Manifesto malfunction

We passed a significant milestone this week. Our murder rate for mid-May, 2010, surged past last year’s tally of 193. We are at 200 already! Another significant statistical milestone is the fact that the total number of murders under the PNM crossed the 3,000 mark. It now stands at 3,065! Over 3,000 persons have been murdered under the watch of the Manning administration.

Families have been deprived of a father, a son, a mother, a daughter and a breadwinner! The pain and suffering of those that have to survive after the crime is an unexplored, complex social problem. They are left to fend for themselves, with no help from the state. This unprecedented murder rate gives new meaning to the blind chant of a few that “Ah is PNM ‘till ah dead” as the gang violence continues to wipe out an entire generation of youths in the PNM stronghold of Laventille. I was horrified to read press reports which described the 16-year-old Stern Sealy, who was shot to death by a police officer he tried to rob, as “a seasoned criminal.”

At sixteen?
Even so, the innocent are not spared. Russell Antoine, 27, an innocent bystander, was shot and killed during an exchange of gunfire among rival gangs at Upper Cemetery Street Extension in Diego Martin. Antoine was shot when rival gangs began chasing and shooting at each other in broad daylight. He was caught in the crossfire. Scared residents were forced to duck for cover, as young gunmen converted the area into a war zone, resembling a scene from a war movie. Crime is the No 1 problem in this country. The PNM launched its manifesto, and it is a case of “same ole, same ole!” The manifesto promises new mega-projects galore, but failed to tell us how the government intends to make our home a safer place to live in; how they are going to reclaim the streets and lift the self-imposed national curfew and undeclared state of emergency for law-abiding citizens; in short, how they intend to stop the blood from flowing.

The absence of a coherent crime policy in the PNM’s manifesto is damning. The casual attitude to crime was evident in Manning’s flippant statement, in the face of daily slaughter, that crime will have to get worse before it can get better. Apart from crime, the PNM’s is silent on transparency and prevention of corruption. We have moved from the good ole days of the Francis Prevatt and John O’Halloran to Calder Hart and Andre Monteil. Monteil, you may recall, as Chairman of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) lent $60 million to Clico Investment Bank which in turn lent money to Monteil’s company “Stone Street Capital Co, Ltd” to buy the shares in Home Mortgage Bank. (Sounds like a case of taking out of the left pocket and putting in the right, only the transfer is of funds not belonging to you, right?)

Manning never told the nation that the Central Bank report viewed the entire transaction negatively, and recommended the use of “moral suasion” to convince Monteil’s company, Stone Street Capital, to divest its shares. In fact, the Central Bank report went so far as to suggest that NIB be used as the vehicle for the re-purchase of the shares and Monteil be paid back the $110 million for the shares plus interest and expenses incurred. In Panday’s appeal, Chief Justice Ivor Archie highlighted Monteil importance in the PNM: “The Attorney General’s later account of his investigation is that, on April 25, 2006, the day after judgment was delivered, he telephoned Mr Monteil, who was his personal friend…He (Monteil) told Clico to ‘clean up their mess’ and says he used the word ‘mess’ because he was “angry”.

In winding up the 2008 budget debate, Manning promised the nation that the Government would ensure that the HMB shares would be retransferred. Manning claimed that he did not know what Monteil was doing when the government passed legislation to facilitate Monteil’s transaction. He even promised that “In correcting it, we’re going to ensure that the shares are retransferred at the same price.” Needless to say, the promised legislation never materialised. It was Keith Rowley who, in his sober days, warned: “The PNM had surrendered its legacy to one man who was leading the PNM down a road which, I am certain, will be filled with regret.” Sad to see you go down that road, too, Keith.

By Anand Ramlogan