Boynes: Children are our future

The future of the country is in the hands of the People’s National Movement (PNM) Youth League, according to Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs, Roger Boynes in his opening address at the  PNM Youth League Annual Youth Conference yesterday. In highlighting the positives of the youth population, Minister Boynes said: “ Over the years your performance has been phenomenal giving credence to the well-known adage that the apple or mango does not fall too far from the tree.” 

The Annual Youth Conference was held yesterday to elect new officers  of the PNM Youth League for the term 2004-2005. Representatives from youth leagues of various constituencies turned up at the Gulf City Auditorium, La Romaine, around midday for the annual function. Boynes congratulated the members of the Youth League for their decision to become members of the formal organisation, saying that participation within such structures helps members to learn acceptable norms of social behaviour as well as helps them to derive a variety of other benefits. He told the group: “In such an organisation like yours democracy is critical to the entire process of group functioning and indeed today’s elections is but part of the evidence of the fact that democracy are alive and well in the PNM at all levels,” adding that the PNM was not short of good leadership within the organisation.

The Minister praised the PNM Youth League for its efforts to assist hurricane-ravaged Grenada in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. “Members hurried to the ravaged island on a fact-finding mission to obtain accurate information on which to base their response in terms of lending assistance to the Grenadian population. Coming out of this visit plans are afoot for the staging of a Christmas project this year in conjunction with the young people of Grenada. The organisation is also now engaged in seeking to partner with other Trinidad and Tobago youth organizations to get involved in more long-term sustainable projects in Grenada.

He urged the youths: “To achieve Vision 2020,  we need all hands on deck to transform these youths. Let’s work harder than we have ever worked before and let’s show this nation and the world how a PNM Government could transform Trinidad and Tobago into a developed nation on or before 2020, and that the PNM remains in government in order to do so.” Attending the Youth League Conference were Junior Minister of National Security and Rehabilitation Fitzgerald Hinds, San Fernando Mayor Ian Atherly and members of the PNM National Youth League.