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THE Tobago Business Chamber is urging the government to have faith in God and trust in Him to keep everyone safe for the annual Independence Day parade. The Chamber said government should host the Day of Prayer and Reflection on August 31 and then begin the independence parade.
The Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration has cancelled this year’s parade owing to the ongoing state of emergency and concerns about reported death threats to several ministers and other high-ranking state officials.
The Office of the Chief Secretary (OCS), Tobago House of Assembly, has followed suit, saying in a release on August 16 that there will be no parade, official government function or state-sponsored fireworks on the island to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of independence.
The OCS, in that release, said Chief Secretary Farley Augustine would have outlined Tobago’s plans for observing the day after the August 20 executive council meeting, but this has not yet materialised.
In a WhatsApp video on August 22, the chamber’s chairman Martin George said, “On behalf of the Tobago Business Chamber, I would like to make a respectful plea to both the government and THA to reconsider the idea of our independence celebrations in the sense that we have heard the arguments both for and against the having of a parade and the alternative, of having a national day of prayer.
“We, of the Tobago Business Chamber, wish to urge a possible win-win solution for everyone, because we think it’s quite possible to have both a prayer session and a parade without them being in conflict with one-another.”
He continued, “So it’s possible for us to look at a scenario where we begin the parade with the prayers by the leaders from the IRO (Inter-Religious Organisation) who will come in and offer their prayers for the nation because no one in their right-thinking mind would doubt that we need prayers as a nation.
“So by all means, let’s begin the Independence Day celebrations with the prayers and then we can proceed to the parade because if it is that we believe in the power of prayer and we believe in the protection of God for our country and our nation, then we cannot at the same time be cowering in fear and saying we can’t have a parade because we are afraid of what the criminal elements may do.”
George said it is either citizens believe in the power of prayer or they don’t.
“And if we do believe so and if we also believe in the strength, the resilience, the capabilities of all military personnel who will be present at that parade, it is inconceivable to think that we will say that we are afraid of the criminal element in the presence of all our military personnel to say that we don’t want to have a parade because of what the criminal element may be capable of doing.”
He said the annual Independence Day parade is the country’s greatest show of military strength.
“So why, then, would this be a reason to say that we are afraid of the criminal element and, therefore, there should be no parade.”
George said the government should also consider the effect of the decision on the servicemen and others participating in the parade.
“The members of the armed forces who look forward to this every year. The police officers, the army, the Coast Guardsmen, the soldiers, the Regiment, the cadettes, they all look forward to this.
“Then we think of all the family members, their extended family, friends, relatives, neighbours who look on with pride to be able to say, ‘Look, that’s my daddy, that’s my son, that’s my uncle, that’s my nephew, that’s my neighbour or that’s my sister, that’s my niece, that’s my mother.'”
He said the participants look forward to getting dressed in their uniforms and turning out in their best marching and parading before the crowds.
“So we think it is quite possible that we could have both elements together and it will definitely redound to the benefit of the nation and lift the spirit of the people of TT as we come together as one to celebrate.”
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