By NAN Staff Writer
NEWS AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NY, Aug. 31, 2022: The twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago turned the big 60, today August 31st, making its Diamond Jubilee or 60 years on independence from Britain.
In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams joined dozens of Trinidad and Tobago nationals, including Hazra Ali in the Big Apple, in raising the flag of the twin-island Republic over Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan with chairman of the Bowling Green Association, Arthur Piccolo.
“This is a significant moment,” said Mayor Adams, referring to the jubilee, while noting that before he is done his term as mayor, steelpans will be in schools. He also lauded the Trinidad and Tobago immigrant community in New York for their effort as small business owners and entrepreneurs and the nurses and emergency workers who put themselves on the line during the pandemic.
Honing in on the hot button issue of immigration, Adams said we all came from somewhere and if anyone tells you to “’go back where you came from,’ tell them you will when they go back to where they came from.”
“New York is America’s City and this Trinidadian population, the largest in America, is right here,” he added. “And we all know we gun to mash up the parkway.”
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In Washington, US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken, today congratulated the people of Trinidad and Tobago on six successful decades of independence, noting that the two countries “have a strong bilateral relationship, and a shared commitment to prosperity and security in the Caribbean.”
“Through trade and investment cooperation and partnership in the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative, we have made the region safer and more prosperous,” he stated. “Our countries’ shared values and principles, including an unyielding commitment to democracy, will serve to strengthen our ties in the years to come.”
“As our nations build back from the pandemic, we reaffirm our commitment to cooperate to combat narcotrafficking, improve energy and food security, and mitigate the effects of climate change,” Blinken added. “I wish the people of Trinidad and Tobago continued peace and prosperity in the year ahead.”
Officials in T&T are celebrating the Republic’s Diamond Jubilee birthday with a public Independence Day Military Parade at the Grand Stand, Queens Park Savannah in Port-Of-Spain followed by a mega concert in the evening with fireworks.
The island will celebrate throughout the month of September. A cultural caravan will cross the entire country and feature internationally acclaimed artistes and those from the area.
