With a new President and an interim Government in place, the people are hopeful that burning questions will be addressed!!! Law and Order is THE MOST important issue with people who can be counted on to implement what needs to be done!!! The traffic situation with all the outrageous offences committed on a daily basis – you only have to open a paper to see the countless number of deaths caused by accidents!!! There is no respect or regard for speed regulations or safe driving, it is always a case of ‘ME’ - ‘I’ am all that matters and how fast I go to get where I want and who I knock down in the process is irrelevant!!! There is a frightening underlying concept of SELFISHNESS among our people, big or small!!! Our new President has already demonstrated what he can get done; so get the right people on the job Mr. President and let us see some tangible results!!!   

You need to implement something like a CIVILIAN TASK FORCE with responsible Officers in charge to implement what has to be done!!! There is nothing in this country that does not need discipline and correction!!! Look at the careless way in which the bus drivers go with no respect for anyone or anything; horns blaring even when they pass places of worship, especially the private buses!!! Our country is overflowing with vehicles, luxury cars, vans, motorbikes, scooters, every conceivable vehicle that can be got on installments is readily available and the overflow of traffic is of no concern to anyone!!! The condition of our roads has been nobody’s concern but with you as President now, things will return to what they should be!!!  

Restaurants and eating places are springing up like mushrooms and one can only surmise what the hygienic conditions in these places are like!!! The necessity for this arises mostly because both husband and wife or mother and father have to go to work

The other agony is our hospitals; we have free hospitals but those who man them are the scourge of our country!!! There is no thought given to the fact that the patient they are mistreating could very well be someone of theirs!!! Primarily the attendants, some of the Nurses and even some Doctors are culpable of negligence and cruelty!!! This must be stopped, it is man’s inhumanity to man!!! Drugs are being sold outside and the patients who need them invariably have to pay and get them!!! In some cases they are told to buy the medicine or injection and bring it to the hospital to be administered!!!  

Next are the schools; where poor children sometimes cannot even find a place because the schools are packed with people who can afford to send their children to school and the poor children can’t even get a look in!!! In a lot of the poorer areas, the kids don’t even have a road to walk on to get to school; some of them have to do a balancing act on poles laid across the rivers!!! In the really poor areas most of the children come to school on an empty stomach!!! It would be truly great Mr. President, if you can rally the rich people of our country to start some programme where they can contribute a meal, or even a glass of milk to these poor kids!!! It would really be a blessing!!! The previous Minister of Education was talking of giving these poor kids Tabs, when they had no food to fill their empty stomachs!!! The important thing is whether it is schools, hospitals or any place else, the problem areas need to be identified and dealt with first!!! On the subject of schools, do the teachers really teach the children and if so, why do the kids have to resort to tuition; tuition that is most often given by the teachers themselves???  

The other tragedy is the Trishaws, not just the ones we have locally but the ones that have been brought in now by people like UBER and PICK ME!!! The atrocities committed inside the trishaw itself and by some of the drivers do not seem to be anybody’s concern!!! IT SHOULD BE!!! When people are faced with all these problems, who do they go to, or who can they turn to for their grievances to be addressed and suitable action taken??? OVER TO YOU MR. PRESIDENT!!!  

Restaurants and eating places are springing up like mushrooms and one can only surmise what the hygienic conditions in these places are like!!! The necessity for this arises mostly because both husband and wife or mother and father have to go to work, not being able to afford help with the paltry salaries they get and not having time and energy to come back and cook for them or for them and their children, so ‘Instant’ or ‘Ready Made’ is the answer!!! Totally unsuitable and sometimes unhygienic, but what is the alternative???  

The other agony is our hospitals; we have free hospitals but those who man them are the scourge of our country!!! There is no thought given to the fact that the patient they are mistreating could very well be someone of theirs!!!

Salaries and Taxes are the other vitally important points of focus!!! Most people do not get a sustainable wage today, totally insufficient to meet the demands of their families, food, clothing, transport, in some cases mortgages, children’s school fees and all other expenses that schools entail, for most families entertainment is out of the question, TV seems to be their only relaxation, while in other cases smoking, drinking and gambling are resorted to, hoping the tides will turn!!!   

Our new President has made Environment one of his priorities which is indeed laudable and he goes on to down size his role as President without resorting to any priorities or privileges; again very creditable and most refreshing!!! Our President has found that he does not need to act neither does he need people that he has to put on an act for!!! He has learned that wherever you are going in life you cannot get there alone, the challenges are daunting and there will be moments when you feel outmatched, when you will need people; people who can support you, people who will pick you up, dust you off, set you right so you are ready to get back into the fight!!! You will need people not only to stand by you but also to sit by your side; our country does not need a lone hero to solve problems overnight!!! Our country needs people who have a passion and a sense of mission, a sense of direction for the country!!! Greatness does not come from privilege, from being rich, it comes from the courage to create, to seize the opportunity you have been given and build on it for the future!!! 

You are the architect and engineer of the future – of a new tomorrow; you have the power to shape the future, our country needs your will, your imagination, your courage, your hands and mind and heart. So take it, rise up and save our country!!!

THE VOICE