MEANINGFUL employment remains the most talked about issue along the campaign trail, according to the People’s National Movement (PNM) Tobago West candidate Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis.
The PNM has been the government for the past nine years and two of its ministers – Cudjoe and Ayanna Webster-Roy – are the MPs in Tobago.
Cudjoe-Lewis spoke with Newsday as she canvassed in Carnbee on March 25.
“Employment – meaningful employment for Tobagonians.”
However, she hastened to add that the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) cannot hire everyone.
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“So there is need for more training. Sometimes people are saying, 'We need a job,' but they haven’t done any major training after school so it’s trying to get them into training programmes and help to direct them to entrepreneurship and direct them to employment. Of course, we need more private sector activity in Tobago to help us with the employment issue, but there are a lot of young people in need of that type of support.”
She said the campaigning has been good so far as she has never left the ground.
“I think, so far, so good. We’ve kept walking through the years so it’s nothing major or different. It’s just that you have more walkers out in red, but usually we walk the area once a month. We’ve been doing so since 2016, even if it's touching one street a month, we’ve done that. We have field officers out from electoral districts to electoral districts.”
She said she remains encouraged by the response.
“I look forward to serving the people of Tobago West. It is a privilege to serve the people who have raised me, who have loved me, who have directed me. When you go from house to house, it’s not only about capturing their concerns; you have people who would pray for you, people who would give you advice, you have people who may bouff you for something, and it all goes into making you a better representative.”
Several other candidates have been named for Tobago West, including the THA Secretary of Community Development, Youth Development and Sport Joel Sampson for the Tobago People’s Party (TPP), Aretha Clarke for the Patriotic Front and president of the All-Tobago Fisherfolk Association (ATFA) Curtis Douglas for the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP).
On the challenge, she said: “I am excited. I am excited to see so many people interested in politics, especially so many young people interested in politics. When I first started, I was 28 years old, and it was somewhat lonely as it relates to having other youth, and now you have more young people showing interest in the progress and the development of the country and of Tobago, so I am really heartened to see so many hats thrown into the ring.”
