Ashworth Jack on Sunday called on Trinidad and Tobago to come together and build a country "that we can pass on to future generations".The leader of the Tobago Organization of the People (TOP) was speaking at a rally in Chaguanas organized by the People's Partnership to present its 41 candidates for the May 24 general election.
Jack said Tobago has been a victim of neglect by successive PNM governments since 1956 and "the only time Tobago makes progress is when the PNM is not in power." He referred to a PNM manifesto of 1956 promising an international airport and a deep water harbour and said these things only happened when the NAR government was in office.
Jack said it is a disgrace that in 2010 people from Tobago does not have many of the basic services that citizens should expect from a government. He mentioned health services in particular, noting that a hospital that should have been delivered in 2005 at a cost of $135 million is still not finished and the cost has escalated to $750 million.
"All we are asking for is to be treated as equals," he said.
He condemned the PNM for trying to use race to divide the people and said the only race that he recognizes is the human race. He appealed to everyone to work to build Trinidad and Tobago.
"Leave ambition at the door. And on the 25th of May, let us come together and start building a nation," Jack said.
NJAC LEADER FEELS PEOPLE'S PAIN
Makadaal Daaga, the leader of NJAC, told the thousands present that the People's coalition is strong and will never be broken up so long as "Kamla wants it to last".
Daaga spoke about the circumstances that led to the uprising of 1970 when "you the people closed down everything to demand your rights".
He said independence did not change the foreign ownership of the commanding heights of the national economy and that triggered the revolt against the Williams government.
He said more than 40 years after independence the education system is now producing more criminals than ever before and a greater number of illiterates. The whole system has failed to work for the people, he noted.
"My dear people the challenge you face is a mighty one...you must complete the journey that you started in 1962...you must tell yourself this land is mine...never again must any government ignore you in the land of your birth," he said.
"I feel your pain...I feel the pain of a people," he added. "I say enough is enough and I call on you in the name of God...under the leadership of Kamla to strike a blow for progress in this country."
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