In San Fernando West, where Ralph Maraj has contributed to the political, educational and cultural landscape, he is not surprised that the current MP Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan has been given thumbs down when it comes to representation.
While he is in no way defending the quality of representation Seepersad-Bachan has offered to her constituents over the past five years, Maraj is acknowledging that the parliamentary system under which T&T operates, dooms MPs to failure.
Maraj, who resides in the constituency which he represented as MP (1991-1995), said the time had come to modernise the whole parliamentary system.
“Let me say that the system in which we operate as parliamentary representatives is woefully inadequate and it militates against adequate representation.
“So the time has come for T&T to understand that when you talk of representation at the highest level of the country, which is at the Parliament, we are talking about something like what happens in the Congress of the United States where the people’s representatives represent them by supervising the government and the public service and the state enterprises,” he added.
He said there was a stark contrast in what was considered representation in T&T, which was why citizens who stained their fingers for a candidate of political party to govern them at the level of Parliament ended up being disaffected at the end of the five-year term.
“Representation in T&T is building pavements and box drains and so on, which is really the domain of the local government,” he added.
He recalled his tenure as MP for both San Fernando West under the PNM and later for Naparima under the banner of the UNC. He feels fairly satisfied with what he has done.
“Though I could have done better under a better system, my contention is, and that is why I don’t think I would never want to be a representative again under this system, is that this system dooms the representatives to failure.
“So that always you would hear people complaining about their representatives because representatives are given responsibilities with neither resources nor power to carry out their work. They have to wait on the delivery (line) ministries for their support.
“So we need to revamp the system. We need to modernise our Parliament which is outdated and dysfunctional,” he added.
In this vein, one of the fundamental reforms he has proposed is a clearly defined separation between an elected representative and a Cabinet minister as these are two full time jobs.
He added: “A Cabinet minister should not be an MP. These are two separate jobs and it is almost humanely impossible to be a proper functioning Cabinet minister and also be an effective MP.
“This is one of the things that militates against effective representation. Therefore, one of the fundamental reforms of our Parliament and our government is to decide who becomes a Cabinet minister. We need to look at the model.” He also suggested a review of the way a government was elected.
He said: “You have to look at the whole system of how you elect a leader of the country, if you want to have a presidential system, one man, one vote. All those things need to be talked about before we look at representation in the 21st-century.”
City on the Sea
As this constituency, like the 40 others, weigh in on the options being presented to them by the political parties, one bone of contention against the PP is that the constituency has not benefitted from any infrastructural development under its tenure.
Maraj’s answer is the development of a city in the sea in the Gulf of Paria from Mosquito Creek all the way to Marabella, due to the unavailability of land to modernise the city.
He said: “The only way for San Fernando to grow is seawards. Unless you solve that structural problem, San Fernando will eventually die.
“San Fernando has been dying for the past 50 years. Look at the highway that came from Port-of-Spain to San Fernando and touched Chaguanas.
“Compare the development in Chaguanas and in San Fernando. Chaguanas has been growing by leaps and bounds while San Fernando has been stagnating.
“Why? Because San Fernando has a structural problem. It is small, it is hilly, it is choked up. There is no land for San Fernando to expand. The only place for San Fernando to go is seaward.”
The plan to develop a city in the sea has been tossed around by successive governments since in the 1980s but was never vigorously pursued.
During his tenure as the PNM representative for San Fernando West, Maraj brought together a committee of people and made representation for the reclamation of thousands of acres of land to build the city.
Under the Prime Minister Patrick Manning administration there were plans to build an island in the Otaheitie area but the early 2010 general election he called ended that proposal.
Maraj believes that especially now, when oil and gas prices, which the country relies for its economic upkeep, is low, this is a project worth pursuing.
“This is a long-term project that should have started long ago, It will help to diversify the economy because if you do this project, then you can develop a harbour, modernise the fishing industry, develop water sports, tourism, esplanades and so on,” he added.
He said government did not have to drive the project but it could be done in partnership with the private sector.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has already announced that development of the San Fernando waterfront will be one of the largest projects to be undertaken by her Government.