THE Dr Keith Rowley-led Government initiated an island-wide shutdown of the country and has asked people to stay at home to curb the spread of Covid-19 for 16 months now like the rest of the world had done.
However, as most of the world is now reopening after securing sufficient vaccines to inoculate their citizens, opening back for business, putting stimulus packages in place for their economies, we are still in a prolonged lockdown.
This is mainly due the government’s mishandling of the proper distribution of vaccines and the impotence of it to come up with an actual reopening/recovery plan for the economy.
This is the real reason why many citizens and businesses are suffering, on the breadline and on the verge or already at financial ruin.
The government took the decision to halt citizens’ “normal life” and livelihoods because it said that they were acting in the best interest of all the citizens.
We understand there were extenuating circumstances but now it is time and a necessity for the government to do all that is required to return citizens and businesses to their standing before the shutdown.
The pittance they have offered to citizens and businesses is a shame compared to the rest of the world.
The government has failed the population of T&T in securing sufficient vaccines in the last 16 months and has stifled the average citizen to the point where we can’t breathe.
We are happy that we finally received 800,000 doses of Sinopharm on Tuesday, maybe now they can rollout that without any hiccups. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the government cannot devise a proper plan, so that the economic recovery can begin. It’s long overdue.
All we get is lip service where, I like many others, try to follow the trend of the prime minister’s speeches every Saturday and become lost with the lip service “ole talk” to pull the wool over our eyes of the festering problems we face economically that doesn’t seem to have an end date.
No business person or even the average person knows how long they have to continue like this, in this perpetual shutdown mode, in continuous uncertainty when the prime minister will release the stranglehold on the businesses so that they can start to rebuild.
It’s not unreasonable to know what plans the government has to reopen the economy so businesses that are on the verge of closure maybe able the hang on a little longer instead of closing their doors forever if they knew the end date was near.
After all these months of press conferences, I like most of you, are no better off as to knowing the opening date for businesses, restaurants and malls across the country which are not construction-related businesses or a laundromats.
I did not see a government solution to my banker’s movement to choke my finances, to repossess my car and the solution to my neighbour’s house that is on economic fire with foreclosure, with no solution to the massive job losses being faced nationwide.
All I saw was one minister chastising the population for being more greedy than needy having to resort to visiting South Park for assistance.
Within the morass of “ole talk” there is a clear conclusion that the government only cares about their ministers, their Members of Parliament and their high-ranking friends and financiers.
What about the millions of dollars in motor vehicle exemptions for luxury cars where the average citizen is wondering how to feed their children this week?
No amount of “ole talk” can save us now and everyone must agree that the government has no plan to restart the economy, their reaction seems to come from vacuous vaaps and only when demonstrations or outcry from public have occurred.
Well Dr Rowley we have reached the point where we can’t breathe!
Neil Gosine is an insurance executive, the North East Regional Coordinator of the United National Congress and a former chairman of NP. The comments and opinions expressed by him in this column are not necessarily those of AZPNews.com, a division of Complete Image Limited.
We Can’t Breathe: Where is the Economic Recovery Plan
THE Dr Keith Rowley-led Government initiated an island-wide shutdown of the country and has asked people to stay at home to curb the spread of Covid-19 for 16 months now like the rest of the world had done.
However, as most of the world is now reopening after securing sufficient vaccines to inoculate their citizens, opening back for business, putting stimulus packages in place for their economies, we are still in a prolonged lockdown.
This is mainly due the government’s mishandling of the proper distribution of vaccines and the impotence of it to come up with an actual reopening/recovery plan for the economy.
This is the real reason why many citizens and businesses are suffering, on the breadline and on the verge or already at financial ruin.
The government took the decision to halt citizens’ “normal life” and livelihoods because it said that they were acting in the best interest of all the citizens.
We understand there were extenuating circumstances but now it is time and a necessity for the government to do all that is required to return citizens and businesses to their standing before the shutdown.
The pittance they have offered to citizens and businesses is a shame compared to the rest of the world.
The government has failed the population of T&T in securing sufficient vaccines in the last 16 months and has stifled the average citizen to the point where we can’t breathe.
We are happy that we finally received 800,000 doses of Sinopharm on Tuesday, maybe now they can rollout that without any hiccups. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the government cannot devise a proper plan, so that the economic recovery can begin. It’s long overdue.
All we get is lip service where, I like many others, try to follow the trend of the prime minister’s speeches every Saturday and become lost with the lip service “ole talk” to pull the wool over our eyes of the festering problems we face economically that doesn’t seem to have an end date.
No business person or even the average person knows how long they have to continue like this, in this perpetual shutdown mode, in continuous uncertainty when the prime minister will release the stranglehold on the businesses so that they can start to rebuild.
It’s not unreasonable to know what plans the government has to reopen the economy so businesses that are on the verge of closure maybe able the hang on a little longer instead of closing their doors forever if they knew the end date was near.
After all these months of press conferences, I like most of you, are no better off as to knowing the opening date for businesses, restaurants and malls across the country which are not construction-related businesses or a laundromats.
I did not see a government solution to my banker’s movement to choke my finances, to repossess my car and the solution to my neighbour’s house that is on economic fire with foreclosure, with no solution to the massive job losses being faced nationwide.
All I saw was one minister chastising the population for being more greedy than needy having to resort to visiting South Park for assistance.
Within the morass of “ole talk” there is a clear conclusion that the government only cares about their ministers, their Members of Parliament and their high-ranking friends and financiers.
What about the millions of dollars in motor vehicle exemptions for luxury cars where the average citizen is wondering how to feed their children this week?
No amount of “ole talk” can save us now and everyone must agree that the government has no plan to restart the economy, their reaction seems to come from vacuous vaaps and only when demonstrations or outcry from public have occurred.
Well Dr Rowley we have reached the point where we can’t breathe!
Neil Gosine is an insurance executive, the North East Regional Coordinator of the United National Congress and a former chairman of NP. The comments and opinions expressed by him in this column are not necessarily those of AZPNews.com, a division of Complete Image Limited.