“BODOE in the building, hiding, hiding, hiding from workers...Bodoe where art thou?”

That’s the chant that rang through the streets of Port of Spain yesterday as hundreds of nurses and midwives, clad in blue, protested over wages, staffing shortages and working conditions. They called on Health Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe to break his silence and address their concerns.

Moving in a coordinated procession from the Port of Spain General Hospital to the Ministry of Health’s head office at Queen’s Park East, the demonstrators, many shielding themselves from the midday sun with umbrellas—filled the capital with songs, shouts and placards demanding a 10% wage increase and urgent intervention to address what they described as a worsening strain on the public health system.