Deputy Chairman's Speech

Oct 28, 2005

Members of the diplomatic fraternity, specially invited guests, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen.

A nation’s development can be judged by the way the vulnerable in the society are treated.

I believe if we were to use this barometer to judge the level of our development we will easily conclude that Trinidad and Tobago is quite some distance away from developed nation status.

In this country today, the young, the disabled, the elderly and the infirmed have been practically abandoned by the State.

In 2005, in this wealthy nation, the vulnerable, having been discarded, live in car parks and on the streets of our capital city and every other urban centre in Trinidad and Tobago.

There is a rapidly growing class of street children in this country who are made to prostitute themselves for a daily meal or basic survival, and the State has turned a blind eye on them.

The level of child abuse is staggering.

The Movement for National Development is committed to protecting and preserving our children and young people as you would have already heard from our youth officer, Stacy. But, more than that, we are committed to getting to the heart of the causes of these problems and rooting them out.

The disabled do not seem to have an equal place in this society either.

Not only does the MND understand the plight of the disabled but, we are committed to ensuring their right to equality is preserved, recognising they may have special requirements

We are committed to tackling not only physical disability but learning and other disabilities as well.

That’s why we are committed to training teachers to recognise these disabilities in children and we are committed to providing all the assistance necessary to facilitate their growth, development and socialisation.

The senior citizens in this country are also discarded after spending all their productive years building this country. We must understand that their knowledge and experience does not stop being relevant to national development when persons reach the age of 60 or 65.

The MND is committed to finding ways of embracing senior citizens who wish to continue contributing to the development of the nation.

For those who wish to get on with their retirement, we will recognise their contribution and move on. But the MND also recognises that the level of pension they receive does not take into consideration the cost of living, the family structure nor the levels of inflation.

Senior citizens should be put in a position where they could enjoy their retirement not curse it. And the MND is committed to that ideal.

Our capital specifically, and as well as every urban centre throughout Trinidad and Tobago is ‘littered’ with vagrants.

Just as an example, in front of the nation’s National Library, in front the nation’s Parliament, in front the nation’s High Court, in front the offices of the Ministers of Public Administration and National Security ….. Vagrants sleep, lime and defecate on the sidewalks ….. And our government and opposition pay little or no notice.

The Movement for National Development is committed to finding a way to take care of all the vulnerable citizens in our nation, and we will do it with respect and compassion for the individuals concerned.

In addition, need to face up to the new issues that confront us. We will be the party of general social service reform. In consultation and partnership with the people, we will design a modern nation based on rights and duties going together, fit for the modern world.

In a developed nation social programmes are delivered to those who need it. In Trinidad and Tobago low income housing is used for political padding, CEPEP and URP are guaranteed only if you have the right party card. Every social programme of the State has become a political tool. That is immoral, undemocratic and strictly speaking illegal.

We need a system of social delivery that would get a cheque into the hands of those who are really in need.

As such, we will completely overhaul the way social services and unemployment relief is provided in an effort to get the benefits directly to those who need them most.

It is not our intention to stop caring for the unemployed. In fact it is because we care for all of those who are unemployed that we will seek to assist them all.

But our policy will not be to keep people dependent. Dependence is not a good thing, that’s why as a nation we sort independence. Whilst we have independence as a State, too many of our people are made to feel hopeless and dependent.

The MND knows that one of the greatest feelings is that of being independent. There is no better feeling that being in control of your destiny. We have a commitment to enterprise, to education, to empowerment. We believe that there needs to be a shift in the dependency thinking.

Independence gives people self-worth and self-worth gives people hope. The MND is committed to giving hope to those in our society who dread tomorrow. We want people to look forward to tomorrow.

As a partner to social service reform, we are committed to the reform of the CEPEP concept to allow genuine entrepreneurs to participate in development projects by allocating a percentage of all government projects to small development companies regardless of political affiliation.

This way there will be genuine opportunity for independence and enterprise.

Housing is another area of concern to us. The NHA is focused on the delivery of housing to party supporters for the purpose of political padding and promoting the ethnic divide.

In addition, the provision of State housing has long been seen as arbitrary. The accommodation has been largely provided without thought for the actual occupants. They have been offered the option of hot, claustrophobic and poor community facilities versus having nothing at all.

We will refocus the National Housing Authority to provide housing communities not only for lower income families but also to include middle income families as well but, this will be regardless of political considerations.

NHA communities will be built with proper sporting and community facilities in a manner that reflects respect for the individuals who will occupy them.

New planning and environment policy will be focused on utilising more open spaces and “green building” technology.

It is said that the environment breeds the response, so the MND is committed to making these housing communities more “warm and “sociable”- these are not features for the rich only.

This will be done with our overall plan of decentralisation in mind.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Movement for National Development is so committed to a better Trinidad and Tobago that its social services will be designed and delivered with respect and compassion for the society of Trinidad and Tobago. We believe the time to engage in fruitful social development is NOW, whilst we are able…………….. because you, you and I ,we, ………deserve better!

Thank you.

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