Dear Editor,
There is a school of thought that in politics, perception is nine-tenths of reality. In Trinidad and Tobago, Prime Minister Patrick Manning and the opposition leader Kamala Persad-Bissessar are wooing the votes of a large portion of the electorate, ie the old age pensioners. The PNM has already given an increase in the monthly benefits of those with no other source of income to the tune of approximately G$17,838, giving them roughly G$81,000 a month. This is unlike their Guyanese counterparts who are treated with contempt and disrespect, not to mention disdain.

Recently the NIS increased benefits by $1,600 only to simultaneously withdraw the vital support for a large number of persons who would suffer seriously from this callous tactic. Hundreds of patients who attended the Eye Clinic at the Georgetown Public Hospital to access free medication are now denied this privilege for whatever reason. For instance, patients who suffer from glaucoma have to utilize at least half of their monetary benefits on a monthly basis in an effort to purchase medication to avoid blindness. Editor, a subsidy on eye drops for pensioners should immediately be addressed. Our task in this country is not to harp on the past but to fix the course for the future. I have often wondered whether our politicians read books on history, religion, literature; their actions and utterings suggest otherwise. It was a great American president who said, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, but whether we provide enough for those who have little.”

Yours faithfully,
Lloyd W Davidson