BE WARY OF POLITICAL UNION
P. Polar 06/11/04
Unpublished
The Editor: In his recent statements at The University of the West Indies, the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves confirmed that there were informal discussions on political union between his country, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. Well aware of Trinidad and Tobago’s propensity to vote along ethnic lines, he humorously passed off the notion that “Patrick want to bring a whole set of black people to come and vote in Trinidad”. Using fuzzy logic, he explained that the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada were politically mature so they were less likely to vote along ethnic lines and as such, a union would be in fact, beneficial to the “Indian politicians” of Trinidad and Tobago. Clearly, Dr. Gonsalves generous offer to pave the way for the return of the UNC to government should warm the hearts of opposition supporters.
Why is our government talking political union with St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada? Do these islands have any unique human or natural resources that would resound to the benefit of the average citizen of Trinidad and Tobago? If our government is interested in political unions then why not consider Guyana? Guyana has vast expanses of land for housing, industrial and agricultural expansion and is rich in natural resources such as bauxite, gold and timber. Trinidad and Tobago has the money and skilled labour, to utilize these opportunities to the benefit of the average citizen in both countries. Of course, political union with Guyana may not skew the voting pattern in the ruling party’s favour.
As citizens of Trinidad and Tobago we must be wary of this move by our government, even if we were to disregard the voting issue. The CARICOM Single Market and Economy, which we are soon to adopt, carefully addresses the issue of free movement of labour. In summary, it makes provisions for movement of self-employed persons, university graduates, media workers, sports persons, artistes and musicians. Coming from agricultural and tourism based economies, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada have relatively few persons in the above categories. They do, however, have an abundance of unskilled and semi-skilled wage earners, which would not be able to move under the CSME but in a political union would be able to migrate to Trinidad and Tobago in search of work. This means that persons who are currently in social programmes such as CEPEP and URP would be the first to loose their jobs, as these “new citizens” would be in greater need of immediate financial assistance. Regular local workers would also face stiff competition, as these persons would be willing to work for less irrespective of the minimum wage. The houses, which are currently being built, would have to be given to these new citizens, since they would have no homes of their own. Can our overcrowded schools or miserable health care system support the influx of new persons?
I am not xenophobic nor do I have any ill will towards any of our Caribbean brothers or sisters. I am a realist who lives in a country where despite our bright economic prospects, the majority of persons are not finding sustainable employment or befitting from adequate social services. So, before our government looks to increase its flock, it should treat the ones they have better.
Author's note: Tried to publish under a pseudonym. I am getting a bit of heat for expressing my opinions using my name. After this was not published I was considering not writing again.