Mamaguying the population

THE EDITOR: There are a few things that I have great difficulty in participating. Beach clean-up is one. I believe our beaches should always be clean and that cleaning exercise ought to be the regular duty of the local government body in that area. So, when groups and politicians show up with the media to do a clean-up, I think of the reality that it is only a photo opportunity and the following day and weeks, the beach would be dirty again until the next photo op. Another is the distribution of hampers. If there is a flood, a fire or anything that solicits national attention, the politicians show up with a hamper. Were they aware that the people that are grateful for the bags with rice and peas and other stuff were hungry before the incident and will be that way again after the media attention is over? Do they really care about the welfare of those people? If so, what is the long-term sustainable plan to address their poverty? Our citizens have continually been taken for granted by politicians, using the poor and suffering of others for political gain. The manipulation of CEPEP and URP workers and those given political positions in both local and central government who must attend political meetings to give the impression of widespread support is another example. The public utterances like "we are sincere in addressing crime" in our communities while it takes decades to do a simple thing like the provision of state-issued licence plates speaks to the insincerity. Almost every crime, kidnapping and home invasion is committed by people using a vehicle with false plates. State-issued plates made to international standards can be designed and produced within one month. I wonder how long the people would allow themselves to be used by politicians who indicate without apology that they care only about winning an election and gaining publicity in the media. For example, it is now commonplace for one to say the worst things about another politician, making serious allegations about their conduct, and shortly afterwards singing their praises. It is as if the population must only believe their latest statement and that all that was said before was just old talk. More importantly, they expect the population to believe and trust what they say. There was the recent picture of politicians meeting with the UNC. Shortly afterwards HOPE stated that the politicians were invited to the talks but were unaware that they were invited to a photo opportunity without any agenda and were not told that others were invited. One can suppose that if any of the two major political parties invited one of the smaller parties to a meeting they would attend, as there is always the possibility that they are interested in the values and vision of unity of these smaller parties. The COP in a press release shortly after the gathering indicated that there was no agreement at the meeting. Yet the public was told that there is a coming together of the groups that was bigger than that of previous partnerships. There must be a time when the public is respected and not used for political mamaguy. STEVE ALVAREZ via e-mail The post Mamaguying the population appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.