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Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley. – File photo by Angelo Marcelle
The Prime Minister says the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, regardless of their diverse origins, continue to show a phenomenal harmony and respect for each other.
In his Independence Day message, Dr Rowley said the day was an ideal opportunity to reflect on what was going on in the world, and then place TT on the scale of human development, gauge its progress, and the quality of life enjoyed here.
“Maybe with that comparison, even with the many daily difficulties, we may better appreciate our overall achievements, our resilience as a people, our natural and cultural wonders, and the beauty and richness of this land, called TT.
“As a people coming from many parts of the various continents, we continue to show a tolerance which must not be dismissed or understated, given the rise of ethnic tensions, identity politics, etc in other parts of the world. This unique facet of TT has caused some observers to describe our inter-racial relationships as ‘uncommon.’”
Rowley said TT was not without its stresses and strains, pockets of underlying hostilities, increasing levels of violent crime, family disputes, meaningless altercations spawned and spread by the gang culture among much of TT’s youth.
“Yet, looking deeper, we can identify and praise what we call ‘The Trinbagonian’ – our collective spirit in which we hold a transcendent respect for The Almighty, alongside an eager willingness to display kindness, selfless care, compassion, respect, love, sharing with family, friends, and extending trust to strangers, as fellow humans all wrapped in a daily ambition to be better.”
The PM said he saw creativity, optimism, discipline and pride in all the best that TT had produced over the last 62 years.
“I see us all as lively, sentient beings, who always seem to be on the move to something greater. Whatever our race or status, our unique, collective “Trinbagonian Spirit” stands out, wherever, because we always expect to be enjoying and enhancing our daily lives, protecting our freedom, celebrating our music, our dance, our food, our fashion and, of course, our Pan.”
He said TT was a land of opportunities and possibility, populated by resilient citizens. He said it was that perspective that challenged everyone to nurture and strengthen themselves as they faced the many challenges of a demanding 21st century.
Rowley said some examples of that new optimistic spirit included the government’s emphasis on vocational and skills training and vulnerable citizens continuing to benefit from social grants, social services, free health care and medicine, in addition to Government subsidies for water, electricity, transportation, and education grants.
He said the past decade was punctuated with global shocks and crises in the world economy, which heightened risks for the country. He said covid19 also added to those risks, with headwinds and tumultuous waters.
Rowley said government was able to develop unique solutions such as restructuring Petrotrin into Heritage Petroleum and confirming landmark and unprecedented arrangements with Venezuela to develop gas fields that straddle our border and in that country’s waters, which would boost TT’s declining gas production and sustain the plants on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate.
He said the country’s economic buffers remained strong, inflation had subsided, there were strong signs of growth in the non-oil sector, the employment rates stood at 4.1 per cent in 2023, with further progress expected this year.
“Both our Heritage and Stabilisation Fund and External Reserves are approaching US$6 Billion, giving us an eight-month import cover. This is even after we have carefully used some of the interest from the earnings of the Fund to bail us out during the recent series of unplanned difficulties in the pandemic and post-pandemic era.”
Rowley called on citizens to continue to see themselves as a resilient people, who are developing a country, marshalling together, and navigating its challenges and difficulties “with boundless faith in our destiny.”
