Voice of the people

This article consists of some of the responses of people selected randomly to answer the question I posed: “What would you like to say to the nation if given the opportunity?”

Tobago pensioner: "My children and I depended on our business money for livelihood. When covid came we had no income except for my little $3,000 from NIS.

"We queried the rental assessment grant. They said it pertains to rent per household. The lease is in my name, so we were refused because I have income.

"I find that is cruel. How many old people are renting and whose family members are no longer working and depending on their NIS?

"Thank God I have a good landlady, and the rent for our business place – we didn’t have to pay, because the owner said we did not bring this on ourselves. Thank God they still have good people out there."

Young entrepreneur: "What I have been struggling with is the divide created by colourism in TT and the lack of support for darker-skinned people in terms of being able to run your business.

"Then you look online at the way we talk to each other. Even the 99 per cent can’t come together, but we are all in the same boat. How do we help each other? I feel this is in general; not just during covid. But covid is making it worse."

Writer: "Covid is about the only thing going on in my life.

"I feel the measures that the Government have put in place have saved lives to date. I know there are challenges now to try and flatten the curve. I think if people do as they are being asked to do by the Minister of Health, we will overcome this.

"Hopefully by next year we will get some kind of return to normalcy."

Wife and mother of two: "The biggest thing on everyone’s mind is covid19 and all these life changes.

"As a parent, an ongoing source of concern is education. Now covid19 is showing me how far behind we are with our young people’s needs in terms of technology, beyond gaming and social media.

"In conjunction with that is how far behind our educators and system are. We are scrambling at this point for teachers to figure out how to engage our children via these means.

"The flaws are exacerbated. No proper internet throughout the island, disparity between the haves and have-nots. How many teachers are still in the system but without the wherewithal to improve their skills?

"At the centre of that is Ministry of Education – the body responsible for that movement. The biggest thing coming out of this situation is how elitist our education system is, which should be a shame as we pride ourselves on education for all.

"This situation is opening our eyes to who can afford lessons, textbooks, sending children to school...parents being called upon now to help children when some parents are not mentally or emotionally able to handle it. We walk around in bubbles. We are very classist.

"What I would like to see is our awareness of how important it is to be on the same page, as one people. Then we will have real progress."

Budding farmer: "I see the beauty of TT and the potential it has to be so much more than it is. There is so much we don’t appreciate. We go out there and appreciate other countries, but we don’t love what we have. We are not patriotic people and that’s what worries me."

Hopeful citizen: "I love my country – my twin-island state of TT. I know there is a silver lining around these dark, gloomy clouds covering my country. I believe in us, in our spirit, our talent, our faith, our self-reliance, our generosity, our love for life, our ability to conquer and our courage to go through the doors that open for us to survive and move forward. We are hurting, but we are the antidotes for that pain. We just have to have the faith and take one day at a time. Things will get better. We can do this, for we are the beautiful people of TT."

These expressions of the concerns of members of the population can be of use to our nation-builders as they continue to chart the ship of state through these challenging times.