Trinidad and Tobago’s turning tide

TODAY, as many reckon with the closing of the first quarter of the 21st century, we take stock of where the country is and where it is heading.

It is a time of hope. For Roman Catholics, the year 2025 is a jubilee year. On Christmas Eve, the Holy Door at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican was opened; the theme of the year is optimism, drawn from Romans 5:5: “Everyone knows what it is to hope.” That message resonates with many faiths.

Trinidad and Tobago can look back at its achievements since the year 2000 with deep pride. We have basked in Olympic glory twice, taking gold medals in track and field. We have appeared at the World Cup, the smallest football-loving nation to do so for a time. Brian Lara scored 400 in Antigua.

Defying odds, our women have broken glass ceilings. The country elected Kamla Persad-Bissessar as its first female prime minister, and Paula-Mae Weekes was appointed Head of State.

Our culture and our creatives have captured the attention of the globe, not the least as it relates to our national instrument, the steelpan. Joshua Regrello’s 31 hours of playing and Nicholas Huggins’s Google doodle amplified a long, storied history.

Yet also long is the list of icons who have passed, names we always felt would be with us. Lord Kitchener, Black Stalin, Mighty Shadow, Singing Sandra, Denyse Plummer are among them.

And overshadowing the last two decades has been the scourge of crime with record after record being shattered.

It is a mark of our plight that we enter a general election year in the throes of a state of emergency. Instead of making headlines around the world for our talent or achievements, we featured this week in news digests as a country in the grips of a gang crisis.

Tempering our sense of renewal, too, is a global geopolitical landscape now in the throes of savage wars and conflicts. There are worries of another pandemic. The climate crisis is unabated.

Our economy remains awkwardly wedged between fossil fuels and non-energy revenues. The delicate growth of the latter in terms of GDP has been stifled by a lack of foreign exchange and diversification. Crime has both reflected stagnation and hindered progress.

We must break this cycle.

We must look to our young people, like Mr Regrello and Teddy Mohammed, the Hillview College President’s Medal winner, who plans to sponsor less fortunate pupils. We can consider the meaning of the emergence of the PNM’s Laventille West candidate, Kareem Marcelle, of Beetham Gardens. And we should heed the loving message of the sweet melodies of Road March winner Mical Teja.

Let such inspiration help turn the tide in 2025 and beyond.

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