Rowley: Trinidad and Tobago bruised, not defeated

WHILE Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the world have taken a beating from the covid19 pandemic for the last year and half, it has not been defeated by the virus.

This was the Prime Minister's Independence Day message to the population as TT continues to grapple with covid19, its health and socio-economic effects.

Dr Rowley said, "We may be bruised, but we will not be defeated. I know we can overcome the challenges of the 21st century, and emerge from this crisis."

Rowley said covid19 is an unprecedented scenario which called for unprecedented responses from everyone.

"As a people, we have dug deep, tapping into our innate resilience, our strength and shown our ability to adapt and cope with these changes."

The people, he said, have long been known for their resilience to confront and overcome many challenges in the past. He is confident that TT can rise to the challenge again with respect to covid19.

"First, we must acknowledge many economic opportunities are no longer available, but the global pandemic is creating new ones.

"Massive transformations are taking place in manufacturing, finance, medicine, security, business, music, fashion, food, entertainment, energy and climate."

The pandemic is creating a new world which TT must first understand and then grasp “with boundless faith in our destiny.”

Rowley said entrepreneurship is the key to success in the post-covid19 world.

"Our citizens must unlock the Trinbago creativity, passion and energy. There must be a new mindset, new attitudes, new worldviews, searching every prospect, hungrily and courageously, to build businesses. "We have to adapt to 21st-century changes, becoming more aware of emerging realities and trends, overcome the disadvantages of complexity, and develop indigenous Trinbago models."

As TT confronts this emerging reality while commemorating 59 years of independence, Rowley said, "I urge all citizens to seek to refine your understanding not only of your individual rights – but more so your responsibilities."

He reminded citizens of TT's first prime minister Dr Eric Williams' 1962 statement, "Your responsibility is… a heavy one. If you shirk it, you betray our Nation. If you fail in that responsibility, you jeopardise your nation.”

Today, 59 years later, Rowley urged all citizens "to seek to refine your understanding not only of your individual rights -- but more so your responsibilities."

He said all citizens are equally charged or "as one early political theorist wrote that one citizen’s rights begins where another citizen’s end.

"We all hold in our hands, very respectfully, the rights and, most importantly, the responsibilities of each other."

He urged citizens to recognise the equal obligations, rights and responsibilities they have to one another. Once this is acknowledged, Rowley said, "We can take charge in shaping a better, collective future; not only for ourselves, and families, but for all others and all future generations who will call these twin islands home."

He added, "I speak of rights, but placing more emphasis on responsibilities, because at this historical point every citizen is being called upon to be alert more so to his/her responsibilities; our very lives and the lives of our children depend upon it."

During the pandemic, he continued, Government continues to do what it can to protect the most vulnerable people in TT. It had spent approximately $5 billion in covid19 relief measures during the pandemic, which was preceded by a collapse in global energy prices early last year.

With the last 18 months being a difficult if not destructive time for the world economy, Rowley said TT has been able to endure successfully so far.

"Through our prudent management, and past good fortune this country has amassed some savings and other buffers which have allowed us to weather the economic storm of the pandemic. This is evident in the recent affirmation of our credit rating by Standard & Poor’s debt rating agency."

Rowley said Government will continue to provide the necessary support and enabling environment to TT in the pandemic and beyond. He identified the Digital Transformation Ministry and mapping TT's transition towards a digital economy, as one example of this.

"Other sectors, some traditional and some new, will receive renewed focus as we will take meaningful steps to build, rebuild and create further opportunities."