By Johnny Coomansingh
Trinidadians and Tobagonians are a strange group of people, very, very, strange. They are either the most forgiving people in the world or the most stupid, apathetic, and forgetful, especially when it comes to the doings of the ruling party, the People’s National Movement [PNM].
Cognitive dissonance among these people seems to reign supreme. Once upon a time I worked for Kamalludin Mohammed, one of the PNM ministers of government. This is what he said to me: “Trinidad people is ah nine months people,” meaning that they would forget any government misdemeanour or malfeasance in a mere nine months or less.
What is happening today in this country under this government is so abstract, contorted and distorted that I am of the view that I will have to interpret the happenings maybe as the artists Pablo Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Vincent van Gogh or Edvard Munch. Munch painted The Scream, and sometimes I want to scream! How will I paint this picture so that the world will see exactly the reality about Trinidad and Tobago (T&T)?
On Friday, July 27, 1990, Joseph Toney, former member of parliament for the Toco/Manzanilla Constituency vociferously asked: “Who is your leader?” Seconds after, people in the parliament chamber were ducking for cover. Gunshots! The Jamaat al Muslimeen stormed the parliament in an attempted coup. Any answer to Joseph’s question was ground to a halt. On December 30, 2024, Stuart Young, acting attorney general and Fitzgerald Hinds, minister of national security, declared a State of Emergency (SOE) in T&T. The SOE came as an imperative due to the spate of heinous crimes and murders that have taken hold of the country. In a circular to citizens of the United States of America present in T&T, the United States Embassy on December 31, 2024, stated:
On December 30, 2024, the government of Trinidad and Tobago (GOTT) declared a nationwide State of Emergency (SOE) based on heightened criminal activity that could endanger public safety. US citizens in Trinidad and Tobago should expect an increased police and military presence. During the SOE, the GOTT will impose the following measures:
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) will have the authority to: Arrest individuals on suspicion of involvement in illegal activities;Search and enter public and private premises as necessary; Bail provisions are suspended for those suspected of committing a crime; Members of the Defense Force will operate under similar regulations to the TTPS; At this time, no curfew or restrictions on public assemblies are in effect;
The government of Trinidad and Tobago will monitor the SOE daily, and restrictions may change. As a reminder, US government personnel are prohibited from traveling to the following areas: Laventille (including Picadilly Street and Charlotte Street between Oxford Street and Park Street), Beetham, Sea Lots, Cocorite, and the interior of Queens’ Park Savannah and must avoid the following places after dark: Beaches…Downtown Port of Spain…Fort George…Queen’s Park Savannah.
Following the SOE news, the leader of the PNM party and prime minister declared that he was resigning. After a two-day retreat in Tobago, the prime minister nominated and claimed that there was a vote taken to replace him as his successor in the person of Stuart Young, the minister of energy and acting attorney general. Young has also been labeled as the ‘Minister of Everything.’ So here comes the answer to “Who is your leader?”
The people of the PNM are now aware that Young is their new leader. Nevertheless, although Stuart Young has been named, questions remain if he is the best choice. According to Stephan Reis, presenter of the television programme Breaking Dawn, although T&T is a plural society, many people still vote with racial biases. Young is basically, East Asian in genotype (Chinese). Whether Afro-Trinidadadians and others will support Young is left to be seen. It is well-known that ethnic cleavages still plague the political landscape of T&T.
More than that, ignorant that the microphone was ‘hot,’ Young used certain terminologies while sitting in parliament. According to Darece Polo, news reporter, Trinidad Guardian (15/10/2024) in her article: Young in hot water for ‘salacious’ comment in parliament, “several UNC (United National Congress) members, including Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal, Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh, St Augustine MP Khadijah Ameen and Princes Town MP Barry Padarath, stood up to leave the chamber, leaving only a few Opposition members behind” during the 2025 Budget Debate. Young then criticized the departing Opposition members in the recorded conversation:
“Stuart Young (Minister of Energy): All allyuh go. He would run girls now for all ah allyuh in the back room. Can’t use the PTSC buses anymore. They go bring the girls for all of allyuh now, including Kamla.
Colm Imbert (Minister of Finance): You going and use the bathroom? She going and use the bathroom.
Stuart Young: Yeah, she going and zammy!
Colm Imbert: Aye, what wrong with you boy? (laughter)
Terrence Deyalsingh (Minister of Health): Oh God, Stuart.
Stuart Young: Don’t call my name!
Colm Imbert: What wrong with you?
Stuart Young: What the **** I (inaudible)
“Colm Imbert: Aye, boy, boy, cool it. The mic on.”
(Note: In the Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad and Tobago, edited by Lise Winer, the term ‘zammy’ means a lesbian; a woman who is sexually oriented to women. With make, have lesbian sexual activity).
Polo pointed out that there were people who condemned Young for such comments. In the article, Karen Nunez-Tesheira, former finance minister of the PNM “noted that Young’s behaviour seemed to mirror that of his political leader.” Tesheira declared:
He is a protégé. He has been mentored by the prime minister. He displays the same attitude, the crassness, if I may be so bold, and a certain level of vulgarity that is unbecoming of a leader but consistent with what the current prime minister has displayed. His behaviour and his conduct, which really does him no good and doesn’t reflect well on him, is pleasing to his prime minister because his prime minister has made very vulgar comments and very unbecoming comments in the past that Mr. Stuart Young seems to have decided that that is going to be his modus operandi.
Space does not permit to mention all the comments, but several people also posted their disgust about Stuart Young’s language on social media. They reacted negatively to the incident. For Young to make such a statement, it seems that male chauvinism has reached the pinnacle in the parliament of T&T. Yesterday, columnist and senior counsel Martin Daly said that Stuart Young has a “huge political vulnerability.” This was published in the Trinidad Express (08/01/2025) by Ria Taitt.
In light of our nature as Trini human beings, over time, we will definitely forgive and forget the tralala surrounding Stuart Young’s malevolent comment. We will also forgive and forget the expense incurred in the paving of the road and the electricity and water supply to Patrick Manning’s (former prime minister) ‘church’ at Guanapo Heights. Given enough time we will forgive and forget the confusion with the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UNDeCOTT) and Calder Hart et al. Will we be able to forgive and forget the PNM government for their misinformation, misappropriation, misjudgment, miscalculation, mistakes, misinformation, mismanagement and definite misspending of our money? Yes, I said our money!
We must remember that the money in the treasury does not belong to the ruling party sitting in parliament. We entrusted the PNM as stewards to take care of our business. What have they done? They wasted our money on non-essentials…on flags, useless buildings, conferences, and all kinds of political hoopla. Imagine a prime minister with an entertainment budget of 50 million dollars. They treat the people of T&T as though all were born on All Fools Day.
Will we be able to forgive and forget the two million dollars paid for Gary Hunt’s flag? Will we? Will we be able to forgive and forget that the PNM government has allowed people to ravage the delicate hillsides of the Northern Range interfering with our watershed? Although the dams and reservoirs throughout the country are almost filled to capacity, will we be able to forgive and forget that some people are still begging for a supply of water? Will we be able to forgive and forget that the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) continues to be the most malfunctioning and leaking state enterprise?
Will we be able to forgive and forget that the PNM has caused bandits, gunslingers, murderers, car thieves, kidnappers, fraudsters, rapists, home invasions, and corrupt policemen to run amok in tiny Trinidad and Tobago? Yes they did! Trinidad and Tobago could now boast of the new magnificent seven: the very rich, the very poor, the very confused, the very stupid, the very violent, the very afraid, and last but not least, the very dead. There are very few or none in-between. If such are the categories it takes to comprise a society then I should not be worried.
Some religious pundits believe that the number seven is the perfect number. If this is so, then we are simultaneously living in heaven and hell…the perfect place; an absolute location, where anyone could do anything without any worry. I guess that such a situation could only happen in Trinidad and Tobago. One thing I know is that some say, God is a Trini. Although this might be so, I find it disheartening to feel the vibrations of the present atmosphere of Trinidad. This is not about steelpan vibrations. I will treat with that issue on another occasion. This is about the horror of resident evil vibrations in T&T!
Even though the United States Embassy is giving out fewer and fewer visas, it is quite likely that they gave one to God and he duss it. I am almost sure that Jesus would not hang around too long either because he ‘fraid dey go kill him again. Everyone knows that God and the devil cyar dwell in the same place. Is it not true that light dispels darkness? So if there is light in Trinidad and Tobago then why is the country becoming darker and darker in terms of crime and violence? Trinidad and Tobago is today probably worse than the lowest level of Dantes’ inferno! It is as though there is the odium of evil stalking the land. Maybe God decided to take a holiday, a long holiday; maybe God is afraid to be shot or knifed by some arrogant bandit. There is no need for Jesus to die twice and certainly not in Trinidad, a place that Columbus named in honour of the Trinity.
Apart from Who is yuh leader, in view of what is presently extant on this T&T landscape, there are other questions that we must ask. Jesus Christ said that we must forgive seventy times seven. However, I am of the opinion that the people of T&T have forgiven more than 490 times, a whole lot more! How many more times should we forgive and forget? Was Kamalludhin Mohammed correct when he said that T&T is a nine months country? Last but not least: Will we continue to like it so?
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