Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Letter: THA victory leaves many questions

The Editor,

The landslide PNM victory in Monday's THA polls gives us all a lot to think about.


How could the Tobagonian people so overwhelmingly return Orville London and the PNM after such a chequered performance record and in the midst of such damning deals such as Milshirv and the Bacolet Aquatic Centre?

Is it as some analysts are saying that the tribal instinct reared by Hilton Sandy's "Calcutta" statement was raised? Or is it as some say that it is a case of Tobagonians wanting nothing to do with Trinidad and Trinidadians?

Because in the context of a unitary State there is really not much more tweaking that can be done to the Tobago Constitution Bill. In fact, Tobago is in an advantageous position compared to the other Local Government 
jurisdictions who do not have a minimum allocation, far less an increased one.

How could Tobagonians swing from outright rejection of the PNM in 2010 to the reverse in 2013?

The big question is not where does Tobago go from here, but rather where do Tobagonians want to go? And of course, how do they plan to get there?

If they continue to view Trinidad and Trinidadians with the distrust and fear that has been cultivated by some of our leaders, whether deserving or not, how do we move forward if we continue to see "us and them" instead of recognizing that we are one people?

If the analysts are correct in their assessment that it is about "Tobago vs Trinidad", "us vs them", "Christians vs Hindus" and "East Indians vs African-Tobagonians", I hope the perpetrators of the race card have a plan for cleaning up the catastrophic damage that has been done to the quest for national unity and harmony.

Carmen Ford | Charlotteville
via email

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Jai & Sero

Jai & Sero

Our family at home in Toronto 2008

Our family at home in Toronto 2008
Amit, Heather, Fuzz, Aj, Jiv, Shiva, Rampa, Sero, Jai