I keep hearing that the PP Government has not brought about change. I believe that it has now become rhetoric to keep beating up on the PP Government.
Yet a dispassionate and honest assessment will show that there are a number of areas where change is real and where it can be felt, smelled and tasted. But first, why is it that we have these excesses of critics suggesting that there has been no change but exchange.
Firstly, this claim was first made by the now bitter and obsolete politician Basdeo Panday whose tabanca seems not to be going away, defeated as he was in so humiliating a fashion by a woman of substance. Now his languishing chelas continue to sing his tune.
Secondly, everyone wants change yesterday, forgetting that it has only been fourteen months that the PP has been in office, but forgetting, and may be conveniently so, that the 120 day plan of the government was delivered and an account of this was given in Parliament.
Thirdly, the accusation that there has not been change is coming from people who need simple things fixed, like roads, drains, bridges, lights and water. The basics are needed and are being requested.
Reality is that the neglect over the years has been so bad, that though work has started with an injection of near one billion dollars (according to Mr Warner) this is not sufficient to meet demands.
Further, the country has so much supply capability and if the economy is overheated with demand exceeding supply, there will be inflation and higher prices. A balance has to be struck.
Fourthly, people do not realize that there is only so much money and it has to be prioritized. Some projects are going to get more attention than others. In the end everyone will benefit.
Fifthly, some people want the government to fire public servants who they feel are PNM. How do you really know that someone is PNM? The PP got 439,000 votes which is 120,000 more that any party ever got in any election. Surely there are PNM people who switched.
Yet a dispassionate and honest assessment will show that there are a number of areas where change is real and where it can be felt, smelled and tasted. But first, why is it that we have these excesses of critics suggesting that there has been no change but exchange.
Firstly, this claim was first made by the now bitter and obsolete politician Basdeo Panday whose tabanca seems not to be going away, defeated as he was in so humiliating a fashion by a woman of substance. Now his languishing chelas continue to sing his tune.
Secondly, everyone wants change yesterday, forgetting that it has only been fourteen months that the PP has been in office, but forgetting, and may be conveniently so, that the 120 day plan of the government was delivered and an account of this was given in Parliament.
Thirdly, the accusation that there has not been change is coming from people who need simple things fixed, like roads, drains, bridges, lights and water. The basics are needed and are being requested.
Reality is that the neglect over the years has been so bad, that though work has started with an injection of near one billion dollars (according to Mr Warner) this is not sufficient to meet demands.
Further, the country has so much supply capability and if the economy is overheated with demand exceeding supply, there will be inflation and higher prices. A balance has to be struck.
Fourthly, people do not realize that there is only so much money and it has to be prioritized. Some projects are going to get more attention than others. In the end everyone will benefit.
Fifthly, some people want the government to fire public servants who they feel are PNM. How do you really know that someone is PNM? The PP got 439,000 votes which is 120,000 more that any party ever got in any election. Surely there are PNM people who switched.
Sixthly, we are forgetting that it is in the interest of the PNM to push the head that the PP is not performing. From day one this is what they have been saying believing that if it is repeated sufficiently people will begin to believe that the PP government is not performing. Sadly some of the PP supporters have fallen for this psychological trick.
What is being forgotten is that the economy was in serious decline when the PP took over on May 24, 2010. That is a fact. There were several quarters of decline in real growth of the economy.
The first thing that has changed is that the economy though still fragile has been stabilized and placed on a path of growth once again. This is why the international rating agencies have been giving favourable ratings to Trinidad and Tobago and this is why the IDB (World Bank) is willing to lend to TT.
TT and the PP Government avoided the International Monetary Fund and have not gone the way of Jamaica and other Caribbean economies. Had the economy not been stabilized we would have been in deeper trouble.
The PP government exchanged a failing economy for a stable economy. This is change!
Sometimes we do not for one reason or the other want to go back into the hey days of the PNM. However it is necessary to do so to examine how much the PP Government has been able to change.
The PP government has had to clean up the mess of the PNM.
In Agriculture, Mr Vasant Bharat has been refurbishing fishing depots which were dilapidated providing modern facilities to the fisherfolk. This is not exchange.
What is being forgotten is that the economy was in serious decline when the PP took over on May 24, 2010. That is a fact. There were several quarters of decline in real growth of the economy.
The first thing that has changed is that the economy though still fragile has been stabilized and placed on a path of growth once again. This is why the international rating agencies have been giving favourable ratings to Trinidad and Tobago and this is why the IDB (World Bank) is willing to lend to TT.
TT and the PP Government avoided the International Monetary Fund and have not gone the way of Jamaica and other Caribbean economies. Had the economy not been stabilized we would have been in deeper trouble.
The PP government exchanged a failing economy for a stable economy. This is change!
Sometimes we do not for one reason or the other want to go back into the hey days of the PNM. However it is necessary to do so to examine how much the PP Government has been able to change.
The PP government has had to clean up the mess of the PNM.
In Agriculture, Mr Vasant Bharat has been refurbishing fishing depots which were dilapidated providing modern facilities to the fisherfolk. This is not exchange.
Children were dying because that could not raise money for life saving surgery. The Children’s Life Fund was set up and over 30 children have benefitted at a cost of about 6 million. This is not exchange.
In the area of education Dr Gopeesingh has announced that by the end of this year 49 early childhood centers will have been built. This is not exchange.
For years people complained about the dilapidated and cramped licensing office in Chaguanas. A new facility has been opened. This is not exchange.
For years people complained about the lack of buses on the roads. Today people are no longer complaining because the bus service thanks to the PP govt is working. This is not exchange
People from Siparia and Penal, Los Bajos and Santa Flora had to travel to POS to get birth certificates etc The PP govt opened a facility in Siparia. That too is not exchange.
They said that the PP govt will only give computers for one year. The PP govt has already announced that computers have been ordered for this year’s crop of SEA students. This too is not exchange.
Everywhere you go roads are being built or repaired, bridges are being constructed in record time, drains are being built, drained are being cleaned and rivers are being dredged to alleviate flooding.
This never happened on the scale it is happening today. This is not exchange. Defeat the naysayers! The PP government is bringing change. Don't fall victim to their pyschology of repeating that there is no change.
Speak of it! Feel it. It is all around you. Your PP government is forking for you and you and you.
In the area of education Dr Gopeesingh has announced that by the end of this year 49 early childhood centers will have been built. This is not exchange.
For years people complained about the dilapidated and cramped licensing office in Chaguanas. A new facility has been opened. This is not exchange.
For years people complained about the lack of buses on the roads. Today people are no longer complaining because the bus service thanks to the PP govt is working. This is not exchange
People from Siparia and Penal, Los Bajos and Santa Flora had to travel to POS to get birth certificates etc The PP govt opened a facility in Siparia. That too is not exchange.
They said that the PP govt will only give computers for one year. The PP govt has already announced that computers have been ordered for this year’s crop of SEA students. This too is not exchange.
Everywhere you go roads are being built or repaired, bridges are being constructed in record time, drains are being built, drained are being cleaned and rivers are being dredged to alleviate flooding.
This never happened on the scale it is happening today. This is not exchange. Defeat the naysayers! The PP government is bringing change. Don't fall victim to their pyschology of repeating that there is no change.
Speak of it! Feel it. It is all around you. Your PP government is forking for you and you and you.
Chandra Harnanan
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