A member of our group called in with concerns on a recent post - something to the effect that Environment Tobago has no mandate to discuss politics or government business on our environmental blog. Is this the classic dichotomy of opinion or what?
A big part of the social contract we (as citizens of Trinidad and Tobago) hold is we give politicians a leg up the social ladder, create a political elite as it were - with the understanding they will govern in the interest of the masses. Understandably the rules our/any politicians work under will at times, need to be attuned to a particular situation. If they heed the upper mandate - that they are there to serve the people, then any ‘attenuation’ embarked upon will/must be in the interest of the general population.
This brings the conversation back to our member’s concern - regarding an NGO’s right to comment on the governance structure. Environment Tobago and upwards of 2000 other civic actors (number taken from a count made during the CSOs4GoodGov project in 2018) are uniquely and correctly positioned to shadow govern our class of elite managers of State.
Therefore when something State comes up that might just require explanation, and for which there is no rationale, and for which transparency shall we say, is lacking, civil society will ask questions. And as we are not as polished communicators as the entrenched elite, concerned civil actors may resort to conjecture. To be sure we hate guesswork as much as anybody else but as painful as it is, we do retain the right to speculate in the absence of clarity, transparency and accountability^[Reliable and regularly updated financial and results data are an essential component of informing, monitoring, reporting and evaluating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals].
These days we are of the opinion that our democracy is in danger of being trodden upon, by an elite who do not share our vision: Of a country where the natural and human resource has to be managed wisely - as those who are still to come must not suffer.
We fear the infrastructure of communities and cities, as well as towns and villages are being left to rot, as scarce resources and even scarcer funds are being [sic]attenuated elsewhere. We also dread the outcome of the effect of ‘attentuation’ on the general population. Moreso the youth, as they suffer from the depredation of those adults in position to do better with this country’s assets.
Allowing the Environment Tobago position on political commentary is clearer let us draw attention to NOW. Elections time are ‘jus round de corner’ and we faced once more with deciding upon ‘wo we go put’. Our only source - as politicians would have us believe, is the manfesto of party seeking office. Naturally we know better.
Here’s something to reflect upon as you mull where to place your support. Why not Environment Tobago? Most every issue we have gone up against in the last 24 years of Environment Tobago’s existence (except hurricanes and sargassum influx) had some aspect of State interference in policy, process or courting the popular vote. This does not bode well for the prospects of ordinary (those Not so elite) folk or for Nature, upon which ALL our prospects rest.
Member of Environment Tobago, hopefully you see why the articles are so