Don't make us work on Emancipation Day

EMANCIPATION Support Committee (ESC) head Khafra Kambon has lashed out at big business interests, specifically the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA), who he claims have made Afro-Trinis work during the annual Emancipation Day public holiday.

In a presentation earlier today at the Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village opening, he said people of African descent should never have to work on Emancipation Day and should be given that full day off to observe the historical importance of the day. “You cannot make us work on Emancipation Day, it is a public holiday,” he said.

He later knocked DOMA for releasing an advisory, warning business owners not to travel on Piccadilly Street because of a series of shootings that took place in the area. He questioned if it were a coincidence that this warning was issued so close to Emancipation Day, when people gather to march along Piccadilly Street, during a parade on Emancipation Day.

“These are the same merchants who open their stores on Emancipation Day, force poor workers who look like us to work while we are supposed to celebrate this day which marks freedom from slavery,” Kambon said.

Last week Thursday, DOMA warned its associates not to use Piccadilly Street as a travel route because of a string of shootings in that area. The police issued a release advising that it was not consulted before such a message was given by DOMA and that as far as it was concerned, Piccadilly Street has seen no unusual upturn in shootings to warrant such an advisory issued by the business association. Efforts to reach DOMA president Gregory Aboud, via cellphone, for a response to Kambon's claims were futile as the calls were not answered.