Denouncing oppression and calling for a new social order, former independent senator and Presbyterian Reverend Daniel Teelucksingh says world recession should not be used as an excuse for lawlessness.
During his Good Friday sermon at the Susamachar Presbyterian Church in San Fernando yesterday, Teelucksingh said the plight of thousands of retrenched workers must serve as a wake-up call to T&T.
Saying the crosses are real, Teelucksingh said legislation to protect workers remains inadequate.
“Society asks what were the State and the Labour Movement doing for the past 30 years? For husbands, wives and children crucifixion horrors and hopelessness are obvious. There is no pay package, rising food prices and no retrenchment benefits because of inadequacy of the Retrenchment and Severance Benefits Act 1985,” Teelucksingh said.
He added, “We are mindful of the crucifixion of the working class, those 644 workers at ArcelorMittal who are on the breadline, retrenched. Also, at the Pt Fortin Highway project, employment was terminated for 860 workers with Construtora OAS.
How could we allow this to happen, that today workers must carry unnecessary crosses. We give tax breaks and concessions to multinational corporations to exploit our natural resources. They made great wealth for themselves, ignoring environment issues, and they exploited the local labour force,” he said.
Teelucksingh also said that families of crime victims also know the pain of crucifixion.
“The 106 murders for the past three months are not confined to any locality. All of T&T constitute the killing fields. Crime is endemic and more deadly than the Zika (virus). AK-47 rifles seemed to be the preferred instrument of murder. Crucifixion experts include dealers in narcotics, and the drug trade created more crosses to surpass the horror of ancient Calvary,” he said.
Saying T&T has too many cruel cross-builders and executioners who target defenceless children, Teelucksingh noted that the Children’s Authority received reports of 4,158 cases of child abuse in a nine-month period.
“Crucifixion also continues to pollute our social environment. Crosses are real where there is domestic violence, gender discrimination, denial of rights, and white collar crimes. Let us not find a bobolee in recession. Do not blame world recession for all our crosses,” Teelucksingh said.
Saying that there are thousands of good citizens who struggle against cruelty, Teelucksingh called for collective responsibility in dealing with the social problems T&T faces.
“We must resolve in family, school, civil society, business and the private sector and the political directorate to courageously denounce all forms of oppression at any level in society,” he said.
He called on citizens to use Easter as the start of a new social order.