Black, Blank, or Blink … the race card has been called within a few days of the announcement of the Local Government Elections.  Leader of the Opposition Mrs. Kamla Persad Bissessar (KPB) knew that the hostility of Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley (KCR) would be easily triggered by her request for her supporters to fill in the blanks of her speech.  And according to a newspaper article, “Dr. Rowley responded to the comment in a Facebook post at about 1.30 am on Friday, June 9^th when he wrote: “Finally!!! Caught in her frequent disgusting race-baiting she is reduced to repeating inane rubbish to try and lie her way out. Anyone surprised?”

I am surprised that the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (PMoTT) continues this obsolete, disingenuous strategy of racial accusations to move our thinking away from the significant issues which are plaguing our land.  I hoped that KCR was more strategic than that.  It is redundant for our PMoTT to engage in this race discussion especially since the mixed-race population in Trinidad is the highest growing race of people.   A 2003 song released by David Rudder and Carl Jacob commented that “how we vote, is not how we party”  and I refuse to accept that this is still true 20 years later.

Research on “ChatGPT” revealed that the 2011 population census concluded that people of mixed ethnic background account for approximately 22.8 percent of the population while mixed Afro-Indian descent accounts for approximately 7.7 percent.  Interestingly, that census allowed for self-identification.  In other words, the respondents were allowed to choose their ethnicity, and “mixed” was a category.  That was more than 10 years ago so I wonder what a current census will reveal!

Our society is culturally diverse because we comprise people of African, Indian, European, Chinese, Middle Eastern, and Indigenous descent, among others.  Our ethnicity is shaped by colonization, immigration, and intermarriage.  Scratch any of us deep enough and up will pop another race.  The “mustard and ketchup” political parties have continuously disappointed us with their unsettling racial conversations as opposed to focusing on inclusivity, diversity, and equality and the necessary systems, processes, and procedures which could improve our society.  Despite the political commitment to remaining fossilized until the last drop or bubble is removed from our earth, our top three topics for consideration are crime, corruption, and economic diversification. I wonder why KPB and KCR choose not to engage in these conversations with a solution-focused approach!

It is time to reform our governance and get rid of these two grave-digging parties.  It is time for the person in the street, some of whom are the 22.8% mixed-race, to vote for persons who will do better.  It’s time for us to take a chance and vote differently to reset our society. No more colorful voting. It’s time to vote based on the IQ and compassion of the representative, and their proven ability to get things done for their constituents.

We cannot continue to cover our deep societal problems with condiments that are flavourful to some but add little value to our overall health.  Our leaders have a responsibility to change the conversation away from this sickening focus on race and concentrate on what is needed for citizens to thrive so that the phrase “Sweet T&T” will no longer be used in sarcasm.

On an early morning visit to Chaguaramas, you can still see and hear howler monkeys.  You can enjoy the sunrise while on a hiking trail.  You can participate in a range of activities in an absolutely beautiful environment.  Chaguaramas has the potential to become the best eco-friendly business and entertainment space in the region, but successive governments have failed at their attempts to make it an environmentally sustainable area. 

If you visit Chaguaramas today, you might be saddened by the dilapidated state of the Chaguaramas Convention Centre where the Chaguaramas Treaty was signed to establish Caricom.  You might be disappointed by the lack of access to several of the beaches and the decrepit state of the Military History and Aviation Museum. You might feel disillusioned when you observe another slowly deteriorating building with a Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, and Fisheries sign.

Governments have presided over the slow deterioration of the Chaguaramas Convention Centre.  A building of such significance and heritage should be refurbished, restored, and made into an income-generating space for use by our people.  It comprises 72 hotel-type Rooms; a 26,000-square-foot meeting space; a lounge; a lobby bar and a restaurant.  The way it is designed, and its location make it an ideal venue to house a “Model” tourism school.

But instead of making it a model tourism school, on July 19, 2021, the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service issued a news release indicating that “Cabinet approval had been obtained for the refurbishment, repurposing, and outfitting of the Chaguaramas Convention Centre into a modern Youth Development and Apprenticeship Centre (YDAC)”.  This refurbished facility is intended to be consistent with the current standards of a modern-day residential vocational training institution.

Looking at the building from the outside, there is no evidence that this work has begun while our youths continue to opt for lives of crime.  If the plan is to refurbish and repurpose the Chaguaramas Convention Centre, then let’s do it, but it is scandalous for a government to preside over the slow deterioration of such a monumental building. 

In a broader context, citizens need to understand the long-term plan for the Chaguaramas peninsula.  With every change of administration some “government funder” is given permission to do something against the provisions of “the 1974 Chaguaramas Development Plan which zoned all highland areas in the Chaguaramas Peninsula above the 350 feet contour and the entire area of Point Gourde as a Nature Reserve”.  Soon after taking office in 2016, a Trinidad Guardian newspaper report quoted the current Minister of Planning and Development as saying that the waterpark is built “in an area where according to the law, it should not be.”  Madam minister what have you done about it?

Maybe the time has come for citizens to take action to preserve what is left of the Chaguaramas peninsula.  Our country is blessed with multiple beautiful green spaces, but we have also been cursed by having leadership that is either unwilling or unable to optimize the use of those spaces in a manner that is sustainable. Taking action to preserve our green spaces is a responsibility that falls on the current generation.  Let’s do better! 

Courtesy Newsday Friday 2 June 2023