Doux-doux! It is Auntie Cheryl in Chaguanas, the kettle is on, the doubles man just cycled past, and the morning is BEAUTIFUL. Let me tell you, my children, this country is moving forward, FORWARD I tell you, and I have been waiting for a Monday morning like this one for years.

THE PENSION TAX EXEMPTION! FINALLY!

You hear what Madam Prime Minister announced on Friday? She is exempting pension and annuity income from income tax! EXEMPT! After a lifetime of working hard, paying your taxes, raising your children, sending barrel after barrel to relatives abroad — finally somebody in government is saying, you know what, you have done enough. Keep your pension money. It is yours.

I called my sister Sandra in Chaguanas Old Road on Friday afternoon. Sandra, who is 67, who worked at the Ministry of Education for 31 years, who has been complaining for the last six years about how her pension gets taxed and the price of cooking oil keeps going up — Sandra cried. Cried. On the phone with me. She said “Cheryl, I am going to be able to buy fish on Saturday again.” Just like that. Fish on Saturday. The little dignity of being able to walk into the market and not have to pretend you don’t want the kingfish.

This is what good government LOOKS like, my people. This is what it looks like when the people who put you in office actually remember the people who put them in office. Madam Prime Minister said it Friday in the House: “This Government was elected on a clear promise: to put people first.” And she is doing it. She is DOING IT.

Thirty-nine thousand taxpayers will benefit. THIRTY-NINE THOUSAND! That is thirty-nine thousand Sandras who will be buying kingfish on Saturday. That is the country working the way it is supposed to work.

CRIME IS DOWN. WAY DOWN.

Now, you go hear all kind of negative talk this weekend about the police station situation in San Fernando. I am not going to dwell on the unfortunate event, because the unfortunate event is being handled by professionals and Madam Prime Minister has issued multiple statements, including the very important clarification that this was an INTERNAL matter at the MUNICIPAL police service, not the national TTPS. People need to read carefully.

What I want to tell you is the macro picture, which is what serious leaders look at. Madam Prime Minister tweeted the numbers Saturday. THIRTY PERCENT reduction in serious crimes. THIRTY-TWO PERCENT reduction in violent crimes. Tobago down 41 per cent. North Eastern Division down 55 per cent — FIFTY-FIVE.

Listen. When I was growing up in Felicity, my mother used to talk about a Trinidad where you could leave your front door open. People say those days are gone. People say crime is unsolvable. Well, the numbers say something different. The numbers say crime is going DOWN. Under this administration. In one year. Thirty per cent.

That is not a coincidence. That is policy. That is the Minister of National Security doing his work. That is the TTPS doing its work. That is the UNC government, in less than a year, delivering measurable results that the previous administration could not produce in a decade. Read the numbers. The numbers don’t lie.

MADAM PRIME MINISTER STANDING UP TO CARICOM

You know how long I have been waiting for somebody to stand up to CARICOM? Years. YEARS, I tell you.

Madam Prime Minister has been calling out the corruption in CARICOM. She has been calling out the secret retreat in St Kitts where they reappointed the Secretary General without proper process. She has been calling out CARICOM’s troubling support for the Maduro regime in Venezuela — which, let us be honest among ourselves, is a narco-government, and it is HIGH TIME somebody in the region had the courage to say so out loud.

Of COURSE the other Heads of Government don’t like it. Of COURSE Gaston Browne in Antigua is upset. Of COURSE the Opposition Leader Beckles-Robinson is calling it irrational. The Opposition will call EVERYTHING irrational because the Opposition has nothing else to say. The Opposition lost the last election by a landslide and is still figuring out why. The Opposition’s response to good news from this Government is “this is bad, somehow.” It is exhausting.

The truth is, Madam Prime Minister speaks for a lot of Trinidadians who have been quietly thinking the same thing for years. CARICOM has not been working the way it should. Twenty-two per cent of the budget comes from us. We get to ask questions. The questions are valid. If reforms come, wonderful. If they don’t, we will see what happens. Either way, somebody is finally asking.

THE EVERSLEY MATTER

I want to address this directly because I know my readers are concerned. Yes, a corporal was murdered. It is terrible. It is heartbreaking. Her family is in our prayers. Madam Prime Minister has expressed her condolences and ordered a full investigation.

The thing to understand is that this was an INTERNAL betrayal — one of their own people, an inside job. This is not a sign of breakdown in the wider TTPS. This is not a sign that the UNC’s crime strategy is failing. The macro numbers — that 30 per cent reduction — those are still the truth. One incident, however terrible, does not negate a year of progress.

Madam Prime Minister also clarified, very correctly, that no curfew is needed. Curfews hurt working people. Curfews hurt small businesses. Curfews send the message that the government cannot manage. Madam Prime Minister can manage. We do not need a curfew. We need the investigation to run its course, the responsible parties to be identified, and the institutional reforms to follow.

That is exactly what is going to happen. I trust this Prime Minister. I have watched her for fifteen years. She does not panic. She does not flinch. She does the work.

MENTAL HEALTH IS BEING TAKEN SERIOUSLY

I want to give credit where credit is due — Dr Indar Ramtahal at the Ministry of Health was on TV6 over the weekend talking about mental health, suicide prevention, warning signs, all of it. This is exactly the kind of conversation our community has needed for a long time, and it is happening because the Ministry is making it happen.

When I was growing up, you didn’t talk about depression. You didn’t talk about anxiety. You went to church and you prayed. Now we are doing both — going to church AND talking openly about mental health AND seeking professional support when we need it. That is progress. That is community. That is what a maturing society looks like.

If somebody you love is struggling, reach out. Call them. Visit them. Bring food. Bring time. The little things matter more than people realize. And the Ministry helpline is there for the bigger things.

WHAT MORE COULD YOU WANT FROM A MONDAY?

So let me sum up the week so far, my people. We have:

A pension tax exemption that puts money back in the pockets of 39,000 retirees. A 30 per cent reduction in serious crime under one year of UNC governance. A Prime Minister with the courage to call out CARICOM corruption when she sees it. A Ministry of Health taking mental health seriously and putting professionals on the airwaves. A police investigation underway into a tragic but isolated incident, with the Prime Minister communicating clearly and refusing to overreact with curfews that would hurt working families.

What more could anyone reasonably want from a Monday in April? The country is moving. The economy is stabilizing. The political opposition is dysfunctional. The international stage is hearing our voice. Trinidad is back, my friends. Trinidad is BACK.

Now I am going to put on a second pot of coffee and go water my plants and call my sister Sandra to congratulate her one more time on the pension exemption. She is going to buy kingfish on Saturday. Imagine that. Kingfish on Saturday.

— Auntie Cheryl