People are saying that the most frightening story of the week is not just that guns went missing, but from where they went missing. Not from some abandoned shed in the bush. Not from some careless private security guard. Not from some rusty old storeroom behind a rumshop.
People are saying that guns are now reportedly disappearing from places where guns are supposed to be guarded, watched, counted, signed for, locked away and protected like national treasure.
People are saying that first ws the horrifying murder of WPC Anuska Eversley at the San Fernando Municipal Police Station, a killing that shook the country because it happened inside a place where law and order are supposed to live.
Then came reports of firearms and ammunition missing from that station. And as if that was not enough to cause every decent citizen to sit upright, another report surfaced that more weapons were missing, this time from a safe at the San Fernando mayor’s office.
People are saying that during checks, a hole was reportedly found at the back of the safe, and records suggested that more revolvers should have been inside than were actually found.
People are saying that when the police have to investigate missing police guns from police spaces, after a police officer was murdered, then the country has passed worrying and gone straight into madness.
People are saying that it is all well and good for officials to hold press conferences, wear serious faces and speak about audits and investigations, but the ordinary man and woman do not live inside a press conference. They live in Laventille, La Romaine, San Fernando, Arima, Chaguanas, Morvant, Penal, Point Fortin and everywhere else where illegal guns are already making life short and cheap.
People are saying that the police cannot be telling citizens to trust the system while guns are vanishing from inside the system. If the people guarding the guns cannot guard the guns, then who exactly is guarding the people?
Kamla carrying the whole basket
People are saying that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar may have celebrated one year in office, but from the look of things, she is carrying too many people on her back.
People are saying that Kamla may be performing, but too many of her ministers are rehearsing and are still trying to find the stage, the script and the microphone.
People are saying that government cannot be a one-woman relay race, with the Prime Minister running first leg, second leg, third leg and anchor leg while other ministers standing up in the pavilion waving.
People are saying that a few ministers are clearly working and showing themselves to be very capable. They are not hiding behind tinted glass, vague statements and nice Facebook graphics. But too many others still seem to be warming up, stretching, adjusting their shoes and looking for the starting line, one full year after the race has already begun.
People are saying that Kamla may still have strength, but even strong backs bend. And when one leader has to explain, defend, correct, announce, warn, comfort and carry the Government almost by herself, then people will begin to ask if Cabinet is really a team.
Delcy bypassing us
People are saying that this Delcy RodrÃguez matter is not as simple as some people want to make it sound. The Prime Minister says she has no concerns about Trinidad and Tobago being sidelined, even though Venezuela’s acting President has been meeting with other regional leaders while Port-of-Spain waits and watches.
People are saying that Kamla may say she has no concerns, but the country has plenty of it, because when the neighbour with the resources is visiting everybody else but you, it may not be beef, but it is certainly looking like stew. And in this energy game, Trinidad and Tobago cannot afford to be standing outside the kitchen smelling food while everybody else getting a plate.
Bank fees biting the small man
People are saying that banks in Trinidad and Tobago have mastered a special kind of magic. They charge you to use your money. And now, they want to charge you again when you go to take out your own money.
People are saying that the latest Republic Bank banking fee increases have hit a nerve and that while a small fee may sound like nothing to people who speak in millions, to the ordinary citizen it is not just the amount. It is the principle.
People are saying that banks always have long explanations when they raise their fees, but very short memory when customers ask for relief.
People are saying that when the bank starts to tax your own pocket before government even reaches it, then the small man is truly in trouble.
Barrackpore and Castara dry and fed up
People are saying that it is inconceivable that in an era when the UNC is in government that a UNC-stronghold can be without water for more than a month, but that is exactly the case in Barrackpore.
People in Barrackpore are saying that cries to their Member of Parliament, Michelle Benjamin, have fallen on deaf ears and, apart from a quarter of a kilometre of road repair before the general elections, Barrackpore has not been a beneficiary of any of the UNC largesse.
People are saying that it is the same in Tobago, with reports coming out of Castara that residents are complaining bitterly about water shortages, with the problem affecting their daily lives, tourism, fishing, agriculture and basic sanitation in homes and hotels.
People are saying that when a village has to block roads and light debris to get attention for water, the system has already failed.
People are saying that water is not a luxury nor a favour, and is something that people should not have to protest for in 2026.
People are saying that Castara is a beautiful Tobago community that tourists love to photograph with its sea, sand, sunset, fishing boats, smiling visitors and calm village life, but behind the postcard, people in Castara still have dry taps and have to use buckets to collect water.
People are saying that Tobago is good enough to market, good enough to advertise, good enough to put in tourism brochures, good enough to sell as a paradise to foreigners, but not always good enough to supply Castara with steady water.
People are saying that Castara did not just block a road; Castara sent a message. And the message is simple: you cannot call Tobago a paradise while citizens are living like water is a favour.
