The verdict is out on Annisette et al..... Revolutionary or Mercenary?  |
| Lost in thought: PM Kamla Persad Bissessar and top cop Dwayne Gibbs. To divide and rule could only tear us apart/In every man chest, there beats a heart. Soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries/ I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries. Bob Marley. Discipline, Tolerance and Production. Those are the national watchwords, long lost to the crop of post seventies politicians- bar none. The destruction of our children is the whirlwind that we are now reaping, having tossed aside those words as every man took it upon himself to decide his own destiny , as it should be-. Shamelessly none one found that his destiny was for the good of the people- all the people. Therein lies the work of God Almighty. It’s reached the point where the word politics is used so loosely that it can be interpreted to mean just about anything unclean. It does not matter whether it is new politics, old politics, best politics or better. Or Best politics. We are now dealing with prison van loads of children who know neither discipline nor tolerance. Therefore there is no production. The natural end result is that they become fodder for the criminal industry. A criminal industry, which has been created and outlawed and sustained by the system which has trapped thousands of men and which could also reap thousands of errant girls if only because the police are still too old fashioned to acknowledge the extent of female involvement in the criminal industry. The prison population will never give an accurate picture to his reality. Just about one year before he passed away on March 30th 2005, Mirror editor, Keith Shepherd sounded a warning for two consecutive editions of the Sunday Mirror. One morning shortly after he arrived at the Mirror’s office in Barataria, Sheppy got a zeppo that a man was shot dead a short distance away at the Morvant junction. That was shortly after eight o clock in the morning. Curious with his camera, the editor did not assign any reporter, but walked over to the crime scene, knowing that he would get there in time. They usually take long to remove bodies,. On arrival as he took some photos, Sheppy observed the other youths who had gathered around the dead man lying on the side of the road, stone cold dead but with blood flowing through his bullet wounds. They were not concerned about the murder as much as they were about the sneakers which he wore. Bling.As they commented about this, and Sheppy walked away, no doubt with his heart in his hand. The rastaman then wondered aloud what the youths had come to. SMH, was what he was doing when he penned the story a few days later,. That, he followed up a few months afterwards with a declaration to Hang then at 16…. One of the last pieces he wrote, commenting on the brutal mindset of the generation into which the gun had become as wanted a toy as the videogame was. It was a natural progression. From virtual reality to reality. He had argued for the death penalty to be reduced for sixteen year olds to be hanged for murder. He wanted to fight fire with fire- an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It was his declaration of war. He made his point and left quietly and we have lived to see 12 and 14 year old bandits and murderers. That fact is not yet recorded in the books of the criminal justice system for that matter because the police have not yet owned up to that, as they try to grapple with the older men who are leading those astray. The criminal industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the years- it works hand in hand with the very system. The jails need to be full for the lawyers to survive, strive or even thrive, depends on where you are in the scheme of things. If there were no law breakers, there would be no need for a police service and an army, neither a coast guard nor the boy scouts. And there would be no need for laws—and so no need for a parliament. Ent? But, they are building another jail. You know where we are in the scheme of things. As for the State of Emergency, thus far I am convinced that crime has long passed the stage of being “an urgent problem to address.’ It is now a matter of emergency. Reluctantly, I make reference to the leader of the opposition, Keith Rowley, who in one of his sober moments declared that the country was under siege, after four murders were reported overnight in Arima. Under siege, therefore, the national security bosses took the decision to fight their way out and played its biggest piece of trump, from the cards in hand. The Jack is still in hand and is yet to be played in a later round. If at least one or two high level car thieves from the Bamboo or cocaine importers from South Trinidad are not fingered and picked up, then it would be easy to say that the PP will get its Jack hung. And that is not the Fifa man. A member of the Syrian mafia, or the Chinese mafia alone will not suffice, as this brutal town well knows. With that said, there is some light for those who are not too blind to see. I for one am breathing easier as I slowly and cautiously watch the police service empowered… a classic battle between good and bad playing out among the security forces. In any team of cops and soldiers there may be a few corrupt ones. But each man is looking over his shoulder now that one example has been set. A cop whose name- but not his face is a household name – has been transferred from his division where on more than one occasion he has been on the take from more than one drug dealer. On the occasions that he busted a case, I was told, he was being used to play out one against the other. The very same day that the news surfaced there was television footage of an Inspector,, praying with his men after they returned unscathed from the Rincon forest with a small arms cache. Inspector John Daniels declared in his prayer ‘Lord we know this is just the tip of the iceberg”, after his men brought in more than 14 high powered rifles- albeit rusty old fashioned ones- and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Good officers who long wanted to do their jobs and were shut down by the corruption in the system seem to be seeing a dot of light in the tunnel. The other blessing in disguise which the rabble rousing people have not yet seen is that the police are being forced to use intelligence- to do their jobs rather than execute people in drive by shootings that are no different to how the criminals operate. It’s hanging over their heads that they must operate with the law; at least that is what the high powered criminal legal team of Israel Khan, Dana Seetahal Pamela Elder and Theodore Guerra ought to ensure. And last Thursday afternoon national security got the biggest boost they needed when trade unionist Michael Annisette –President of the National Trade Union Centre-hosted a news conference to announce that he had information about 13 containers of illegal drugs that have passed through both the Ports of Port of Spain and Point Lisas. Wasn’t that the kind of breakthrough everyone is hoping for, even though we are not sure if Annisette can tell us whether the drugs belong to the Colombians and the Mexicans? Was he just talking for the sake of talking, to play a role? If not, and he is in possession of such crucial and valid information then the police intelligence units are seriously lapsing if they have not yet questioned him to get more information about the very big fish that everyone wants to see hanging from a hook. But chances are when they talk to Annisette he will sheepishly tell them something to the effect that he got the information from Ian Alleyne, perhaps. And we know that Alleyne is the King of “It is alleged.” And this brings us back to the question of the real revolutionaries. These are the elders who have failed tens of thousands of young people by not using the energy which they have suddenly found to generate some love—self love, at least among the endangered. Their lyrics over the years that Ella Andall had warned, plaintively in song about the Missing Generation” have been nothing less than divisive as they selfishly seek their own interests while pretending to defend the interests of the people whom they have neglected, spiritually and socially for decades. The biggest talkers who are making noise up and down the country are engaged in a power struggle. But the only way we can overcome this little trouble is to come together. I hope that “soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionary/ 'Cause I don't want my people to be contrary. Here endeth. |
