Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Letter: Attorney thanks PM for standing firm on highway issue

Attorney Larry Lalla sent a letter to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Wednesday thanking her standing firm on the highway issue. 

In his letter Lalla noted the unfortunate implications of the hunger strike by Wayne Kublalsingh. However he commended the PM for looking at the l;arger picture and standing up for citizens.

"If Kublalsingh, his relatives and supporters have decided to throw his life away behind a misguided cause, then so be it," Lalla wrote. "If he dies our country will sympathize for the unfortunate loss of a citizen but as we drive through Penal, Fyzabad and Siparia on our new highway we will thank you."

Lalla's letter is published below: 

December 5, 2012.
The Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar S.C.,
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago,
Office of the Prime Minister,
13-15 St. Clair Avenue,
Port of Spain.

Honourable Prime Minister,
Like many of the citizens of citizens of our Republic, I have looked on over the last twenty days of the Kublalsingh “hunger strike” and I have taken notice of the expressions of thanks conveyed to Dr. Kublalsingh by members of the various factions of the Port of Spain-based cultural & political elite. In seeing these expressions of gratitude it occurred to me that too few were taking the time to thank you for your commitment to your cause and therefore I thought it appropriate to sieze the opportunity to say thanks to you. 

I am sure that the road to our highest political office has been a most difficult one requiring you to give up time that could otherwise be spent in leisure with your loved ones and friends or even excelling at your chosen profession. Instead, you have chosen to walk the road that many speak about but which few dare travel.

Our’s is not an easy Country to govern. While in office one has to balance many competing interests to ensure that the country’s resources are used in a way that yields the best results for the greatest number of citizens. In doing so one has to constantly face the arrows shot by political foes who are envious of you for what you have accomplished. For some, your accomplishments remind them of what they could not do when they were given the opportunity. For others, your strength is a constant reminder that they will never reach your heights. In the face of these arrows you have held strong to your cause and for this I thank you.

You have appreciated that the proposed highway is more than steel, cement and asphalt. You have appreciated that the proposed highway means that thousands of parents will get jobs closer to home, thousands of parents and children will spend less time in frustrating traffic, thousands of parents will get home to their children at an earlier hour and thousands of children will be able to spend more quality time with their parents. You have also appreciated that the new highway means that thousands of couples will also now be able to spend more quality time with each other and would now have more time to take care of their health. For your appreciation of the benefits that the proposed highway will bring to thousands of families I thank you.

You have appreciated that the proposed highway also means that the lands in the southern part of our Country can now be put to more productive use by facilitating dramatic expansions of agriculture, industry and tourism. These expansions have the potential to thrust us into the diversified economy that we aim for but which has so far eluded us. For appreciating what the proposed highway means to the financial future of our country and generations to come I thank you.

While Dr. Kublalsingh’s conviction to his cause might evoke admiration, such admiration is necessarily limited because of his misguided efforts. His ego has caused him to lose sight of the greater good. The passing of a highway through swampland is nothing new to our national infrastructure. Our most vital highways namely the Sir Solomon Hochoy Highway, the Mucurapo Foreshore Freeway and the Beetham Highway in Trinidad and the Claude Noel Highway in Tobago pass through swamplands at various points. Yet none but the most disingenuous would deny the priceless contribution that these highways make to our national life. Further, while one must have empathy for the families to be dislocated, Parliament in its wisdom has enacted laws to ensure that these families as properly compensated for such dislocation.

Over the past twenty days of Kublalsingh’s “hunger strike” you have had to endure the disrespect meted out to you and your ministers by Kublalsingh, his family, his small group of supporters and your political opponents, past and present. In all of it you have maintained your dignity and your have kept your focus. While the majority of your supporters may not be as vocal as the group gathered from 9:30 am to 4 pm at Gray Street, rest assured that their support of you runs deep and wide. For maintaining grace and humility in the face of disrespect and political treachery I thank you.

One does not know how much longer this “fast” will last. Kublalsingh appears to be in better health on day twenty than he did on day eight. If Kublalsingh, his relatives and supporters have decided to throw his life away behind a misguided cause, then so be it. If he dies our country will sympathize for the unfortunate loss of a citizen but as we drive through Penal, Fyzabad and Siparia on our new highway we will thank you.

Let the highway be built!

Yours faithfully,
Larry N. Lalla 
Attorney at Law

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Jai & Sero

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Our family at home in Toronto 2008

Our family at home in Toronto 2008
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