THIS is an open letter to Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly Orville London.

We write to express our extreme disappointment and grave concern over two issues:

• The consideration of using a sole tendering process to engage the services of Dr Anselm London as a consultant to the Finance Secretary.

• The ongoing tenure of Mr Hilton Sandy as a secretary in the Tobago House of Assembly.

To even think about suggesting that Mr London, the former finance secretary, is the only person in Trinidad and Tobago qualified to efficiently fill the position stated above is both absurd and an insult to the intelligence of the citizens of our twin island republic. He may very well be the best qualified. That however, can and should only be determined through the engagement of a transparent and thorough human resource recruiting exercise where the position is publicly advertised, interested persons interviewed, remuneration properly assessed etc. Also, your overriding concern that this information may have been leaked is also very worrying. We are left to wonder what might have transpired had this "consideration'' not been reported. We implore you to now employ the right HR process.

Fixin' T&T viewed the "Calcutta'' remarks by Hilton Sandy as deliberate, patently racist and painfully distasteful. By not reappointing Mr Sandy as deputy chief Secretary, we erroneously assumed that he was removed as a secretary altogether and thought that you and the People's National Movement (PNM) had taken adequate action.

Understanding our mistake we now call on you to remove Hilton Sandy as Secretary for Infrastructure and Public Utilities with immediate effect. We believe this to be the right and honourable thing to do. A clear message must be sent that race no longer has a place in the politics of Trinidad and Tobago.

On January 21, you along with the PNM were entrusted with an extraordinary mandate to govern the affairs of our sister isle Tobago. Our T&T requires now more than ever leadership committed to overcompensating on the side of integrity. There must be no ambiguity. Your actions must not only be fair, but must seem to be fair. You must do what is right simply because it is right and in the best interest of our country.

It's a new dawn. We the people of Trinidad and Tobago will accept nothing less.

Kirk Waithe

Fixin' T&T