A MATTER OF DECORUM

Okay! Would somebody tell retired Court of Appeal judge Anthony Lucky that it just does not seem proper for his name, face and title to be plastered all over an advertisement for a private, family-run school teaching law.

Okay! Would somebody tell retired Court of Appeal judge Anthony Lucky that it just does not seem proper for his name, face and title to be plastered all over an advertisement for a private, family-run school teaching law.

Justice Lucky has never been one to shy away from a microphone or a camera or an invitation, but really he ought to re-think this present advertising blitz, and one hopes that his current actions don’t set a new trend where former judges of the High Court or Court of Appeal see it fit to parlay their titles and faces in public advertising campaigns for private commercial interests. The current ideas being bandied about in respect of the increased use of our nation’s soldiers in the fight against crime are not steps in the right direction.

The thought of bringing soldiers into schools to talk/scare school children into better behaviour is not practical or workable. Soldiers are trained for battle and for defending the country from external aggression in a war; they are not trained in psychology, counselling or social services. We also should avoid going down the path of Jamaica, where they have continuously increased the armaments of their police and soldiers and have put them on the streets, even to the point of having tanks out there, and all it has done is escalate the situation where their criminals have also increased their firepower, to the point where areas of Kingston and Tivoli Gardens resemble some sort of war-torn zone from the Middle East.

While we are all frustrated and concerned about the crime rate, we must resist the temptation to rush to quick fixes which could have long-term deleterious effects on our nation. What is even more disturbing is the suggestion to consider amending the law to give them powers of arrest. Apart from the obvious abuses of power which will occur, what will happen when soldiers find police officers in wrongdoing and decide to arrest them, and then there is the inevitable tit for tat retaliation. There is already an uneasy truce between soldiers and police in this country, and I can tell you police officers will not easily accept or adjust to this proposed increasing infringement on their turf by soldiers having powers of arrest.

The effervescent, ebullient Minister of Health, with her own quirky style of dress and her flappable mouth and unflappable enthusiasm, is setting herself up to become the first fallen star of the new administration. Someone needs to reel her in and give her some sensitivity training, and to let her know that this type of job is one for the long haul, more like an all-night stake-out, as opposed to a one-minute shoot-out at high noon. Kudos to the Government for saying it will review the controversial Air Jamaica/Air Caribbean deal, which has been shrouded in controversy, mystery and questionable explanations, not the least of which has been the latest diatribe and gobbledygook coming from Capt Ian Brunton, head of Caribbean Airlines.

Imagine Capt Brunton, whom most people did not know existed before, could suddenly come to life to say that the Air Jamaica/Air Caribbean deal, which I have written against before, is a good deal, because it will have the effect of uniting Caribbean people in a way that cricket and Caricom politicians have failed to do. Really now, Ian, so the mandate of Caribbean Airlines is social engineering, to provide intra-regional integration? One would have thought it was to run a profitable and successful airline safely and efficiently, but clearly, there are a few people who, for reasons of their own, are desperate to defend this dubious deal. The Attorney General has, thus far, acted correctly in refusing to “take basket” from the attorneys for Ish and Steve who were trying to seduce him into error in giving consideration to reviewing/denying the extradition request.

To Anand, I say: proceed with caution; proceed with due deliberation and a sense of balance and fairness in all you do, because the road ahead will not be easy, and the pitfalls and traps will be many. Remember that history will look at the way you have handled this portfolio and as Attorney General, you are Attorney General for all of Trinidad and Tobago, so a sense of even-handedness and equity is critical to effective functioning in this post. Lastly, kudos to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for preferring locals over foreigners, and let’s hope that this is the start of the reversal of the odious and abominable Manning penchant for favouring everyone and everything foreign, as opposed to local input.

I have written extensively in the past complaining about these foreign-used consultants that Mr Manning was so enarmoured with, and I have lamented that we almost always have enough talented locals who can perform competently at most of the jobs that are required, so keep up the trend, Madam Prime Minister.

Extracted From: Trinidad Guardian Newspaper