By Johnny Coomansingh
As soon as I clambered out of bed this morning, the fan I use for a little cool breeze abruptly stopped. It was around seven o’clock on Monday, July 29, 2024 (EST). Electricity outage again! The lack of electricity meant no fan breeze, no air conditioning, no comfort to simply exist! Without a thunderstorm or a hurricane, the outage went on for about four hours.
Trinidad can be likened to an old car; an old, old car that’s falling apart, breaking down and stuttering for every few miles travelled. In this case, Duct Tape would not fix or solve anything. The next event was the pitter-patter of raindrops on the awning installed over the back door. Rain! Cumulonimbus clouds rolled in and the entire house became darkened.
With the rain falling and no electricity (current), I surmised that I would be without a potable water supply. After heavy rains, the water in the pipes becomes brown. Laden with silt, the water is actually unusable for cooking, drinking or doing laundry. It’s customary, the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) shuts off the water and sometimes there is no supply for days. Quite noticeable is the brown tinge when the water returns. I am angry!
I do not pray at all for the attribute called patience because I am of the view that more and more trials and tribulations come riding in with ‘Mister Patience.’ With my plans for the day literally dashed to pieces because of the ineptitude of the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (TTEC), I decided to sit quietly, put my thoughts together and write with pen and paper in the dim light.
For the past few days, the current kept on an ebb and flow regime. The fluctuations caused my expensive television to be constantly rebooting. I took the advice of the furniture and appliances store to install surge protectors for my television, refrigerator and freezer to prevent damage due to low voltage and sudden surges of current. I keep asking myself about why has Trinidad and Tobago found itself in such a dilemma?
While studying and working in the United States of America I never experienced anything similar to these events that keeps occurring time and again in Trinidad. Some Trinis vociferously ‘attack’ me with their statements: “This is not America!” “This is Trinidad!” “Get used to it!” Yeah, get used to it? Why? It’s the ‘old car syndrome.’ The miserable old car throws a fit; if it’s not the engine, it’s the transmission system or the radiator is leaking; overheating! Pray that the braking system holds. I am angry!
I am angry for what has happened to this country during my lifetime. I will be 70 come August 09. Since I was five years old there has been a perennial problem with the electricity and water supply. For all these years, these amenities kept coming and going, up and down, like pistons in an engine block. It’s true that many countries of the Caribbean have emerged from colonialism, slavery, and indentureship. Many Small Island Development States (SIDS) are still struggling with their development, but Trinidad and Tobago is different. Many have chosen to encourage the tourist industry to bolster their economies. Trinidad and Tobago, on the other hand, ignored tourism because the state was blessed with deposits of petroleum (onshore and offshore), natural gas and asphalt.
There were two oil booms during the 1970s and 1980s. What happened? Where did the money go? Trinidad had so much money, enough to give every man, woman and child one million dollars as a gift and still remain with plenty in the coffers! Now we hear of the rich people, the bourgeoisie; the one percent (1%) who are in control of the money and the businesses that somewhat employ the proletariat. They live it up in their ‘ivory towers’ ‘eating caviar and drinking champagne’ while the poor and struggling have to beg for the crumbs that fall from their tables.
It is observable that the distribution of resources in this country is totally off balance. Trinidad obtained its independence in 1962 and it is well-known that the country is still dependent on Multi-National Corporations (MNCs); interdependence is very, very far in the distance.
“Yuh hear mih! This is not America! This is Trinidad!” Why couldn’t we be better? With a population of a mere 1.5 million people let’s get real! It has been bandied about that Trinidad and Tobago could have been the Dubai of the Caribbean; but no! The political demagogues rule this land with the rod of inefficiency; as some people say: “It dey, dey good so.”
Don’t blame me for my statements. Don’t ‘attack’ the messenger. Nonetheless, it’s highly apparent that there has been a variety of observable ‘misses’ presently running this country. Parading on the political stage the ‘misses’ include misinformation, mischief, miscalculation, misjudgment, misappropriation, misconception, misunderstanding, mismanagement, misconstruction, misplacement, and misguidance, all amounting to a series of really big mistakes made by the present government that has ruled Trinidad and Tobago for over 40 years. I am angry!
I spent five years in Kansas, two years in Missouri, seven years in North Dakota and about three years in Delaware. During my sojourn in the United States of America, there could be an onslaught of rain, hail, snow, ice or blizzard, but there wasn’t an instance when I was left without electricity and a supply of potable water. Again, this is Trinidad and Tobago, and the mantra: “We Like It So,” is still operant in society. My article, From Cocoa to Commesse published last week in Caribbean News Global (CNG) mentioned that it was Eric E. Williams, the first prime minister, in a most proud and boastful manner, as his custom was, stated emphatically, “… money is no problem!” Amazingly, money seems to be the problem right now!
What we have now are heavy borrowings and unrestrained withdrawals from the Heritage and Stabilization Fund (HSF) by the present government to prop up the failing economy. Oh! And at the moment there are alleged billions of dollars missing from the treasury accounts according to the auditor general. This matter is still before the courts.
Concerning the abundant presence of ‘oil money’ and the disappearance of the same, Lance Dowrich in his article Tell Dorothy to Wait (January 04, 2023). commented on the calypso titled: Wait Dorothy Wait sung by Dr Leroy Calliste, calypsonian ‘Black Stalin:’
“Listening to the lyrics of this wonderful song, Stalin addressed his dilemma of trying to please his fans with a party-flavored sensuous ditty as he cavorted with Dorothy, while simultaneously considering singing about issues that concerned the welfare of his people.
But as he readied himself to respond to the challenge issued by his fans to write a calypso about Dorothy, he recognized that a smutty calypso must not override his responsibility to educate and inform his listening audience…He succinctly captured the rise and fall of oil prices and the boom and bust cycle that characterized the economic experiences of Trinidad and Tobago from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. Social inequalities resulting from the unequal distribution of resources in Trinidad and Tobago are poignantly captured in the lines: “That oil money come, and oil money go, and poor people remain on the pavement and ghetto, aah when mister Divider start to divide the bread equally, I go finish the whole damn calypso about Dorothy!”
The ’boom and bust’ scenario caught Trinidad and Tobago with its pants down. With that situation in tow, the citizens of the state are suffering along with the thousands of Venezuelans, yes thousands of ‘refugees’ who are constantly landing on our shores now seeking refuge here. All of us are struggling and ‘fighting’ for the same meagre resources. Moreover, coupled with the inefficiency of TTEC and WASA, the health system is not as healthy, the education system is failing, the government bus transport system is inefficient, the agricultural system leaves much to be desired; food security is a dream, our infrastructure is in shambles, not to mention the insecurity now experienced by all.
I must manage the constant outages, irregularity in the water supply with traffic jams on lumpy, bumpy potholed roads, alongside banditry, drive-by shootings, home invasions, murders and heinous crimes, literally living like an agouti with hungry dogs in a chase. This is Trinidad and Tobago, and should I stay quiet? Should I not be angry?
