WEIGHING the summit inconveniences caused by the traffic restrictions and the other security considerations bore down heavily on some citizens. As a matter of fact what could have been worse was made somewhat more tolerable by the decision of thousands of citizens to stay away from the capital city this past weekend. After a huge amount of effort including untold man-hours of work and the outlay of as yet inconclusive hundreds of millions of dollars, the Fifth Summit of the Americas has now taken place.

  Port of Spain has been rendered a different place because of it, the big question now being how lasting are the improvements to the physical environment which were effected. There remains, for example, the campaign launched in the wake of the summit, to clean up the streets of the capital city of those citizens deemed homeless. As was demonstrated by one incident just two weekends ago, some of these homeless persons continue to present clear and present dangers to others around.

 Having launched the initiative which had been long in coming, the Minister of Social Development is being looked upon to continue the job which faltered badly after the first two or three days.  Public cynicism about this project is high, as it is indeed about so much surrounding the claims of successes and benefits from this summit.

While still clinging to his oft-repeated assurances that there would be tangible benefits to the people of Trinidad and Tobago because of contacts made and relationships opened in the course of event and the collateral forums, the Prime Minister entered an interesting addendum yesterday. 

Speaking with reporters during the closing press conference, the Prime Minister said even if there were no investments accruing from the interests which may have been expressed, he was sure of one other thing. This he identified as the platform for ’a newer, brighter, better day’’ which had been laid by what he said was the ’spirit of co-operation and collaboration’’ which the summit generated. This after the deliberations were threatened by what he said was the agenda of some individuals and individual countries. 

Here again is another intangible, not likely to be appreciated by the consuming public, as much as the Prime Minister is correct in his reminder that ’man does not live by bread alone’’. 

Still on another account, the extreme nervousness displayed by the authorities in seeking to stifle any and all attempts at popular alternative expression during the summit period has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many citizens. Fuller consideration of these matters is necessary for a proper assessment of the pros and cons of this venture.