AS the nation celebrates 59 years of Independence, Trinidad and Tobago seems to be moving further away from development instead of nearer to it.
In her message to Trinidad and Tobago on Monday, President Paula-Mae Weekes said births were usually occasions of great joy and the birth of a nation was no different but much growth was needed.
President Weekes said, “It is dispiriting that as we mark our 59th anniversary, we must still clamour for sound infrastructure, smooth roads, a steady water supply, functional social services, a manageable cost of living, security for person and property, justice on time, fair wages and accountability in public affairs, and in these calamitous times, quality healthcare.”
She said, “These fair and reasonable expectations may even seem to be moving further away rather than getting closer, causing us to wonder if instead of the nation moving forward, it is regressing.
“These developmental adversities, the equivalent of human growing pains, are part and parcel of the journey to full adult nationhood and our independent status and ambitions require that we stay the course. We have some ways to go before we can consider ourselves to be full-grown, but we are at an appropriate juncture to take a collective deep breath and refocus on the Independence project initiated in 1962.”
The President reminded citizens of the first prime minister’s inaugural Independence Day address and that national development was a never-ending task.
Quoting from Dr Eric Williams, she said, “The first responsibility that devolves upon you is the protection and promotion of your democracy… Democracy means recognition of the rights of others. Democracy means equality of opportunity for all in education, in the public service, and in private employment.”
According to Dr Williams, democracy did not lie in the hands of Parliamentarians but “on an informed and cultivated and alert public opinion.”
President Weekes said, there have been many accomplishments through the journey from 1962 to present day but there were also lows with the most recent one being the Covid-19 pandemic.
As T&T deals with the negative changes that came with it, the country stands on its own.
She said, “Even as we operate under a State of Emergency, the protection and promotion of our democracy is paramount. We cannot lose sight of the fact that democracy champions both our individual rights and the rights of others and that a necessary safeguard is a knowledgeable and aware public, making decisions premised on reliable and evidence-based information.”
The President said that citizens needed to be prepared to work hard to ensure the continued success of Independence and gave a message of hope.
“As we celebrate our 59th anniversary, let us make every effort to tap into the dedication, aspiration and civic mindedness exercised so boldly by the witnesses to our nation’s birth, to rekindle the fires of hope and prayer that burned brightly in the hearts of every citizen on the eve of our Independence and to stand confident in the knowledge that, even as manifold challenges abound, if ‘together we aspire, together we achieve’,” President Weekes said.
