BETTER DAYS AHEAD PM’s Christmas promise:
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Prime Minister Patrick Manning has called on citizens to be patient this Christmas, as he assured yesterday that better things are to come in 2010. Manning made the call while delivering his 2009 Christmas message to the nation last night. ’We recognise that much work remains to be done. I give the national community the assurance that in the coming period, great satisfaction will be derived from the work the nation will witness on roads, water, electricity, health and security, in addition to the maintenance of the momentum already established in so many other areas of national development,’ Manning said. ’We understand the needs of our citizens and are working to satisfy them. However, patience is required to accomplish some of these goals.’ Manning said citizens should be pleased with the country’s successful hosting of two major international conferences in 2009-the Fifth Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. ’From these efforts, our nation’s stature enjoys unprecedented enhancement, and we are now placed in a position where we exercise a positive influence over regional and international issues,’ he said. ’Very significant economic benefits will also accrue, as is evidenced from the exciting prospects that continue to emerge from the international exposure our country received from the great gathering of political and business leaders in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009.’ Although 2009 proved to be one of both successes and challenges for the country, Manning said the country has made progress. ’Our country remains a further fortified democracy, more resilient than ever and with the strengthened will and capacity to pursue our goals at both the national and individual levels,’ he said. ’We have weathered the most severe international economic crisis since the 1930s; one whose effects continue to persist in most countries, including the industrialised world where the unemployment is still rampant and business activity is only now slowly stirring for the long road back to acceptable levels of buoyancy. ’In the midst of this tremendous challenge, including significant loss of revenue, we in Trinidad and Tobago have been able to sustain our equilibrium and we are making this turbulent crossing with greater steadiness than most. But we are not complacent, and have already put in place measures to deal with any possible further aggravation in the global economic climate.’ He added, ’At the same time, we have kept our developmental programme on track, proceeding with determination, albeit at a slower pace, and have ensured that in 2009, there has been significant improvement in the lives of the citizens of our beloved country. ’We have ensured among other achievements, a thriving economy, low inflation, high per-capita income, education opportunities for all at no cost to the student, training and retraining opportunities, infrastructural development, housing for the needy, poverty reduction, middle-class expansion, social upliftment, employment generation and vastly increased opportunities for individual progress at all levels of the society.’ The Prime Minister ended by wishing the nation ’a very holy and merry Christmas’. (Trinidad Express) |
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