The PM dropped the ball
Dear Editor,
Please allow me space to intervene in the present imbroglio between the prime minister, on one hand, and the Opposition People’s National Party, on the other, along with political commentators and other deeply concerned citizens who have taken to the media to publicly express alarm at the prime minister’s atrocious mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis.
The situation has, allegedly, culminated in the death of eight COVID-19 patients, who succumbed to their illness due to the depletion of oxygen supply in the hospitals to treat such patients.
Currently, less that 10 per cent of the nation’s population of three million is fully vaccinated after 18 months into the novel coronavirus pandemic, and all hospitals have run out of beds for COVID-19 patients. Concomitantly, the nation has been ordered to observe three-consecutive no-movement days over a four-week period, following the abrupt partial reopening of the entertainment sector that had been languishing for over a year.
These types of lockdowns have placed many people under tremendous economic strain, especially those workers in the informal sector, and companies have had to lay off staff to compensate for losses.
Paradoxically, the no-movement days have created the very problem they were designed to remedy — overcrowding and long lines at banks, supermarkets, bus stops, etc.
This situation clearly indicates that the prime minister, who has been accused of having an autocratic management style, has failed to put in place a competent management team to navigate the COVID-19 crisis by setting goals and timelines for the vaccination programme, which is the key to controlling the pandemic.
Also, no forecast was made to anticipate the demand for adequate supplies of medical staff, beds, personal protective equipment, and oxygen for resuscitating the critically ill. And no provisions were made to motivate the exhausted, unretiring front line workers who have been complaining bitterly about non-payment of overtime and discomfiture allowance.
JD Wood
jafnam@yahoo.com
