http://southasianoutlook.com/issues/2007/may/call_for_mixed_communities_in_tobago.htmlPrime Minister Patrick Manning exposed the naked underbelly of his ruling party’s continued affirmative action programme when the PNM political leader stated the following: “The Government has taken the decision to increase that to 18,000 lots to ensure that we have a mixed development and that no one category of person is on any parcel of land.” He was referring to part of the settlement of housing lots to sugar workers who became redundant when Caroni (1975) Ltd was closed down.
“The experts will tell you that as you do housing these days, and the Minister of Housing is here, the way you do it is you ensure that the development is mixed, and as we do our developments here in Trinidad it is a policy and philosophy to which we will continue to subscribe, ensuring that the diversity of the country is represented on those parcels of land and that the communities that emerge as a consequence will be communities that represent the national diversity, represent people from all walks of life, people of different backgrounds,” concluded Mr Manning.
Whatever the PNM spin doctors Jerry Narace or Ministers Rowley and Robinson-Regis may say via press releases or legal threats in an attempt to control the ethnic damage done by the Prime Minister, the racial agenda of the PNM has already been let out of the bag.
The assertion that the lands of Caroni will be given to the supporters of the PNM is camouflaged by the code words “mixed communities.” This is a continuation of the affirmative action policies of Cepep, Must, Hype, UTT, Swmcol, scholarships and other activities that are shaded from the public glare.
Indo-Trinidadians have always believed that there is an ethnic agenda with regards to many aspects of the Government’s distribution of the largesse of the State but none was as blatant as the distribution of the homes under the National Housing Authority (Home Development Corporation). The statement of the Prime Minister now confirms that the Government openly supports an ethnic quota system in the distribution of houses and land.
Those who pedal historical inaccuracies to advance an ethnic agenda fail to observe that Central Trinidad is already a mixed community as is much of the nation.
In Caroni (1975) Ltd, approximately 33 per cent of the employees were Afro-Trinidadian workers located in the factories and management while the Indo-Trinidadians were in the fields. Rudranath Indarsingh, president general of the Sugar Estates and Factory Workers Trade Union, confirmed the 33 per cent Afro figure is near accurate. In all pleas for the Government to distribute the Caroni lands, the call was for the former workers to benefit from such distribution. At no time has any organisation or political or social entity propagated that such distribution be based on race.
The Prime Minister should also take a close examination of his party’s track record of building communities in T&T. In its 40-year history, the governments artificially engineered several communities like Beetham Gardens, Maloney Gardens, Pleasantville and La Horquetta. These are not areas that the average citizen is willing to reside.
This unwillingness applies to current residents of these housing schemes. The PNM Government has no experience in creating communities, but it is expert at creating ghettos. In these ghettos residents from Laventille, John John, Never Dirty, small islanders and other PNM vote banks are relocated in certain constituencies for an electoral advantage.
This advantage is often to the detriment of the existing community as often crime and other anti-social activities are imported with the new residents. Arima with its mixed community was traumatised when the PNM created a housing scheme in Malabar for electoral reasons.
Citizens regularly relocate from one area to another with ease. In Chaguanas the present demographics show that Afro-Trinidadians constitute approximately 35 per cent of the total population. There was no political or racial agenda in this natural movement of our people within the nation.
Should the Manning government pursue its mixed communities agenda in Central Trinidad, the Maha Sabha will expect that the Government will declare a similar intention to create mixed communities in Tobago, Westmoorings, Port-of-Spain, Diego Martin, and other elitist areas.
Tobago has been particularly hostile to the Indo-Trinidadian community with the Tobago House of Assembly refusing to allow the Maha Sabha to construct a mandir on lands we bought on the island over five years ago. But churches are funded and allowed to flourish.
The THA also promoted a gospel concert on the island while refusing to fund a kirtan concert. This is now a court matter. It refuses to establish a cremation site or a crematorium to facilitate the disposal of the dead according to our ancestral rites.
Tobagonians migrate to Trinidad and are entitled to the best jobs to which they are qualified. They are free to move to any area and establish a home. They must understand that Tobago does not belong to them alone and the people of Central Trinidad must share in prestigious housing estates like Bon Accord.
[Devant "Parsuram" Maharaj is an Executive Member of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Inc. [SDMS] - the largest Hindu body on the island. in 2002 Maharaj was appointed the SDMS Delegate to the Inter-Religious Organization [IRO] of Trinidad & Tobago.
In 1996 Devant along with Kamal Persad began the first Indian oriented radio talk show called "The Hindu View Point" which ran for 2 years on 91.1 FM. Recently in 2002 Maharaj has been appointed President of Global Organization for People of Indian Organization [GOPIO] Chapter.
