Message to Commemorate the Independence Day Celebrations of Trinidad and Tobago Nationals in Washington D.C.

Independence message

It gives me great pleasure to extend greetings and best wishes to nationals of our beloved country resident in Washington D.C., as we commemorate the forty-fifth anniversary of our nation’s Independence.

Our pursuit and acquisition of Independence in 1962 constituted that tremendously bold and courageous undertaking which brought us into the family of sovereign nations and established irreversibly the emergence of our nation-state. Independence conferred on us the responsibility for our governance and development, the right to determine our future and to chart a course which, contrary to the experience of our colonial past, places the well-being of our people at the centre of our initiatives and efforts. The enormity of the challenge was hardly matched by our options and wherewithal, but our greatest asset remained, as it is today, the determination and commitment of our people to surmount all difficulties and take our nation forward.

After four and a half decades of Independence, our young nation has made remarkable strides in the various aspects of national life. We have forged one society from the disparate ethnic groups which first formed our nation. We continue unrelentingly to develop and strengthen our democratic traditions and the foundation for the further pursuit and enjoyment of civil liberties, equal rights and justice by our citizens.

We have been able to bring significant economic progress to our country. Through our industrial revolution in the energy sector, we have transformed ourselves into the major economy of the Caribbean, and one of the most promising in our hemisphere. We are today one of the leading exporters of urea and methanol, and a major natural gas developer. In recent years, we have significantly quickened the pace of our economic development and can now proceed with greater confidence into a future of unprecedented opportunity and promise.

Through our initiatives in housing, health, infrastructure and the provision of social amenities, our citizens are benefiting from a level of industrial development not normally associated with small island developing states. We are now poised to realize a second industrial revolution, this time in our non-energy sector, with all the positive implications for improvement in the quality of life of our citizens.

There are, and will continue to emerge, various challenges. We recognize, however, the creativity and genius of our people and are pursuing our transformation into a knowledge-based, technology-driven, competitive society. Bridging the gap between our society and those of the developed world has in fact never been a question of the potential of our people, as much as that of providing the opportunities for their development. We are therefore confronting the related human resource development challenge through the implementation of a massive, revolutionary thrust in education. To our universal primary and secondary education programmes we have added universal early childhood education, free access to tertiary education, increased technical and vocational training, and new retraining and retooling initiatives for our senior citizens. These programmes are complemented by a range of social sector development initiatives aimed at further empowering all in our society and ensuring that no one is left behind.

The developmental experience we have acquired and the options now available to us have pointed to the tremendous possibilities of the future. We therefore aim to transform Trinidad and Tobago into a developed country by the year 2020, by which time we expect to provide our citizens with a quality of life comparable to that enjoyed in other developed nations.

Our nationals resident in other countries have a significant role to play in the realisation of this objective. It has always been that wherever they reside, they are to contribute to the development of their environment as well as the national interest. You are the human face of our country aboard and key to maintaining our existing linkages and forging new ones. You must embrace the many opportunities now emerging back home and abroad for the maximization of the full potential of our citizens and the development of our nation.

Your continued observance of our national celebrations and promotion of our culture manifest the patriotic spirit of our people. The most important aspect has always been the positive manner in which you comport yourselves. As you come together to commemorate our Independence, you must know that you are always in our thoughts and prayers. Continue to ensure that our national flag flies with distinction. Rest assured of our highest considerations.

And may Almighty God continue to bless our nation.

Patrick Manning