Young people sidelined

THE EDITOR: Trinidad and Tobago is one of, if not the richest Caribbean nation but the question that remains to be asked: are the riches really getting to the citizens? Primarily the young people, who only hear they are needed around election time? According to the 2016 Commonwealth Report on the Global Youth Development Index, TT is ranked among the ten lowest-scoring nations when it comes to opportunity for youth with employment and economic advancement.

TT was ranked 179th out of 183 countries.

Afghanistan was ranked higher than TT when it came to youth opportunity for employment.

Afghanistan, a country that was invaded by the Soviet Union in the 1980’s, then the US and then plagued by constant threat of terrorism from suicide car bombings to village chiefs terrorising the population. A country on the travel ban list of the United States outranked TT when it came to employment opportunities for young people. Maybe we are the ones who should be looking for more international aid and intervention with the type of leadership we currently reside under.

It is also important to note that in the report the highest growth and representation of young people was recorded within the period 2010 – 2015 which is stated in the Commonwealth. Unfortunately people were “Red and Ready” for change only to be ranked in the ten lowest scoring countries in the world “Average indicator scores in the Employment and Opportunity domain improved by just over three per cent between 2010 and 2015, with most of the progress taking place in South Asia, Central America and the Caribbean (Global Youth Development Index and Report 2016).”

Michael N Rajnauth, Fyzabad