Not about love, just numbers

THE EDITOR: Roman Catholic Archbishop Jason Gordon means well. Yes, we should indeed help our brothers and sisters in Venezuela but how many can we safely welcome?

There is no such thing as jobs not wanted to be done by locals. It cannot be working for Cepep. It is already over-catered. Can the archbishop exactly point out which job vacancies he means? If there are any left? How many millions of Venezuelans will be seeking these few vacancies?

TT has been a welcoming country for many years. We reach out and help each other in emergencies. We understand being kind to neighbours, as seen with the horrendous flooding last year.

However, never before in the history of TT, a country with only 1.4 million people, have we been asked to help a country 25 times our size. Venezuela is so close we can hear them sneeze – and they us.

We will cease to exist if even only one million Venezuelans seeking employment, homes, healthcare and free schooling should be welcomed here.

We are now forced to admit that size-wise, love alone is not the answer. What is the archbishop’s other plan?

LYNETTE JOSEPH, Diego Martin