‘Oh, wait here comes our minister of national security, surely, he will inspire some confidence. Surely, he will go into East Port of Spain (this time in a raincoat) and act rather than talk.’
FOR the sake of transparency, I will admit that during the Covid-19 lockdown there were a few fleeting moments in which I considered alcoholism in efforts to blur the idiocy that surrounded me.
While Covid restrictions may have eased, I find myself plagued by the reconsideration of alcohol dependence to see if it helps make this past week any more palatable.
It all started on Saturday last, when three young men were shot and killed by police officers near the Brian Lara Promenade. I chose not to cast judgement as all the witness and police statements were extremely contradictory, but I knew this wasn’t going to end well.
Then Monday rolls around and it should not have come as a surprise to anyone when residents of Eastern Port of Spain protested in the most Trini way possible, burning tires and pelting big stones…well except for the one guy who pelted the one random coconut that unfortunately collided with CNC3’s Akash Samaroo.
Pour me a stiff one.
While I do not condone the protest actions on Monday, I get it. If I believed that my child or anyone else close to me was unjustly murdered by police officers, I would riot.
And if I was a resident of East Port of Spain or any other “depressed/crime prone” community I would riot because it would be the only way to get answers, justice or the attention of others since the nation views me as a “pest” and has long abandoned myself and my community.
AZP News Photo Editor Azlan Mohammed captured these pictures in the capital city on Monday:
As a resident of one of these blacklisted communities, I would have to be sceptical of the police, after all, it was just this week that the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) concluded that PC Clarence Gilkes was shot by one of his fellow officers and not the poor guy who the police were fingering for the crime.
Regarding the investigation, the PCA stated the entire matter was “one of the clearest examples of abuse of police power that it has investigated to date.” They accused the TTPS of deliberately trying to mislead the Commissioner of Police and PCA about what transpired.
Keep those shots coming barkeep.
You need not look to our Acting Commissioner of Police for any comfort or answers. McDonald Jacob just sort of muttered, nodded his head and gave some vague statement aimed at making us all feel better, that due process was being done and everything is all hunky-dory.
Me thinks I need another drink.
Oh, wait here comes our minister of national security, surely, he will inspire some confidence. Surely, he will go into East Port of Spain (this time in a raincoat) and act rather than talk. Surely, he will see the need for more social services, educational resources, family support and sustainable employment opportunities, and would assiduously work to uplift our brothers and sisters!
Yeah no. Our Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds whipped out his finger and began pointing… According to our brave and vastly knowledgeable minister, Monday’s protests were orchestrated and funded by “outside elements.”
Lemme read through the lines here (this is my interpretation, not fact), Hinds is suggesting that Monday’s shebang was planned by the government’s opponents to make him, and his party mates look bad. And had those oppositional miscreants kept out of it everyone would have just stayed indoors, sang the national anthem and waited for our speedy investigative system to provide all the answers needed. If out of touch was a person.
Puncheon, it is!
Lastly, our mighty prime minister appeared to deliver some solutions… Ban the Scrap Iron Industry! Those scrap dealing rapscallions are the cause of crime.
I am officially dead inside.
You see, had our PM been listening to our scrap iron dealers he would have known they have been for the longest time calling for regulations and governmental help in establishing a competitive industry that could be a viable earner of foreign exchange. Scrap ironwork isn’t pretty, but it’s full of potential. Imagine if we opened a facility that catered to the scrapping of offshore vessels. Jobs, foreign exchange, community growth, all great things. But nah, it isn’t pretty enough.
So, you can understand why I’ve contemplated drinking this week. Sadly, I have too much respect for my liver, so perhaps I’ll have to take up another hobby to mute the onslaught of dotishness and chaos around me. I’m thinking taxidermy.
Wonderful Alicia as always