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See: TT Express 2009-07-26 - where I give it to Imbert:


"Colm Imbert, in a report in the Express on July23, said that there were 2,400 medical posts unfilled, and half ofthose (that is 1,200) represented a chronic shortage. MrImbert-formerly a health minister back in 2003-reminds us that thechronic shortage of doctors in T&T existed before 2003 and as farback as the 1950s. What an admission of gross maladministration andincompetence!

Does Mr Imbert, in his current role, realise that he has admitted togross neglect of the country's health system across two terms of hisGovernment? Why on earth in 2009-at least six years after hisGovernment decided to import doctors in large numbers-are they stillwrestling with such a ridiculous shortage of doctors?

Let us recall that Mr Imbert's solution to the doctor shortage backin 2003 was to import Cuban and other foreign doctors- whilst kickinghome-grown doctors in the teeth. But that was not some new kind of"treatment". It has been going on for several decades.

You may think that with 2,400 vacant medical posts in T&T thatthe Government or the health authorities might have filled theirwebsites with advertisements for at least the most urgent-to-fillposts? We should expect in the order of 1,200 advertisements acrosshealth service websites. Guess how many are advertised as of July 23,2009? One! One single advertisement at the South West Regional HealthAuthority's website-none on any other health-related Trinbagonianwebsite. Perhaps all 2,400 jobs are advertised on a Cuban website. Idid not have the time or energy to check, and I do not speak or readSpanish.

Mr Imbert has now proven me right by his latest utterances. In myletter to the Express on January 8, 2003, I said, "The fighting-talk tobring in Cuban doctors is a poor imitation of Thatcher's strategy, todeal with striking miners in England. It will fail miserably inTrinidad. There is no way that the Government can find enough Cubandoctors within a few months who will pass medical registrationrequirements and have sufficient linguistic competence and culturalawareness to function properly."

It was certainly not months.Here we are, six years later, with Imbert and his merry men makingstrenuous efforts, yet again, to avoid the issue of linguisticcompetence (inter alia) by passing a new law. No, Mr Imbert, you andyour brethren will learn in due course that the recipe is not "a lawfor a flaw".

I predict that the likes of Mr Imbert will now sex up the wholematter and further inveigle the Government to pass legislation in orderbully the medical profession, yet again. Young and middle-aged doctorswill take flight from T&T in greater numbers. To where? Australia,New Zealand and Alberta, in Canada. These are the regions in the worldwhere they are wooing high-calibre doctors. T&T's home-growndoctors will flourish in those countries. Many are there already anddoing quite well. They do not want to return to the "comess" andconfusion. Who will fill the vacant posts left behind? Local doctorswill and be replaced largely by a cheaper, hyper-obedient, importedworkforce.

It appears to me that Imbert is bent again on aping, as he did in2003, the strategies used by Thatcher (in England). He comes nowherenear Mrs Thatcher's intellectual prowess in her heyday. I said in 2003that Imbert was living in cloud cuckoo land. It seems that he has nowtaken up permanent residence there-and now he has company! Happy, theyall are. Sad will be the people of T&T who expect high-quality,first-world-like health services on the approach to 2020.


Dr Russell D Lutchman

MRCPsych LLB(Hons) ACMI

Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist

London, UK"

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NEW YEAR - OLD HORRORS

The new year brings us the same old stories, doesn't it. Look not at the graph below.

And look away from how 5 were murdered in one night bringing the toll to 41 in 25 days: Newsday 2009-01-25

I left trinidad carnival monday 2008, for the continent of oz!!! it was my first trip out of the caribbean, and suffice to say i was real excited, and a lil bit scared too!!! I had connecting flights in miami, then LA, so in all it took me 26 hours of flying time to get to melbourne!!! then it was a 2.5hr drive to my new home! I am presently working as a medical doctor, and its loads of fun!!! I must say, working here and back in trinidad, there is not much difference in technology ( i worked at Mt Hope - CT, MRI, USS all available, even more readily than here!!!). However the people are different. I expected that it would be a big adjustment, but surprisingly it wasn't. I tend to blend in well!!!
The best thing about oz though, is the vast size of it, and the ability to jump in your car, and just drive... literally for hours!!! I've explored a bit, and found koalas in the wild, saw some kangaroos, i've yet to see wild snakes, but that i think i can do without for now! The thing i like the most is the respect for traffic laws!! its amazing, people actually drive below the speed limits!!! there are still road fatalities, but not near as much as in trinidad!!!! and imagine trini so small!! but trini is a land of law breakers, especially when it comes to traffic laws!!! Nearly every trini driver i know, never obeys that 80km/hr sign on the highways... well i hardly ever did too, cus there is no one else doing it, but i know that is no excuse...
Places i've been to so far: Mt Buller Ski resort (funny name i know, but i learned to ski there, and its a great sport!!!), Ulupna island (wild koalas), Phillip islands - march of the small penguins (this was really kool to see, but dey didn't allow you to take photos), Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Zoo, brighton beach... these are all places in melbourne/victoria... soon when i get some vacation, i'll probably venture out to the outback, or other intersting places....
Food - the food here is soooo lame!!!!!! its boring tasteless and no wonder most ozzies are overweight, they eat tonnes of sweets!!!! i usually prepare my own food, trini style - roti, pelau, curry duck, chicken etc... so the only thing i really eat from here is the occasional subway!!! the one thing they don't have is bhandhania aka culantro, but i am sure i'll find it some where... in the mean time i'm using coriander, which is a good substitute so far.
Home sick??? nah... not yet... i think its because i have good christian fellowship with believers in a little gospel hall in south oakleigh, melbourne...They give me all the love, support and guidance i could ever need, being away from home....
So that's it from me for now...
Laters....

Many will have been following the story of how 8-year old Hope Arismandez was found dead in very tragic circumstances. Hope was missing as of 11:00PM Saturday 24th May 2008. She was left in the care of a relative who was not described at the time.

Chaguanas saw a crowd of people baying for blood. Some in the crowd shouted "Oh God! Oh God! We want he blood! We want he blood! Officers release him to us, we want he blood!" See Newsday 2008-05-30. One must wonder how many of those screaming for vengeance were devout Christians.

When a security van with prisoners pulled up a prisoner from inside the van shouted to the baying crowd, "The man you all looking for not here, but don’t frighten we too want to see him and deal with him".

In equally tragic circumstances the accused, Sunil Ali, was found dead; hanging and bleeding. I was not clear at the time of writing this whether Ali was bleeding from the wrists or the throat. Amazingly, Ali was on suicide watch. See TT Express 2008-05-31. The death was viewed in the media as a suicide. I have my doubts. I find it unusual (though not impossible) that Ali could, whilst under a proper suicide watch, complete a suicide. I suspect that the suicide watch was of the kind that facilitated a suicide.

Well the crowd had his blood, even if it was not on their hands. Tragic. Primitive!