THE EDITOR: The massive traffic gridlock that occurred on Thursday was yet again due to nothing other than absence of leadership.

This was no different to the day of total policing and the nationwide blackout when complete chaos and confusion became the order of the day, coupled with an absence of communication and co-ordination among relevant bodies.

One can also refer to the tragedy involving the divers at Paria when yet again, with no one taking command and control to co-ordinate and make informed decisions, for 72 hours, nothing was done that inevitably led to the divers' deaths.

One could refer to how such incidents were dealt with from 2018 to 2021, including Carnival 2020, where not one major incident was reported, or the massive flood in Chaguanas that virtually divided the country for hours, or the well-planned riots involving 33 simultaneous blocking of roads and 150 men walking into Port of Spain to vandalise the nation's capital. All effectively managed and controlled.

The difference then was proper co-ordination and communication via the use of the National Operations Centre, which was designed for such incidents. This ensured that inconvenience was at a minimum, through proper co-ordination and communication by relevant bodies.

All it takes is to analyse the situation and design an immediate operational plan to eliminate or reduce the problem, while maintaining open channels of communication.

In total contrast, we are now seeing a lack of organisation, communication and co-ordination negatively impacting the national community. This is made worse when the various arms of law enforcement do not seem to employ any operation system designed to minimise inconvenience or fear.

In my tenure as commissioner of police, the team employed the use of the TTPS app, nationwide text messages and hourly updates to the public to ensure an efficient response and management structure.

The massive gridlock in the West of Trinidad was due primarily to the Ministry of Communication, Ministry of Works and Ministry of Public Utilities not co-ordinating with each other and the Police Service to ensure a proper, immediate and effective plan.

It also does not help when the newly established Police Service Commission, comprising not one person trained, qualified or experienced in law enforcement, looks at the third most senior police officer presently in ACP Archie and bypasses her for the post of a deputy commissioner of police, because they see her Master's degree as being in mass communication, and they foolishly did not see this qualification as anything of value in policing.

One of the primary reasons that the public trust and confidence in the TTPS moved from 14 per cent when I took up the post to 55 per cent on my departure was as a direct result of effective, timely, professional and factual communication.

So, expect further confusion, frustration and unforced errors in most aspects of governance to continue due to a void in leadership and poor planning. At least until those who hold