I really do not know how to say this again so that every person in Trinidad & Tobago would understand. We are destroying our country. If you can, there is still time to walk up to the tracking station in Chaguaramas before it all falls apart. Take a picture so you can tell your children you saw The RCA 474L Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Satellite dish that was the first to transmit radio signals from the Chaguaramas site to Floyd, New York, via the Echo I satellite. This was the first intercontinental voice message in history relayed via Earth satellite.
Rush and take pictures of the hanging bridges in Moruga and Blanchisseuse before they fall into the sea. If you are lucky, you may still see what is left of the St Chad church and the adjacent cemetery in Chaguaramas. Take pictures of the Blue Crab before they are all extinct. Our ocean conchs, sharks, resident deer, turkeys, and some species of ducks are already facing extinction.
We just seem to allow our tremendous inheritance to wither away without a plan. Even our finances when aplenty passed through our country like “a dose of salts”.
Is it too difficult to seek a partnership with the US government to preserve the historical sites in Chaguaramas? Why can’t we prevent the harvesting of crustaceans during their breathing season. A look at harvesting lobsters in the Caribbean indicate periods for harvesting. In Trinidad & Tobago the guide indicate that one can harvest lobsters all year. No restriction on whether they are with eggs or not.
Why couldn’t we replace our sugar cane with another grass, like hill rice or corn? Why couldn’t we keep enough production of sugar cane to support our rum industry? Our Trinidad rum has been recognized as among one of the best in the world, now there is no locally produced cane to support that industry. Why not have specific sizes for harvesting shark to support our love for bake and shark?
Look around and notice how quickly villages that were once free for one to visit is being transformed into gang territory. Notice how we accepted that Desperados could no longer operate from their home on the hills of Laventille. How quickly we accept gang takeover of illegal squatting and quarrying. How we accept that potholes, landslips, and broken bridges are normal in many communities.
This decay, this falling apart of our Country cannot be fixed by those who allowed the destruction and chaos to thrive under their management. The two major political parties supported by racial division cannot be the solution.
Every citizen, every village, every community, every creed, and race must seek their interest and that of their family and community first. That would lead to a better country. To arrive at a realistic tangible solution, one must look beyond personalities, beyond race, beyond greed and embrace a new vision, one that supports unity.
God Bless Our Nation.
Steve Alvarez
