“The light has returned to the people of Caroni 1975 Limited.”
Those were the words echoed by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC, as 110 ex-Caroni workers received their leases of land in Penal, after 22 years of waiting.
Speaking at the Distribution Ceremony at the Diplomatic Centre on Thursday, the Prime Minister lamented the time it took to distribute the lands, but noted that “nothing comes before its time.”
“When Caroni Limited was closed in 2003, thousands were left displaced, and so felt disheartened. But even through 22 years of waiting, some in faith, some in quiet despair, some who did not live to see this day, their spirits never ever broke. Today, we have lived to see light restored out of darkness. Light has triumphed.”
Minister of Land and Legal Affairs, Saddam Hosein, claimed that lands once promised to the backbone of Trinidad and Tobago’s sugar industry were left to rot.
“I’m advised in the last 10 years that the EMBDC, under the direction of the last Government, halted works on every single site and left it in a state of decay and rot. I am informed and I’m advised that the EMBDC in the last 10 years spent not a dollar on one of the sites, but they spent over $100 million in legal fees to hand-picked attorneys by the last Government, leaving you without your lands for 22 years.”
This is why he said in just six months, the new administration has been able to deliver over 300 leases – 200 back in August, and 110 in October.
“These sites, when we saw them, were very much developed. They could have been given out in a matter of days, weeks, or months. But the former administration, because of spite, ill will, malice, refused to give you your lands. But under this government, we give the commitment.”
A former Caroni labourer, Reynold Balramsingh, told reporters he never imagined he’d receive the land promised to him, certainly not in his lifetime.
“No, because it’s been so long. We say well that’s all long, we couldn’t do anything, so we just had to wait. I worked in the factory in Couva Brechin Castle for 23 years. I started as a labourer and when I got the VSEP I was a B class mechanic.”
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar urged the ex-Caroni workers to use the residential lands wisely, noting that it’s not just parcels of land, but “pathways of progress.”