Moore: Tobago smiling amidst suffering

Tobago Forwards political leader Christlyn Moore has said the time has come for people on the island to speak "with one Tobago voice" and stop accepting less than they deserve.

Speaking at a recent public meeting in Silk Cotton Trace, Bon Accord, Moore said her call for unity had nothing to do with party affiliation but the fact that Tobago has been disadvantaged for too long at the hands of Trinidadians.

"This is not about PDP (Progressive Democratic Patriots), TOP (Tobago Organisation of the People), Forwards – this is about Tobago," she told a handful of supporters, a few of whom were executive members of the Tobago Forwards.

Moore raised the issue against the backdrop of the government's proposed ANR Robinson expansion project, which is scheduled to begin in November.

Silk Cotton Trace is one of the communities in the Canaan/Bon Accord electoral district that is likely to be affected by the project because of its proximity to the airport.

"We could take anything. No matter how bad yuh treat us, we always have a smile. No matter how hungry we are, we have a smile and we have something to share," she said, "And so there is the tendency to think, 'They can't kill we. Let them do what they want.' And that might be true, but Canaan/Bon Accord, why should we allow ourselves to suffer just because we can suffer?"

She added: "You know there are people in this country who live a different life from us, who work less hard than us, who are less deserving than us and they don't suffer like we suffer. It is not right. There are people who live in Trinidad and Tobago who are not as educated as us, not as hardworking as us, not as dedicated as us. Yet they are rewarded and we are left neglected."

Moore told supporters to envision a different future.

"We don't have to live in a future of uncertainty, where we don't know where our children will go to school or we don't know if we will get a next contract. We don't know if we will get gratuity. We don't know if we will get a next ten days. We don't have to live like that, where political operatives seduce our sons and our daughters."

She urged Tobagonians to aspire to a more equitable and just future.

"We can actually achieve a more comfortable, a more stable standard of living and so, I want us to remember that nobody in Trinidad better than us. Nobody in Trinidad is more educated than us. Nobody in Trinidad prettier than us, but they have life easier than us," Moore said.

Moore, Platform of Truth leader Hochoy Charles and TOP leader Ashworth Jack have been in discussions recently, presumably with the intention of establishing a coalition.

At a news conference last month, the leaders claimed Tobagonians have urged them to "heal any fractures" that exist among the three parties.