After having seen the Piarco fiasco and the U.R.P ghost gangs, you would think that the new government would learn from those who went before mistakes.
Yeah right, every five years they came to our doors and on their political platforms, with the promises of grandeur, and fighting corruption.
The notion of you scratch my back I'll scratch yours, works well amongst the government and the business community.
In this country a lot of contracts are awarded on the basis of who knows you and a skewed tendering process.
Not on the lowest bidder are awarded the contract.
Under the previous U.N.C government, most of the contracts awarded were give to small contractors of a particular decent.
The other ruling party the P.N.M were no different, except that they awarded contracts to friends, family and party financiers.
Have you ever heard of the term bid rigging?, to those who don't know it is process by which businesses conspirer to set a pre determined price.
This meant the government would raise the cost of the contract and their friends would then bid on that price and when awarded the contract give back to the government official the percentage that was added on.
Other than the two contracts mentioned earlier, the awarding of road works contracts, housing contracts, construction of schools contracts to still name a few were awarded.
The corruption was not only based on awarding of contracts.
Since the 1950's, successive governments were also responsible for helping their friends, family and financiers and their families to get certain jobs or positions in the civil service or on state boards and even in Ministries.
This was the type of corrupt practices, that the Imam and the Jamaat tried to stay away from.
Even though the community tried to keep a clean nose, they had to live and feed their families.
May I say even law enforcement and by extension the other independent arms were also corrupted.
As the heading stated a lot of the time this practice had to be done in order for things to get done.
This was one fight that was hard to win.
YOU ARE READING
Live by the sword (A look at Trinidad & Tobago in C21st)
Non-FictionA look at the social and political landscape of Trinidad & Tobago through the eyes of a young citizen growing up in the 21st century.
