A Fractured Cabinet ..

The past few weeks have left me stunned by the antics of our leadership. Penny, Marlene, Burkee, Simonette, Espinet, Quamina … I can go on and on, but there is one common theme: they were headlined in the media because of some act of incompetence by the leadership of our country. This single-term government has stumbled from issue to issue, and every time I think it can’t get worse, something worse happens.

How can two government ministers sit in the same post-cabinet news conference and have a fundamental disagreement on any issue? In this case, the issue was the appointment of the CEO to manage Heritage Petroleum. One minister said that there will be a search for a replacement, while the other talked about allowing the CEO to operate remotely.

Photo: Former Heritage Petroleum CEO Mike Wylie (via Trinidad Guardian)

My conclusion from this public display is that the cabinet is so fractured that they can’t even keep ‘on message’ in the public. That says that the Ship of State is in the hands of a captain who is still clocking his hours to certification. We are in a danger zone and every decision taken will impact our quality of life for the next generation and beyond.

From the onset, the closure of Petrotrin and the establishment of the holding company was contentious. As a citizen, I saw another example of autocratic leadership and duplicity. The closure was presented as a fait accompli when a few months before, the headline was that the union and the management were working towards a way forward with the restructuring of Petrotrin.

We have squandered another opportunity to motivate our people to change our work ethic. If it was aimed at union-busting, then it failed. Unions are here to stay, so at all levels of our society, we have to find a way to work with unions or employee associations called by other names.

Heritage CEO, Mike Wylie, may have come in with the best intentions, but something went wrong with the process of selection. How thorough was the medical and why is compensation being considered when he is unable to function in the manner for which he was hired?

Former chairman Espinet has functioned as an effective hatchet man to transition Petrotrin into Trinidad Petroleum Holdings Limited (TPHL). Does anyone else wonder what happened for him to be removed so unceremoniously? Poor Quamina, a nice guy, a competent attorney, but an on-the-job-trainee (OJT) in the energy sector. So we stumble on.

Photo: Michael Quamina with Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi (via Trinidad Guardian)

In other countries, the population would be clamouring for transparency and accountability about these major decisions. There would be a loud demand for collaboration among cabinet colleagues instead of the public stumbling which occurred in the post-cabinet news conference. In looking at the board composition for these four companies, I also wonder out loud about the absence of women.

TPHL BOARD: Michael Quamina (Chairman), Reynold Adjodhasingh (Deputy), Newman George, Anthony Chan Tack, Joel Harding, Selwyn Lashley, Eustace Nancis.

HERITAGE BOARD: Michael Quamina (Chairman), Newman George (Deputy), Reynold Adjodhasingh, Selwyn Lashley, Joel Harding, Ryan Toby, George Leonard Lewis, Peter Clarke, Reeza Saleem.

PARIA BOARD: Newman George (Chairman), Eustance Nancis, Christine Sahadeo, Peter Clarke, Reeza Saleem.

GUARACARA BOARD: Newman George (Chairman), Anthony Chan Tack, Peter Clarke, Christine Sahadeo.

Are we so afraid to challenge that this travesty will be allowed to play out over the next 15 months to 7 September 2020?

A feeling of fear covered me as I read a recent report of a recording of a private conversation allegedly between Justice Gillian Lucky and another person. I was further panicked because the Trinidad Expressnewspaper got hold of the tape, transcribed it and used it as a news story.

Where was the moment of pause to ask the question: is this the right thing to do? Is this the only way this story could be covered? Is it news at any cost? I know the answer will be that it was already out on social media, but does that make it right?

Shouldn’t there be some institution monitoring such releases or are we now in a free-for-all in which your conversations can be recorded without your knowledge or consent and used as someone else deems necessary? If you can tape the conversation of the judge and use it in this way, what will you do to an ordinary citizen?

Something is wrong with this scenario and it makes me feel that yet another of my freedoms is being violated. What will be next?

Facebook and other social media can operate according to the law of the jungle, but the state needs to play a role in protecting the rights of citizens. A huge deterrent to deviant behaviour is swift punishment. The source of the release of this recording should be swiftly tracked down and punished, if only for it to act as a deterrent to others who may feel it fair game to tape another’s conversation without their knowledge and use it without appropriate authority.

Every citizen should be afraid; not because big brother is listening, but because the systems which should be protecting our privacy do not exist or are being ignored. How is it that a private citizen’s phone call can be recorded, but we still have the police saying the hit was ordered from inside the prisons and they do not have the voice recording to be able to punish the perpetrator?

Is it that we are selectively targeting citizens? And if we are, should there be some publicised criteria so that citizens are aware of what will be flagged for recording by the state? How is it that someone who has the capacity to monitor and record the conversation of the judge can distribute the information with no penalty?

The steps are small from state surveillance, to censorship, to harassment and indefinite detention (Bail Bill). The steps from citizen surveillance to blackmail are even smaller.

I am all in favour of using the best technology for our common good, but there has to be known guidelines and citizens must be aware of the boundaries. There must be standards and practices which are adhered to and punishments dispensed for breeches.

We need systems and processes to protect our privacy and a clear understanding of how to access these systems and processes.

Month: August 2019

A Fractured Cabinet ..

Invasion of Privacy; Why release of alleged Justice Lucky recording should concern us all!