Shastri Boodan
Freelance Contributor
Central Trinidad will no longer be side-lined or ignored, declared Minister of Housing and Caroni Central MP David lee, as he delivered a forceful address at the couva Chamber of Industry and Commerce’s annual Christmas and Awards Function. The event was held on friday at the Chamber’s administrative complex on Camden Road, Couva.
Lee said Central Trinidad had served as the economic backbone of the country for decades, yet had been treated “like a spare part.”
“Your industries carried this nation when others faltered.Your manufacturing saved foreign exchange when reserves collapsed. Your exports kept the dollar stable when everything else shook. Your employers held families together when national systems were failing,” he said.”And what did Central receive? Flooding, neglect, stagnant infrastructure, inadequate investment, slow approvals and a seat outside the room while others made decisions about Central.”
He stressed that the era of exploiting Central’s productivity while overlooking its development needs was “over permanently”.
According to Lee,Couva and Point Lisas were not merely contributors to the national economy,but its foundation.
“They are the backbone. The anchor. The driving force behind Trinidad and Tobago’s economic survival,” he said, adding that without Central’s output, manufacturing would collapse, energy downstream operations would fall apart, exports would shrink, foreign exchange would dry up, and thousands would lose their jobs.
He said the next major economic boom “will be built in Central, or it will not be built.”
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