ROWLEY SAYS: AFRICANS NOT DOING WELL

THE Prime Minister has declared that the nation cannot hide from the reality that "in a diverse society aiming to do well, African people are not doing as well as we expected or as well as we might."

Dr Rowley said this issue may have a connection to the high level of crime the country is experiencing today and also why some people refused to address the root problems of crime, 15 years ago. He made these comments during an Emancipation Day celebration he hosted at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann's on Saturday.

As he reflected upon the history of slavery and emancipation, Rowley said, "Things seem to go in circles." Slavery was born with blood and the loss of value of human life. Today in the 21st Century, Rowley said, if people want to be cynical, they may believe "we are recreating an environment that we have known before, particularly for African people."

He added, "The colour of our skin is not going to change but that significant piece of biology has established itself as a marker for us." Rowley said today's reality is that racism is alive and well in the 21st century. Slavery, he continued, is now human trafficking and is attracting the attention of TT and many other countries around the world.

This is a reminder, Rowley observed, that "we can never leave that period of our history behind." Referring to crime in TT, Rowley recalled the former Patrick Manning administration, in 2003/2004, tried to launch an initiative which would prevent urban youth from falling into a life of crime. Many of these youths were of African descent.

Rowley remembered being accused of racism by opposition parliamentarians and other people who thought this initiative was discriminatory. Today, Rowley declared, "Nobody can point to that location where we were trying to head off what we are experiencing now."

To properly deal with crime, Rowley said answers must be found to serious societal questions. "Who is affected? Who is carrying it out? Who is defending it? Who is being ignored?" He said the country must accept that "this is a problem for all the people of Trinidad and Tobago."

For this reason, Rowley said Emancipation Day must be a time for deep reflection and mature conversation about what is being done to build TT at family, community and national levels. He declared "We are not fully emancipated as yet."

He was confident that TT could overcome any problems it faces. The audience applauded when Rowley added that TT is a real place with real problems but has a government that is providing real leadership to solve these real problems. Emancipation Day will be observed with a national holiday this coming Thursday.

Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds hailed Rowley's statement as "a courageous speech." Addressing the PNM's Diego Martin West constituency conference at the Point Cumana Regional Complex yesterday, Hinds said only a strong man and a great leader could make such a bold statement.

Hinds spoke about gunshots being fired close to his constituency office and near schools, causing students to duck for cover. "No one must pretend that this is not a reality," he declared. Hinds said Government is trying combat this problem through a combination of hard and soft measures.

The former includes strengthening border security through the reintroduction of the Police Marine Branch and the acquisition of two Cape Class patrol vessels from Australia. The latter included the Special Education Project for Laventille which focused on 21 primary schools and four secondary schools in the Laventille area. "We have been building a new society. We know he (Rowley) is about building a new society," Hinds said.