The single, most egregious manifestation of an act of corruption by any Government of Trinidad and Tobago is the Piarco terminal. This is true whether viewed from the standpoint of its brazenness, being high profile and ever conspicuous, in the obscene amounts of misdirected monies involved or in the enormity of the lies constantly fed to us in its defence by the high level officials involved.

The Newsday precis (Nov 28 page 3) of the Robert Linquist forensic interim report is a further clear and timely reminder of this — if any were needed by anyone with eyes to see and sense to think. That the Prime Minister has had this report since last December without taking any action (or even announcing that he has it) is as equally instructive as the report itself. Obviously, in the face of the report's conclusions and findings the Prime Minister had an overwhelming obligation to act. That the Government or any of its members could commit such an illegality as the Piarco affair on the population and offer itself for re-election is, at once, a reflection of its amorality, its defiance of the norms of acceptable conduct and our generally immature level of politics or, at least, knowledge of how democracy works / is supposed to work. The Piarco contract is a clarion call for us at once to correct this gaping lacuna.

Under a properly functioning democracy, beholden to a Constitution, the scam that is the Piarco terminal could hardly have been perpetrated on the population and, by the slight chance that it had, those involved both in Trinidad and Florida would by this time have long been facing the courts on serious criminal charges.

As it is, not even an apology is offered to the man in the street be he poor, deprived, unemployed, ill or suffering while he is being robbed by those with more than plenty (but who still want more)! It is truly appalling and a shameful indictment on all of us who should speak out in protest and who have instead, chosen to remain uncaring and silent.