Charles: Unable to fight local elections on its track record the PNM is resorting to manufactured distractions

Mr. Rodney Charles
Member of Parliament
Naparima

“With the citizenry becoming more aware of, and outspoken about, the complete inability of this PNM Government to effectively manage T&T, government is now attempting to distract and direct the conversation away from their ineptitude and towards bacchanal, racial divisions and PNM inspired discord,” says Naparima MP Rodney Charles.

“In desperation, with two Local Government elections and no performance record on the economy, crime, foreign affairs, health or any ministry whatsoever, the PNM’s PR machine has moved into full gear, manufacturing an unnecessary PSC crisis which will once again delay the appointments of a CoP and a DCoP and divide our country

How low will they stoop to hold on to the reins of power?”

During yesterday’s Barataria meeting, the ‘red and ready’ PNM attempted once again to hoodwink the population with their standard regurgitation of non-issues, offering false hopes of a brighter future and their time worn blame game politics.

Rowley’s PNM is clearly running from its hopeless and uninspiring non-performance record.

Once the party of vision, ideas, performance, and intellect the PNM, under Rowley, Imbert, Young and Al Rawi, has now morphed into a slick, fast talking PR machine to hoodwink the population to win both seats.

Their failed ten point crime plan, abysmal crime statistics with murders averaging one and a half a day, their utter hopelessness in managing the economy, the near destruction of our healthcare system, and facing overdue elections in Belmont East and Barataria, it is pellucidly clear that this government is running away from its performance record.

Hence its total reliance on slick, manufactured distractions.

It was clear, to the discerning, that from the onset Rowley’s PNM was not going to abide by the recommendations of the PSC. Today, using its majority in Parliament, the PNM has succeeded.

Whatever process the PSC used, the PNM would have found issues. Any creative, first year university student could question recruitment processes however credible. Management is a social science capable of alternative truths unlike chemistry and physics which are governed by indisputable facts.

We challenge the PNM to fight this election on its performance record.

They fooled our citizenry in 2015 that they had a well thought out crime plan. What is the record?

More recently they claimed that the Anti-Gang legislation would help solve crime and that they had data on gangs. All that was needed was the legislation.

Demonstrating cluelessness, our Minister of National Security said in Parliament that “the police service is unaware of any gang war pending in the Port-of-Spain division”.

His TTPS said otherwise.

Officers of the Port of Spain division, in newspaper reports, advised that they had Intel that a Chaguanas based “Unruly ISIS” gang was in Port of Spain, preparing to wage war against the “Rasta City” gang.

Whom do we believe?

Meanwhile loquacious Faris Al-Rawi appears hell-bent on an almost totally myopic, not well thought out, legislative approach to solving crime seemingly unmindful of fact that crime fighting is more a management than a legislative matter. A country simply cannot legislate itself out of a crime problem.

As with the much vaunted Anti-Gang legislation, which to date has not impacted crime, the National Security Minister must get his act together and weed out rogue police officers, improve police response times, increase detection rates, reduce overcrowding in our prisons, provide credible alternatives for our “at risk” inner city youth, and improve support agencies like the Forensic Science Centre.

Our country is at a crossroads. It has to decide whether it will once again be fooled by the red and ready brigade. If they are, then our country will be doomed to a future of increased poverty, escalating crime, mass unemployment, less foreign direct investments, increasing debt, escalating murder rates and long lines for scarce FX.

Rodney Charles
MP for Naparima