Trinidad and Tobago, unite in order to progress

THE EDITOR: The election campaign is heating up, with each party trying to convince voters that it is the one to make TT a better place for all. I have heard this over and over, only to realise when they get into office that it is a different story.

There is plenty of talk and promises on the election trail, but in reality the poor and less fortunate in our society continue to suffer. Progress is very slow, and the man in the street has to cry out, protest, and burn tyres for basic things.

Many politicians make it their business to keep our people divided by subtly using the race card for their personal gain. Yet you would hear them say, “Where every creed and race finds an equal place” and “Together we aspire, together we achieve.” How hypocritical!

Only when as a people we put aside our petty differences, including race, will TT progress. We have to learn to live and work together, and that includes the one per cent that we so often criticise.

I call on our leaders to set the example and use their power and platforms to create unity and not division. Act responsibly and see country and people first. If we are going to rise again as a nation, it will take collaboration – everyone doing their part. We need each other, and the quicker we understand this, the quicker our country and people would rise.

I leave readers with three powerful quotes on unity:

Mattie Stepanek, American poet: “Unity is strength. When there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved."

Henry Ford, American industrialist, “Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, and working together is success.”

Martin Luther King Jr, American civil-rights activist, “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish as fools.”

ARNOLD GOPEESINGH

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