Caption: Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley speaking at a press conference at the Diplomatic Centre in front of the Coat of Arms
AZP News Commentary
By Dr Neil Gosine
IN recent days, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has promised to remove the ships from the Coat of Arms by the altering the Coat of Arms of Trinidad and Tobago and putting a steel pan in its place.
This specifically seems as politricking although for generations we have been taught a false narrative about the explorer Christopher Columbus discovering our islands. While this debate might carry some symbolic weight, it raises a crucial questions as to why now and is this where our focus should be?
When we consider the other pressing and urgent issues that plague our nation, it becomes crystal clear that our resources and attentiveness would be far better spent on tangible improvements that directly impact the lives of our citizens. Problems such as solving the persistent flooding in Port of Spain, addressing crime, and repairing our crumbling infrastructure.
Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, faces many issues that should be at the top of our national focus. Every time there’s a little more than a drizzle, the city’s drainage system fails and streets are turned into rivers. This alone is a major concern, as it’s severely disrupts our daily life. Cars become stranded, commuters are left wading through knee-deep flood water, and businesses suffer losses due to damage by flood and declining customer traffic. The drainage system needs urgent upgrades in Port of Spain as it is not only about convenience. It’s about safety, the ease of doing business in the city, and quality of life. We don’t have a functional, efficient drainage system.
Another crucial issue that needs urgent attention is crime. Trinidad and Tobago has been facing rising crime rates for years under this administration, and this has dire consequences for every citizen. More resources for law enforcement are needed urgently, more community programs, and more crime prevention strategies must be looked at now.
It’s time the government focuses on getting crime under control, increasing detection rates of murders thereby creating safer communities, and restoring public trust in the government’s capabilities to protect our citizens.
Many citizens are in great fear for their lives and the continuity of their businesses on a daily basis. If the government can actually look at this threat seriously instead of contemplating a waste of money for changing our Coat of Arms, that would make more sense. The cost associated with having redo all of our birth certificates, passports, building logos, school books and currency will be astronomical. Let’s consider for a moment the practical implications of changing the Coat of Arms. Every official document would need to be updated to reflect the change. This is not just a minor change, it’s a very costly, time-consuming change and will require significant financial resources. Resources we can’t spare and if we can spare it, there are more pressing needs that we need to address.
Another focus that makes more sense is looking at our roads that are in serious need of repair. We have potholes we can swim in, we have uneven surfaces, and general poor maintenance of our roads. Travelling on our roads is nightmare. It contributes to accidents and damage to our vehicles. The cost to motorists is high because of the poor roads and not to mention our public transportation system. That’s another story. Better roads mean easier commutes, less vehicle damage, and easier connectivity across our nation. It also means that emergency services can respond more quickly to emergencies and goods can be transported more efficiently.
At a time when citizens are crying out for protection from gangs and criminals, every day we plagued with reports of numerous murders, we don’t have any proper allocation to deal with better drainage to control flood, we don’t have a reliable supply of water to many communities, and not enough being done to give us better roads, it just makes no sense to prioritise a symbolic alteration that will have little impact on our daily lives.
Changing the Coat of Arms pales in comparison to the immediate, needs of our nation. The more pressing issues that directly affect the our lives as citizens are more important to focus on and that should take precedence. By prioritising these areas that are most important, we can create a safer space, quicker to recover economic environment, and a more prosperous Trinidad and Tobago where the prosperity of the people is the symbol of national pride.
Neill Gosine is an insurance executive. He is sometimes a temporary Opposition Senator, an ex-treasurer of the UNC and a former chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NP). He holds a Doctorate in Business Administration, a Master’s in Business Administration MBA, BSC in Mathematics and a BA in Administrative Studies. The views and comments expressed in this column are not necessarily those of AZP News, a Division of Complete Image Limited
Fix Crime, Flooding, Roads Rather than Change Coat of Arms
Caption: Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley speaking at a press conference at the Diplomatic Centre in front of the Coat of Arms
AZP News Commentary
IN recent days, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has promised to remove the ships from the Coat of Arms by the altering the Coat of Arms of Trinidad and Tobago and putting a steel pan in its place.
This specifically seems as politricking although for generations we have been taught a false narrative about the explorer Christopher Columbus discovering our islands. While this debate might carry some symbolic weight, it raises a crucial questions as to why now and is this where our focus should be?
When we consider the other pressing and urgent issues that plague our nation, it becomes crystal clear that our resources and attentiveness would be far better spent on tangible improvements that directly impact the lives of our citizens. Problems such as solving the persistent flooding in Port of Spain, addressing crime, and repairing our crumbling infrastructure.
Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, faces many issues that should be at the top of our national focus. Every time there’s a little more than a drizzle, the city’s drainage system fails and streets are turned into rivers. This alone is a major concern, as it’s severely disrupts our daily life. Cars become stranded, commuters are left wading through knee-deep flood water, and businesses suffer losses due to damage by flood and declining customer traffic. The drainage system needs urgent upgrades in Port of Spain as it is not only about convenience. It’s about safety, the ease of doing business in the city, and quality of life. We don’t have a functional, efficient drainage system.
Another crucial issue that needs urgent attention is crime. Trinidad and Tobago has been facing rising crime rates for years under this administration, and this has dire consequences for every citizen. More resources for law enforcement are needed urgently, more community programs, and more crime prevention strategies must be looked at now.
It’s time the government focuses on getting crime under control, increasing detection rates of murders thereby creating safer communities, and restoring public trust in the government’s capabilities to protect our citizens.
Many citizens are in great fear for their lives and the continuity of their businesses on a daily basis. If the government can actually look at this threat seriously instead of contemplating a waste of money for changing our Coat of Arms, that would make more sense. The cost associated with having redo all of our birth certificates, passports, building logos, school books and currency will be astronomical. Let’s consider for a moment the practical implications of changing the Coat of Arms. Every official document would need to be updated to reflect the change. This is not just a minor change, it’s a very costly, time-consuming change and will require significant financial resources. Resources we can’t spare and if we can spare it, there are more pressing needs that we need to address.
Another focus that makes more sense is looking at our roads that are in serious need of repair. We have potholes we can swim in, we have uneven surfaces, and general poor maintenance of our roads. Travelling on our roads is nightmare. It contributes to accidents and damage to our vehicles. The cost to motorists is high because of the poor roads and not to mention our public transportation system. That’s another story. Better roads mean easier commutes, less vehicle damage, and easier connectivity across our nation. It also means that emergency services can respond more quickly to emergencies and goods can be transported more efficiently.
At a time when citizens are crying out for protection from gangs and criminals, every day we plagued with reports of numerous murders, we don’t have any proper allocation to deal with better drainage to control flood, we don’t have a reliable supply of water to many communities, and not enough being done to give us better roads, it just makes no sense to prioritise a symbolic alteration that will have little impact on our daily lives.
Changing the Coat of Arms pales in comparison to the immediate, needs of our nation. The more pressing issues that directly affect the our lives as citizens are more important to focus on and that should take precedence. By prioritising these areas that are most important, we can create a safer space, quicker to recover economic environment, and a more prosperous Trinidad and Tobago where the prosperity of the people is the symbol of national pride.
Neill Gosine is an insurance executive. He is sometimes a temporary Opposition Senator, an ex-treasurer of the UNC and a former chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NP). He holds a Doctorate in Business Administration, a Master’s in Business Administration MBA, BSC in Mathematics and a BA in Administrative Studies. The views and comments expressed in this column are not necessarily those of AZP News, a Division of Complete Image Limited