The fol­low­ing is

Op­po­si­tion Leader

Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar’s

New Year’s mes­sage:

The year 2020 will un­doubt­ed­ly re­main in our mem­o­ries for a life­time.

As we re­flect on the past 12 months, we note the many chal­lenges we faced and our re­sponse to those chal­lenges.

The on­go­ing COVID-19 pan­dem­ic has had se­vere im­pacts on our dai­ly lives, rang­ing from job los­es, re­stric­tions in our move­ment and for some, the un­for­tu­nate loss of loved ones.

Cur­rent­ly, thou­sands of our fel­low cit­i­zens re­main strand­ed abroad un­sure when and if they will re­turn home. I urge the gov­ern­ment to fix its bro­ken ex­emp­tion process, pro­vid­ing clar­i­ty, in­for­ma­tion and sup­port to our cit­i­zens strand­ed abroad as to when they can make their way home.

In the midst of our dif­fi­cul­ties, one sig­nif­i­cant thing that stands out is our uni­ty as a peo­ple. When our fel­low cit­i­zens lost their jobs, oth­ers stepped for­ward to help pro­vide meals and oth­er re­lief items. When chil­dren were left with­out ac­cess to on­line learn­ing, many good cit­i­zens stepped for­ward to pro­vide de­vices so that they would not fall be­hind.

Through­out this pan­dem­ic we saw the spir­it of the peo­ple of our beloved na­tion—the spir­it of kind­ness, courage, and com­pas­sion. The love and sup­port of our friends and fam­i­lies have helped so many to be able to cope this year. We are re­mind­ed of what tru­ly mat­ters—time spent with the ones we love.

As 2020 draws to a close, our coun­try is at a cross­roads in our his­to­ry. For over five years, our cit­i­zens have faced abysmal gov­er­nance from the Kei­th Row­ley led gov­ern­ment. The prob­lems that af­fect our na­tion to­day are not on­ly as a re­sult of the im­pact of the pan­dem­ic. This PNM ad­min­is­tra­tion presided over mas­sive job cuts, ris­ing lev­els of crime, and se­vere eco­nom­ic con­trac­tion, with no vi­sion or plan. Now is the time for in­no­v­a­tive think­ing and strate­gic ini­tia­tives to cre­ate op­por­tu­ni­ties for our growth and de­vel­op­ment, but sad­ly, this is not forth­com­ing from this ad­min­is­tra­tion.

What is even more dis­turb­ing is the at­tacks by this gov­ern­ment on our in­de­pen­dent in­sti­tu­tions. The ju­di­cia­ry, non-gov­ern­men­tal or­gan­i­sa­tions, the me­dia and even pri­vate cit­i­zens face ac­cu­sa­tions of trea­son for dar­ing to ques­tion the ac­tions of the gov­ern­ment. These are dan­ger­ous times for our democ­ra­cy, and we must re­main vig­i­lant. I call on all cit­i­zens to con­tin­ue to de­mand trans­paren­cy and eq­ui­ty from the gov­ern­ment. I pledge, and I give the as­sur­ance that the Op­po­si­tion that I lead will work dili­gent­ly to hold the gov­ern­ment ac­count­able to the peo­ple of our na­tion.

As we en­ter a new year, we do so with great op­ti­mism and with hope in our hearts. The months ahead will be dif­fi­cult, and we as a peo­ple have many more chal­lenges to face. But we will meet these chal­lenges as we have al­ways done, as one peo­ple work­ing to­geth­er to­wards a com­mon goal—a stronger Trinidad and To­ba­go. There is no ob­sta­cle that a unit­ed na­tion can­not over­come.

From my fam­i­ly to yours, I wish you a hap­py, healthy, and blessed 2021.