Bad Road

I live in the Chatham community which is part of the electoral district of Point Fortin and our Member of Parliament is The Honorable Major General (Retired) Edmund Dillon. Now, I think that Chatham should be renamed to a name which fits its present condition, something like Pot Hole Lane, Damage Your Car Avenue or Ignored by the Member of Parliament Drive because the road from Chatham to Point Fortin is like a driving test except if you fail this test, you will find yourself spending hundreds to thousands of dollars replacing tyres and other car parts. Yesterday, my mother had to change a tyre after going into a pot hole. I would love to know why did my mother who is in her 70s had to spend hundreds of dollars out of her pension to replace a tyre. A word of advice to all political parties, you do not have many die-hard voters anymore. It is work for your seat time.

This is the way I use my phone

We Are Still Waiting

I am Tyron Bishop, I live in the Chatham community. Our Community Centre was officially opened in May, 2015. I attended the opening ceremony although I had to be carried up the flight of stairs to get to the auditorium which is located on the second floor because the Minister at the time said that installing the elevator in the empty shaft was "a waste of time, a waste of money and a lot of inconvenience." The Government changed in September, 2015. The change in Government brought hope of the elevator being installed or some other logical way of making the second floor of our Community Center accessible to persons in wheelchairs and those with other mobility issues but nothing has been done to date, therefore, I still have to be carried up the flight of stairs in order to attend anything being held in the auditorium. One question: Am I wrong to think that the present Government has Persons with Disabilities on the counter as well? Yes, I Said counter because we do not even get to the back burner.

Three Years Later

I am sitting here wondering what advancement has been made to improve the lives of Persons with Disabilities in the last three years, I cannot say that there have been much. We are still the forgotten/ignored community. Imagine, our Government still holds press conferences without a Sign Language interpreter, the Chatham Community Centre among other public facilities are still not fully wheelchair accessible and nobody gives a..... disability about it.

Chatham Community Centre empty elevator shaft

The Chatham Community Centre was officially opened in May, 2015 with an empty elevator shaft. Two years later, I still need to be lifted up the stairs in order to access the auditorium which is on the second floor because the elevator is yet to be installed. Our previous Government ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in June, 2015 (two months before the General Election) which states: The CRPD prohibits disability discrimination against someone with a disability in a wide range of life activities, including, but not limited to: Access to premises used by the public. For example, using libraries, places of worship, government offices and courts, hospitals, restaurants, shops, cinemas, COMMUNITY CENTRES, or other premises used by the public. Our present Government does not give the impression that it will have the elevator installed. When a country elects a new Government it is because a majority of its people wants a change in policies, not just a change in faces.

Let's Fix This

Trinidad and Tobago has a crime problem, good citizens are considering migrating. Migrate to where? To Mars? If you populate Mars, there will be crime on Mars. Migrating will not solve any of our problems. We can fix this. Let's fix this!!!

The Convention states

I attended Learie Joseph and Friends in Concert at the Chatham Community Centre last Saturday night, I counted approximately six persons using walking aids and one in a wheelchair. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states: The CRPD prohibits disability discrimination against someone with a disability in a wide range of life activities, including, but not limited to: Access to premises used by the public. For example, using libraries, places of worship, government offices and courts, hospitals, restaurants, shops, cinemas, COMMUNITY CENTRES, or other premises used by the public. Install it.