrong? More-so, how can that conversation be private?

You continue to try distracting the population by looking for wars from invisible enemies and claiming religious persecution. Your use of religion as a defense mechanism is despicable and if anything your utterances and behavior with respect to this UDeCOTT affair is clearly outrageous.

You should know that God does not sleep. You also keep bringing your religion into politics. This is a supposedly secular state with all different religions and your promotion of your "born again Christian values" is divisive and wrong.

You are the Prime Minister of T&T, not the Bishop, Pundit or Imam.

Church and State must be separate or we could end up in violent situations like those Middle Eastern countries where the religious leaders are the political leaders.

In developed countries as you would like us to be in 2020, you would have been forced out of office. Maybe, if and whenever we get to 2020, you would do the honorable thing?

As regards our present water crisis, who do you think we should blame? When you were Opposition Leader, you said the UNC's decision to build a desalination plant was wrong since any country blessed with 8 months of rainfall should never be short of water.

Presently, your administration wants to build 8 desalination plants. The irony of all of this is that when the rainy season starts, bet the last dollar in the treasury that there will be water everywhere resulting in massive floods.

Why can't we build more reservoirs and catchment areas? How costly can this be? I doubt that it can even cost the price of one desalination plant. This problem has been with us since I remember myself and with your government being in office for 10 years, can we honestly say that your government has made a real attempt to solve our flooding and water problems?

If you answer this honestly, I am sure your conscience will allow you to 'do the honorable thing'.

The issue of traffic is one that affects the entire population and one that has been with us for far too long. Everday, everywhere you go in T&T, there is traffic. Again, your government looks for expensive solutions while ignoring simple cost effective solutions. Why do we need a train?

We cannot even run a bus service, how in heaven's name are we going to run a rapid rail service? Why don't we allow a partial privatization of PTSC making the buses owner-operated like the US? This will bring efficiency. Also, why are we still licensing small vehicles as taxis?

The water taxis have been a failure since they have not solved anything and look at what they cost. Again, big expensive ideas that aren't working.

Our revenue down the drain and nothing to show for it but a few pretty boats that do nothing to solve our problems.

Health and Education are other areas where you and your government have failed miserably. I don't need to go into details but we all know what happens in the hospitals. Even poor people would take their hard earned savings and go abroad or to a local private institution to avoid the local health service.

With respect to education, the government schools are failures. Everyone wants their child to go to a denominational school and yet your government see it fit to undermine these institutions that are our only saving grace.

The PNM has been in power for 43 of the last 54 years and the only reform we have had in education is changing the name of 11+ to Common Entrance to SEA and GCE to CXC.

You have built some shift schools but what quality of education are we getting from them? There are other areas that I can delve into but I really cannot continue forever.

So in conclusion Mr. Manning, when all is analyzed, you have failed our country and as you may well be aware, incumbency is threatened as you have seen with your good friend Mr. Panday.

All I ask is that you save yourself and the nation from further trauma and just let someone else take the mantle. We need a new leader in T&T. The ball is in your court.

Regards,
Linus Brown | Diego Martin, via email