THE EDITOR, Sir:
THE CRISIS which engulfs Trinidad and Tobago today could be with us tomorrow. We have the opportunity to prevent it happening here, thereby avoiding the needless shedding of much blood. Given similar circumstances as T&T, it is very likely that by now, lives would have been lost and serious damage done to the economy. For sure our polarised political environment would ensure that there would be no speedy solution and certainly, no bloodless one.
We can eliminate the possibility of a tie by doing the obvious, that is, to amend the Section 67 (1) of our Constitution to make the maximum number of constituencies be 61 rather than 60. It should be further amended to make any change to that number in the future be such that the full complement of constituencies is an uneven number. Since section 67 of the Constitution is not entrenched, there is no reason why this necessary change should not be dealt with as a matter of utmost urgency. Thereafter steps should be taken to entrench the Section, to prevent the indiscriminate increase of the number of constituencies.
If the Standing Committee of the House is functioning as it should be, the determination of the location and boundaries of the new constituencies could be determined to be included in the next general election. On the surface, with the population growth which has occurred, St. Catherine, in particular the Portmore area, this seems to be the logical area to be adjusted to accommodate the additional constituency.
Some may argue that with our voting trend it is very unlikely that we would get a tie here but as unlikely as it may be, it is a possibility. There is always a first time. Taking the relevant facts into consideration. This Parliament has a duty to act promptly on this matter. History will condemn all those who failed to be proactive rather than reactive in the given circumstances.
I am, etc.,
LUCIUS C. WHITE
1 Tankerville Avenue
Kingston 6
