3 weeks ago
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Senior Reporter
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is promising to revamp the Reparations Committee and move reparations from a discussion to action during her tenure as the head of government.
She also wants to ensure the debt cycle from the colonial past is erased.
Her commitment came during her feature address at the Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village at the Queen’s Park Savannah yesterday – Emancipation Day.
It comes as Jamaica is readying itself to have King Charles III, its official head of state, to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The move is the country’s step toward seeking reparations. The questions centre on the legality of enslavement under English Law, whether it was a crime against humanity, and whether the United Kingdom is obligated to provide a remedy.
In her speech, Persad-Bissessar said: “In this, my second term as your Prime Minister, my Government will do the following. We will re-empower the National Reparations Committee. We will support Caricom’s charge at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting this October, pursuing debt relief, developmental financing and binding institutional reforms.
“This is a lawful debt, forged in centuries of unpaid labour and stolen futures. I commit my voice, I commit my office, I commit every ounce of political capital to move reparations from aspirations to achievement, so our next generation inherits not just a memory of freedom, but the means to flourish in its fullness.”
She added that the theme of the Emancipation Support Committee -Shaping Sustainable Futures through Reparatory Justice- is not just a slogan. The Prime Minister vowed that her Government would work with the committee to address cultural and economic revitalisation.
Part of that includes a four-point action plan aimed at providing grants for drumming schools, mas camps, heritage archives and digital storytelling labs.
She said the Education Ministry would look at curriculum restoration to embed African civilisation, enslavement, resistance and Afro-Trinbagonian achievements in the syllabuses.
She said the Government will also look at revamping the cocoa industry with Ghana’s help as it finalises the Ghana Air Services Agreement.
“We will launch a West African Caribbean Special Economic Zone and dual-list our top small and medium enterprises on both the T&T and the Lagos Stock Exchanges. This is how we can honour our roots and our various heritages. We will look at youth and food security to kick-start phase one. We will look at ways to provide micro-credit, crop insurance and export license for young farmers.”
Further to the issue of trade, incoming President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Dr George Elombi said this country is poised to benefit from a US$3 billion investment, provided it and all other Caricom countries join Afreximbank.
The investment will target various sectors, including tourism, healthcare, renewable energy, shipping, manufacturing, agriculture, and creative industries.
Commenting on the promised investment, Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism Satyakama “Kama” Maharaj said the Government will sign the deal as soon as possible to access the funding.
Asked what the funding will mean for the country, Maharaj said: “We have instant financing for a lot of major projects. And from people who look like us and think like us and love us.”
He said the reopening of the steel mill is one project that may get immediate funding when the investment is accessed.
Asked about the imposition of the US 15 per cent tariffs, Maharaj agreed that it may open the doors for trade to other markets in Africa and India.
“What people see as obstacles, we see as stepping stones.”
English (US) ·