People are saying they remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:14, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto me.” A simple command. A sacred instruction. Let the children come. Protect them. Value them. Learn from them. Jesus rebuked his own disciples for treating children as interruptions, reminding them that innocence is not weakness but the very model of faith. Yet, in Trinidad and Tobago, what are we doing?
People are saying that between March 31 and May 7, the nation buried its conscience alongside its children. Eleven-month-old Jayden Sutton, asleep in what should have been the safest place on earth, his father’s bed, was shot dead. Nine-year-old J’Layna Armstrong, riding in a car with family, was cut down in a hail of bullets. Twenty-three-month-old Akini Kafi died when gunmen opened fire in Belmont, killing his father and others.
People are saying that as if violence were not enough, tragedy followed tragedy. A three-month-old baby in Charlotteville, Tobago, died from asphyxiation on the eve of Mother’s Day. Two-year-old Angelo Tobias Plaza vanished in Tobago, his absence echoing louder with each passing hour.
People are saying that if this is how we treat our children, if their lives can be extinguished so casually, so repeatedly, then what will be left for Jesus to find when He returns? A nation that cannot protect its children is a nation that has lost its way.
London Bridge Is Not Cracking…….It Is Falling
People are saying the Mighty Sparrow is not just a calypsonian; he is a prophet. “London Bridge is falling down,” he sang, in the late 1960s, long before the cracks became impossible to ignore.
People are saying that the United Kingdom, once the global standard for political stability, has cycled through Prime Ministers with alarming speed: Blair, Brown, Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak, and now Sir Keir Starmer. Leadership has become transient, and authority is fragile. Apart from Cameron, who fell on the sword of Brexit, none has completed a full five-year term. The office no longer commands endurance, only survival.
People are saying the current UK Prime Minister now fights for political oxygen, battered by electoral losses and internal dissent. The same system that once exported governance to the world now struggles to govern itself. The age of Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, and Margaret Thatcher feels distant, almost mythical.
People are saying that both Crown and Parliament appear increasingly unstable, and if the fall comes, it will not be graceful. Like Humpty Dumpty, once shattered, the pieces may never fit again.
A Man Called George Stanley Beard…….. Forgotten by His Own
People are saying no citizen should ever be allowed to die the way George Stanley Beard did, not just from illness but from abandonment. This man gave his life to this country.
Between 1976 and 2021, he was a teacher, public servant, THA Councillor, Secretary for Tourism, architect of the Tobago Heritage Festival, and Pioneer of the Blue Food Festival. He was the man who built Tobago’s culture, identity and economic opportunity.
People say that from 2012 until his death at 79, Beard fought not for privilege but for what was owed to him as pension and gratuity. He wrote letters to the Ombudsman but his many appeals were ignored. Where there should have been a response, there was a deafening silence.
He spoke to this newspaper just 24 hours before his death and said it plainly: his country failed him.
People are saying that grief killed him as surely as any disease. His life should not just be remembered. It should be a warning, a cautionary tale. A nation that forgets its builders is slowly dismantling itself.
Holy Name Convent…….. When Silence Begins to Crack
People are saying that Holy Name Convent Port of Spain has exposed something many old institutions fear: the past does not stay buried simply because it is uncomfortable.
What began as a Mother’s Day tribute has erupted into a reckoning. Voices are rising. Stories are surfacing. A social media petition crosses a thousand signatures. The School Board promises an investigation.
People are saying, “Let the truth come out, not filtered, not softened, not delayed.” Allegations must be tested fairly but never suffocated by prestige, tradition, or reputation.
People are saying a “holy” name is not immunity or a shield. If there is pain, let it be heard. If there is something wrong, let it be faced, because some wounds do not heal just because the school hymn still sounds sweet.
Speed Guns After the Bodies
People are saying that in Trinidad and Tobago, enforcement arrives after the funeral.
A woman dies crossing the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway; another man is killed in Caroni after a crash in Caroni. Traffic stalls, families are broken, and lives are shattered. Officials respond with speed guns, breathalysers, and statements.
Then silence returns until the next death. So bleed the pockets, not just today but every single day.
People are saying drivers here do not heed road signs or fear the highway patrol until there are flashing blue lights in their rearview mirrors. Many do not even fear death.
So, bring out the speed guns, enforce the law, and make the fines hurt; even bleed the pockets not just today but every day because too often, people do not slow down until it is too late.
