UWI head outlines poverty plan

Although he claimed not to be an after-dinner speaker, Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Campus Principal of the University of the West Indies, spoke passionately and at length at the Salvation Army Advisory Board Fund-Raising Banquet, of a plan to eradicate poverty in Trinidad and Tobago. He prefaced his remarks by referring to the good work done by the Salvation Army worldwide among the poorest of the poor, before pointing out that the eradication of poverty is in everyone’s best interest. He said he believed that tackling the problem of poverty should be feasible in a country as small as TT.

Dr Tewarie cited facts and figures to support his belief. He said that one third of the (2002) population census of 1,277,203 live on less than TT$443 a month — the actual figure being 35.8 percent. Such inequalities in the society, he said, lead to social unrest. He said there are approximately 300,000 households in TT, meaning that 100,000 live below the poverty level. If the country is to develop, we must help those in need out of the poverty trap. To do this, we need  innovative strategies designed specifically for the poor, he said. Noting that UWI has resources to chart the clusters of those in need and to design projects and strategies to lift these people out of the poverty trap, he envisaged tackling the problem of poverty by a series of steps. The 10,000 households exposed to the project over a five to ten-year period would give hope for the future to the other 90,000. A household unit tends to be a single parent family.

This would mean counselling, finding jobs and re-training 15-16,000 women and men. He referred to the United Colours of Beneton in Italy in which women work at home producing first-quality items of clothing that, through the organisation, are sold worldwide. Dr Tewarie believes many women — and men — would rather work at home, or as self-employed skilled tradesmen, than stand or sit at a conveyor-belt on an assembly line in a factory. It was not the adults alone who should be counselled, trained and educated. Dr Tewarie’s plan also anticipates reaching out to those who have dropped out of the school system, with children in school — even with pre-schoolers. The plan would have a solid base in teaching family values and morality, a sense of responsibility and pride in work well done. He said if 200 major companies took responsibility for 50 households each, that would cater for 30 children under five, 60 between the ages of five and 15, 36 between 15 and 29 and 80 between 20 and 29 (the parents). He pointed out that many large businesses, banks and insurance companies in Trinidad and Tobago encourage volunteerism among staff.
Saying that governments have failed to solve the problem of poverty over the ages, Dr Tewarie believes a strategic plan using the resources of the private sector and NGOs like the Salvation Army, the Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, Soroptomists Clubs, and CBOs like The Cotton Tree Foundation could help the poor out of the poverty trap. Private company contributions to counselling, re-training, re-educating should be made tax deductible because the private sector has proven to be more efficient than Government.

Citing cases of business executives working in TT during the week and communting to the US to see their wives and families at the weekend, Dr Tewarie asked whether TT could afford not to embark on a plan to eradicate poverty. He maintained that, given the will, people working together can make the dream of poverty eradication a reality. As a shining example, he pointed to the work of the Salvation Army — an Army of good and decent people doing more than their fair share to help others.