Eudine: We living in chains

This warning was sent to Tobagonians by MP for Tobago East, Eudine Job-Davis during her delivery of the feature address at the Tobago Spiritual Baptist Liberation Day celebrations. Although this year’s celebration was not as well attended as in previous years, scores of Spiritual Baptists from the 34 branches throughout the island gathered in colourful splendour at the Rockley Vale junction, Scarborough, and marched to the Dwight Yorke stadium car park to the accompaniment of music by the Tobago Cadets Force and, of course, their unique rhythmic chants.

The function was also attended by THA Chief Secretary Orville London, Presiding Officer Anne Mitchell-Gift, Minority Leader Ashworth Jack and MP for Tobago West, Stanford Callendar. The theme of this year’s celebration was “Living In Victory With Praise” and while she congratulated the Baptist community on its triumphs over the pass 55 years, Job-Davis warned Tobagonians that crime, like a serpent, was invading “our Garden of Eden.”

“Tobago is paradise to us but as you know in the Garden of Eden which is paradise, there was a serpent and our paradise is being invaded by the serpent called crime that has now reared its ugly head. Together as a people with you leading the way as you did 55 years ago, before it is too late we must immobilise this serpent so that we can save our island,” she said.

Referring to the demise of six-year-old Sean Luke, she asserted that the struggle was no longer for the freedom to celebrate or publicly chant and praise God but for the freedom of the youths whose souls needed redemption from the “evil cloud that seems to be casting shadows over our island.” “You are called today to mould our sons and daughters who are held captive to cocaine, you have to mould them from incest, the crime that nobody wants to talk about but which continues to destroy the young minds. You have to deliver them from domestic violence and the recent incidents of sex crimes because they are the salt of the earth.

“You have to be committed to the cause because you can never be truly free until all of Tobago is free. You can steal a moment to rest, to celebrate or to recap on the distance that you have come but only a moment.

“For brothers and sisters, our long walk to ensure that Tobago remains a beautiful, liberated place has not yet ended,” Job-Davis emphasised.