New universities for culture and sport

Addressing the final day of the 2005 Best Village Food and Folk Fair at the Queens’ Park Savannah yesterday, the Prime Minister lamented that while Best Village had made invaluable contributions over the years to the development of several industries in TT and to overall national development, many citizens still take it for granted.

"In TT, we are perhaps given too much to our preoccupation with generalisation where, on the contrary, specialisation should be what matters most. We are given to being ‘Jack of all trades and master of none," he said.

Declaring that all citizens of TT were special in their own right, Manning said it was high time that the nation view its various cultural artistes and sports persons as "being special in a particular and strategic sense." "Our artistes, musicians and sportsmen ought to be specialised. They must be encouraged to specialise adequately where they possess the greatest potential for development, and are to secure the greatest comparative advantage, on their behalf and on our country’s behalf," Manning stated.

Recalling the absolute necessity behind the establishment of the University of TT to address the nation’s developmental needs regarding education and training in the energy sector, the Prime Minister said the time has now come for the country’s artistes and sports persons "to have the best."

Mannning said he was putting the private sector on alert that it would soon be required to play "a critical role" in assisting the Government to establish suitable institutions to develop artistes and sports persons so that they could play an even greater role in national development.

Noting that Government has been increasing its funding for Best Village over the years because of its importance to TT, the Prime Minister hinted that the Best Village would soon be joining other dimensions of TT’s culture which are being marketed on the Internet.