Padarath: Youths must do their part
Princes Town MP Barry Padarath, in a message to the youth population on the occasion of International Youth Day said that the young people of Trinidad and Tobago must create their own avenues for opportunities of a better standard of living.
Padarath said that this year’s theme for International Youth Day 2016 set by the United Nations is “The road to 2030: Eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable consumption and production for sustainable development.”
The Princes Town MP is the youngest elected Member of Parliament in the eleventh Parliament and stated that in keeping with the United Nation’s theme this year, the young people needed to create opportunities for themselves through education, through entrepreneurship, through sport, through social work, through religion and even through politics. He further added that the former People’s Partnership government focused a lot on empowering young people through these mediums aforementioned.
Padarath stated however the time had come for the young people to utilise these avenues to create a better standard of living for themselves and their families and therefore fulfilling the UN mandate of poverty eradication and sustainable development. He indicated that one of the main problems facing young people in Trinidad and Tobago was unemployment.
Unemployment he said was something that became prevalent among young people in the country in recent times and called on the private and public sectors to look at sustainable job creation. He further lamented that young people who are qualified with bachelors and masters degrees find extreme difficulty in finding employment.
Trinidad and Tobago, he said had achieved great strides in reaching the millennial goals targeted by the United Nations especially with respect to the opportunities provided to the youth. He further stated that the onus was now on the youth to make use of these opportunities.
Padarath said that this was his advice to the young people of the country as international youth day 2016 is observed, however he said the state too must play its part.
The MP said that he was saddened at the opportunities being taken away from young people in the sphere of education with the recent changes to GATE. He said that government should see education as an investment in its most valuable resource its human resource and not as a burden. He went on further to say that he hopes this does not curtail the United Nation’s mandate for sustainable development by 2030 as it is measured by social and economic mobility. He reminded the youths that to achieve social and economic mobility they needed to forge their own destinies with the tools they have been provided with.
Padarath called for the continued growth of new sectors and new industries in the country. He stated that the People’s Partnership had begun new programs in agriculture, tourism, sport, health, trade, aviation and fashion. He questioned whether GATE would continue to apply to the technical vocational areas which were an initiative of the Partnership Administration.
The Princes Town MP further called on young people to get active in the decision making process of the country. He said one of the avenues available to young people to create opportunities for themselves was through politics.
He encouraged youths to get involved in active politics since politics affects every facet of their lives. He advised that while public life came with several challenges it was one of the main ways that you can bring about positive change to the lives of those that needs help.
Padarath will be engaged in several activities to observe International Youth Day 2016 and called on other youths who have a platform, to voice their concerns, advice and recommendations to the young people but also to put those advice and recommendations into action.