‘No one should determine our future’

NO SINGLE group in Trinidad and Tobago has the right to determine what the nation’s future should be. This was the declaration made by Junior Finance Minister Christine Sahadeo when she addressed a dinner hosted by the St Augustine West Rotary Club at the Hugh Wooding Law School on Saturday night. The Minister stated that as TT strives towards developed nation status by 2020, Gover-nment is cognizant  of the need to build partnerships with all of the country’s stakeholders to achieve this goal. “We take these partnerships seriously for in a country as small as ours, no one stakeholder group has the critical mass to drive positive change alone. Partnerships are required and Government, NGOs, communities and businesses must stand together if we are to make a difference. TT is at the cusp of a new and exciting phase in its history and its journey towards developed nation status. Like never before the resources of our nation are bent towards building not just a better economy but a better society in which all our people can live in peace and harmony. We are setting the stage for the nation we want to become,” Sahadeo declared.

She said the achievement of  Vision 2020 will see “TT become a safe and secure place to live, to work, to send our children to school” and “a society in which not only basic needs are satisfied but opportunities are provided for personal growth, self-expression and enjoyment of life.”  Highlight-ing poverty as a major obstacle to Vision 2020, Sahadeo said mechanisms are being put in place to deal with this problem and improve the nation’s social infrastructure. The Minister identified Government’s provision of medicine to the elderly and receipt of a US$20 million World Bank loan to support the national five-year plan to deal with HIV/AIDS as examples of such mechanisms. Sahadeo reminded her audience that the hallmark of good governance is “service to humanity.” In his brief address, new Rotary Club president Ivol O’Brien lamented that villages and communities in TT had been replaced by housing developments, homes were occupied by “lecherous friends” and absentee parents caused large numbers of young people to turn to a life of crime. “The harvest has been infected with neglect,” he stated grimly. O’Brien said it was high time for all stakeholders to “lend a strong hand” to address society’s longstanding ills.