Even as Central Bank Governor Ewart Williams expressed his concern at the end of October about the high rate of inflation in the country, a Sunday Express report stated that the number of homeless persons has been growing rapidly. In 2000, some 481 socially-displaced persons lived on the streets but, by 2004, the recorded number had grown to 647 or by 34 per cent.

The reasons for the large number of people living on the streets are not all economic. The investigative report cited, among a wide range of issues, a breakdown in family values, a decrease in tolerance levels and “step-parent” problems as contributing to the situation.

Still, the connection between inflation and poverty must cause us to consider what effect it may be having on the number of street dwellers and how poverty may be addressed in creative ways.

Inflation has been described as the worst of robbers. It is invisible, persistent and holds an entire nation to ransom. The persons who will feel deprivation the most will always be the poor.

The Central Bank Governor has called for a social compact among the Government, private sector and labour to keep inflation – which stands at 9.6 percent – from reaching double digits. He warned that if appropriate measures were not taken at this stage, the remedies that would need to be applied later on would be drastic.

The Government’s decision to reprioritise its expenditure and proposed projects is an important means of restraining the rate of inflation, but more will need to be done by the various sectors to assist this process and ultimately improve the quality of life for all citizens.

First things first

With a growing number of poor and homeless among us, the Church cannot but be stirred to self-appraisal. A Church that is alive cannot fail to do this. In what new ways is God calling the local Church to show God’s love today, bearing in mind the words of this Sunday’s Gospel that remind us to put first things first? 

To “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength” is first, says Jesus. This love becomes evident in an acceptance of the invitation and command to “love your neighbour as yourself… There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12: 30-31), he adds. When a community does not remember what is “first” then it squanders the grace and its ability to receive what will make it “prosper” and give it “increase” (Deuteronomy 6: 3).

Measures to control and reduce inflation must go hand in hand with efforts to alleviate the hardship of persons who find themselves at the lowest range of the economic scale.

The Government and, importantly, the people of Trinidad and Tobago continue to benefit from the work of several of our Church organisations and those of other religious bodies.

Should Government not also give some consideration to increasing its contributions to these groups so they might make an even greater impact on the lives of the socially-displaced and those who may be teetering on the brink of displacement?

These organisations know they are not simply useful vehicles for the Government of the day. What leads them to serve in the way they do is the desire to assist those in need to live with the dignity that is theirs as children of God, and to make real the good news of God’s kingdom. These groups remind the society of what must come first.