TRINIDAD AND Tobago turned 38 last Thursday, August 31. It was the second British Caribbean colony to gain Independence, Jamaica leading the way only weeks before on August 6, 1962.
The two countries have charted substantially different pathways over their 38 years of Independence. Trinidad and Tobago has opted for republican status with a ceremonial President and an executive Prime Minister. Jamaica has retained the traditional Westminster model with the Queen as Head of State represented by the Governor-General.
The roughly equal ethnic divide between Indo- and Afro-Trinidadians has not been without race tension, which seem to have escalated under the first Indo-Trinidadian Prime Minister, Basdeo Panday, in office since 1995. There have been two coup attempts, in 1970 and 1990, but, despite the potentially explosive race/politics combination, T&T has managed to avoid the kind of political violence which has become a feature of Jamaican politics.
The republic is heading into General Elections enjoying a good measure of prosperity. It has emerged out of the economic crisis precipitated by oil gluts in the 1900s and last year alone the economy grew by nearly 8 per cent. Unemployment, is at its lowest in decades. The country is the largest recipient in the hemisphere of direct US investment on a per capita basis, while some investors are fleeing Jamaica and it is difficult to attract new ones.
Jamaica has not seen similar growth in a generation and has had no growth at all over the last five years. While our dollar is heading towards J$43 to US$1, the T&T dollar is stable at TT$6.50 to US$1.
Our sister CARICOM territory has found it possible to hang in recent times a number of convicted murderers. Our Government is handcuffed by protocols.
We leave to future historians the difficult assessment of how the first four decades of Independence have turned out in these two territories which started out together. It is clear now however that both countries are facing their own critical challenges to a future of stable democracy, social peace and economic prosperity.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
