Hunger Strike – Day 8

People often say Trinidadians are a bunch of ten-second-Toms…ok the truth is, I say it. News headlines will hold our attention for all of 10 seconds and then we’re on to the next thing. Maybe we’re really a nation suffering with ADHD and they should just put Ritalin in our drinking water. But short of that, what will it take to make this nation sit up and take notice of issues with grave national implications?

An extreme hunger strike apparently.

The issue engaging citizens and the media right now is the extreme hunger strike being undertaken by Dr Wayne Kublalsingh. Today is Day 8. It’s extreme because he has refused food and water as well. This man, who has lost 42 pounds since he started this strike, is now visibly thinner almost skeletal with dry, cracked lips; no doubt evidence of a body thirsting for nourishment.

Bulldozed and arrested. Ridiculed by many. He has been called a madman, a professional protester and an attention seeker, dismissed by the prime minister who mockingly sent an ambulance instead of taking an elevator down to see him; derided by Housing Minister Roodal Moonilal who appeared on a local morning talk show and sneeringly said “he has about 3 to 4 days to go with that.” Dr Kublalsingh has taken a personal stand, which perhaps is one of the strongest in this time of our young nation’s history.

This group, The Highway Re-Route Movement (HRRM) has been fighting albeit quietly to keep their homes and communities in tact since 2005 under the then PNM government. But you should know that talk about this proposed highway has been around since 1981. Dr Eric Williams in his last budget address in January of that year said it would begin in that fiscal year. Since then it has made appearances in many budget speeches by different governments over the years.

Protests escalated when the actual plans for the highway were made public in 2011. While the extreme tactics now being employed by Dr Kublalsingh are just that extreme, would anyone have taken an interest in their plight otherwise? Dr Kublalsingh has achieved that at least: The nation is taking notice whatever stance they’ve chosen to take on the issue.

However, this “issue” has implications for all of us.

As long as you’re paying taxes (which is just about everybody) this affects you. The initial budget for this project was estimated at 9 BILLION dollars, a huge chunk of that goes to the Mon Desir-Debe section of the highway, because there are compensation costs involved.

This is also flood prone area. What is going to happen when it rains and the water has nowhere to go? Taxpayers’ money will be used in clean-up efforts, road repairs and compensation. Is this how you want your money spent?

This part the highway affects the environment. They intend to build the highway through a lagoon. The HRRM’s claim is that this section of the highway project is “destructive and contrary to modern planning approaches to development.” When it comes to adverse effects on the environment, it’s everybody’s problem. There is no negotiation or compromise when it comes to the environment. Or at least in a right thinking world, there shouldn’t be any.

“I’m tired of being crushed under the weight of greedy men
who believe in nothing.” – Jax Teller

I fully support and respect Dr Kublalsingh’s stance. It irks me that he has been likened to Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr and even Nelson Mandela. He is none of the above. He is Dr Wayne Kublalsingh, a “social warrior”.

I am not an environmentalist. I like to think of myself as a social warrior. No guns, no ammunition. Just principles and persistence.

And that’s what this hunger strike which is entering its 8th day is really all about. Principles and persistence.

For those of you thinking that the HRRM is against the entire highway project that is incorrect. For those of you who think this is about “land” that is also incorrect. This is about the segment of the highway from Debe – Mon Desir only. This is about community. This is about growing your family and a peaceful way of life. This is about accountability. This is about honesty.

We have produced evidence to show that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal and former Works and Infrastructure Minister Warner, from March to June 2012, all made promises to us that the construction would be reviewed. – Dr Kublalsingh and the HRRM have said.

What is disgusting about Roodal Moonilal is that he supported this group when they were in opposition and now in the seat of power and upon realising that they could not bamboozle or confuffle or spin the HRRM away…he is now resorting to derision and sarcasm. Yesterday, “supporters” of the highway extension project came out and one Lorris Supersad has begun his own “hunger farce” in retaliation for Dr Kublalsingh’s strike.

“Right now my mouth dry and I can’t speak to the media. But I proposed to start a hunger strike today from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. because I want a highway.”

Again the HRRM is not “against the highway project” just the segment that is going to destroy their homes and families and the environment. Do not be fooled by paid CEPEP workers who have now come out like cockroaches out of cracks and crannies to cause bacchanal and mock Dr Kublalsingh. This kind of behaviour is what the People’s Pappyshow likes. They are on familiar ground here. And I can already see and hear the disgusting comments and insults.

When will we hold this People’s Pappyshow accountable? When will this government actually follow through with a promise they made? What will it take for the prime minister to be the “mother” she so conveniently turns into when there is some political mileage to be gained and soften her position and end this?

The AG Anand Ramlogan also weighed in and has said the prime minister would be setting a dangerous precedent if she gave in to the demands of Dr Kublalsingh and the Re-Route Movement. I’m confused by this though, because she promised the group that she would look into their concerns and meet with them. That is their demand, that she follow through on the promise SHE made.

Claiming that it is “sub judice” is more bullcrap and they will only fool the ones who allow themselves to be fooled. The prime minister can meet with this group. She can end this. Instead of trying to show how big her lady balls are, she could follow through on the promise she made to these people and end this.

Dr Kublalsingh has taken a stand and has called the government out on its deceit. He has specific demands…not vague airy-fairy wishes that the PM or her cohorts can bullcrap away. This hunger strike is a desperate attempt to get the attention of the PM. Dr Kublalsingh is doing what he believes to be the right thing, no matter the personal cost. And that alone makes this a worthy cause in my eyes. The HRRM is demanding that the prime minister follow through on her promise to look at their concerns and meet with them.

Kamla seems to have forgotten that this pappyshow government of hers is supposed to be the “people’s partnership”. Meeting with them may not change government’s position or change any policies but it will show that the voice of those vulnerable in society, the voice of people fighting for their homes and the right to grow their families in peaceful communities, the voice of people who voted for her, matters and that it can be heard in the face of a mighty government.

If this paPPySHOW government is not careful, Dr Kublalsingh could very well be our “murdered archduke”. All eyes are on you Kamla.