11 June 1999, 853 Words
Everybody wants to be somebody. But, in Trinidad and Tobago, it is much better to be nobody. You can get away with anything, including murder.
Nobody is probably the most successful criminal ever in the history of this country. I first became aware of his existence several years ago, when the14 patients at St. Ann's Mental Hospital were poisoned. The upshot of that investigation was that the hospital got a new kitchen. Nobody was responsible, and he got away scot-free to continue his nefarious work.
Apparently, he changed jobs because the next I heard of him was two or three years ago when a T&TEC linesman was killed when someone at the station turned back on the power while the linesman was still working on the line. There was an investigation and, since nobody was apparently working in the station which turned back on the power, he must have been responsible. However, I wasn't sure it was actually him until another T&TEC worker, Moonilal Hardeen, was killed three weeks ago. Nobody was immediately identified as the culprit: the owner of Pier1 said it wasn't their illegal generator and the manager at T&TEC said it wasn't their Ms Universe power lines. Hardeen said nothing, although nobody had killed him.
Truth to tell, I had not expected to find nobody working at T&TEC. The evidence I had strongly suggested that nobody was, in fact, a police officer. Indeed, he may have been in the Police Service long before he ever joined T&TEC. Remember WPC Bernadette James, who was killed by a bullet fired from nobody's gun? And there were also scores of cases which were thrown out because the police officer had given false evidence, yet nobody was ever charged for perjury.
Now we have the infamous Ramdhanie escape. After several months, Police Commissioner Hilton Guy found nobody to be the culprit. The present inquiry has so far pointed to two particular police officers, but I'm willing to lay odds that Mr. Guy was right the first time and nobody will, as usual, be found responsible.
In fact, now that I think about it, nobody probably holds down several different jobs. After all, remember the American environmentalist who was shot some years ago? A wealthy businessman was arrested in that incident, but it turned out that nobody had, in fact, shot the environmentalist. (He is still dead, however.)
Or what about Jason Johnson, the boy who died during a fight with Brad Boyce? The judge threw out the case on the basis that pathologist Hugo Des Vignes was not qualified to perform an autopsy. But it now turns out that Dr. Des Vignes is quite qualified but, since nobody has been charged for murder, it must be he who actually killed Johnson.
More recently, nobody has been involved in the murder - and apparent rape - of 10-year-old Akiel Chambers. I am not sure whether nobody was involved in his capacity as police officer, simply in botching the investigation, or in the actual killing. But nobody even has a job at the Mt. Hope General Hospital, probably in the Maternity Division. There have been several suspicious deaths there, and nobody has been blamed for all of them Clearly, he is a man of many talents.
It seems to me, though, that nobody could only get away with as much as he has because of his powerful political connections. I mean, look what happens every year with the Auditor-General's Report. Always, clear cases of mismanagement and outright corruption are highlighted and, every year, nobody is held accountable. Yet he's never charged with anything. This year's report is no different: millions of dollars have been spent on still-uncompleted swimming pools in Couva and Siparia; there was an illegal $4 million payout to a contractor by the Customs and Excise Department; and road works contracts have been awarded without even the pretence of a tender. You might think somebody could be easily identified, but in fact nobody always is.
Indeed, even when somebody is identified in official investigations - as with Ish Galbaransingh in the Deyalsingh Report and Vasant Bharath in the NFM scandal - nobody is instead held responsible. So I will concede that he is sometimes scapegoat rather than culprit. It's like with the late Dole Chadee, whom everybody knew as somebody. Guardian editor Lennox Grant, whose thought never rises above mediocrity, says the hangings prove that our legal system works. But this might be true only if nobody had been hanged, since nobody is really responsible for the ills which produce criminals: poverty, social inequity, child abuse, illiteracy and official corruption. Obviously, we cannot blame our political, religious, ethnic and business leaders for these ills. It is clearly nobody's fault. And he will never be arrested because it is even more clear that, without him, a lot of people would be behind bars or out of a job. Which is why, if you want to be somebody in this place, it is really best to be nobody.
Copyright ©1999 Kevin Baldeosingh