Newsday
THE EDITOR: Prime Minister Rowley continues to disrespect the ongoing movement toward reparations for African enslavement and native genocide. Likewise, his government still ignores the UN’s International Decade for People of African Descent (2014-2025).
By such disregard the current African elite, and their associates, in the PNM have conveniently allowed their own base to have others “pass their mouth” on them to the point of having them labelled “cockroaches” and “miscreants.”
Consider this. On March 24 Dr Rowley responded to questions posed by Naparima MP Rodney Charles. Here is the transcript from Hansard:
Charles: Given that this country hosted a regional anti-slavery forum in early February, will the Prime Minister indicate whether our National Reparations Committee is fully constituted, funded and functioning to give effect to our national policy on reparation?
Rowley: …as far as I am aware, the Government appointed a reparations committee. It is functional. And whether it is fully funded, that is subjective. And being functional, I presume…it is properly constituted.
Charles: Could the Prime Minister indicate who are the members of the National Reparations Committee?
Rowley: …I could not recall offhand all of them, but if the member files the appropriate notice, I would let him know. That has been a long time since I have had any interaction with them. So, I could not say offhand.
Charles: Could the Prime Minister indicate briefly what is our policy – the Government’s policy – on reparations?
Rowley: “…the policy is that we make the claims and we are doing so through Caricom. There is an active response through Caricom, and Trinidad and Tobago participate in that, and we follow the guidance from the Caricom on this matter. And we do have our own National Reparations Committee, and we expect that that is effective and sufficient at this time.
As the former head of the TT National Reparations Committee (TTNCR) it is not the first time that the PM has been very dismissive on the matter of reparations.
I can confirm that the Government has offered scant courtesy to the cause of the TTNPC. Our committee spoke with Ministers Dennis Moses, Fitzgerald Hinds and Dr Amery Browne, as well as forwarding correspondence to Rowley. The PM is correct when he said “it has been a long time since I have had any interaction with them.”
This is at odds with the governments of Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, Barbados, Grenada and Suriname.
And it is in contrast to growing discussions about slavery and reparations coming from universities in Britain and the US, the Anglican Church, individual families like that of former BBC correspondent Laura Trevelyan and most recently King Charles III, who has indicated the first explicit support for research into the British monarchy’s slavery ties.
Furthermore, descendants of some of Britain’s wealthiest slave owners, calling themselves the Heirs of Slavery, have launched a movement calling on the UK government both to apologise for slavery and begin a programme of reparative justice as devised by Caricom.
The group includes the Earl of Harewood, David Lascelles, retired social worker Rosemary Harrison, businessman Charles Gladstone, Laura Trevelyan (who has already made an education grant to Grenada), her film director cousin John Dower, author and publisher Richard Atkinson, retired schoolteacher Robin Wedderburn, and journalist Alex Renton. They hope descendants of other slave-owning families will come forward to join them.
If others are so concerned then it is time that a survey is done about our government’s attitude to reparations.
AIYEGORO OME
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