Skip to playerSkip to main content
CCNTV6
  • 9 months ago
One week before he is due to assume his role as Prime Minister, Stuart Young promises more protection for women.
Transcript
00:00On the occasion of International Women's Day, Acting Prime Minister Stuart Young has a special tribute.
00:07I pay a special tribute and I welcome someone who not only brought me into the world, literally,
00:14but has carried me and my family for the last, well for me personally, the last 50 years
00:22and someone I'd like to pay some special tribute to here this morning.
00:27My mother, who has braved a public appearance this morning, if we can give my mum, Priscilla Young, a round of applause.
00:36Though omitting the first female Prime Minister, Kamala Prasad Besaso,
00:40Young says it makes him a proud Trinbagonian to see women in leadership positions.
00:46We were the first to have, quite rightly, the head of our state being a powerful woman,
00:54then succeeded by our current head of state, another powerful woman, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House.
01:02At an International Women's Day breakfast meeting, he sought to give a personal testimony.
01:08I smile when I see the many stories and the many narratives being put forward of me
01:13and who I am and where I've come from and these types of things.
01:19Because you see, I have no intention of engaging those conversations because to me those are shallow conversations
01:26and we as a society are beyond that.
01:29Young calls himself a product of a strong woman in a household
01:34and that is what he envisions for all children of TNT.
01:38How is it that we now as a government can introduce things via policy,
01:45but I am more concerned about implementation, to provide as much as we can
01:51that level of support to the women throughout our society
01:56to ensure that every young child or as many young children as we can,
02:01because I'm realistic and pragmatic, can get the benefits of women who have support,
02:10women who have the ability to have people to speak to, etc.
02:15It means more penalties for those responsible for crimes against women.
02:20You see, domestic violence, both with intimate partners and non-intimate partners,
02:27we are going to take on that scourge frontally.
02:31One of the things that I will be asking the opposition in Parliament at the appropriate time to do
02:37is for us to increase the penalties and the sentencing for those who commit those heinous acts on our women.
02:49And more protection for the women who need it.
02:52Providing more protection when women take the step of getting protection orders
02:59and not letting it just be a piece of paper, that is also something I intend for us to focus heavily on.
03:06And after seeing the struggles of young mothers in his constituency
03:10to be able to provide for their children, mental health care is on its way.
03:15I understand that a big part of support that we the government can give to them
03:20is providing those who are trained, whether it be psychiatrists, psychologists,
03:26persons who can listen, who can offer advice.
03:29I intend to go to the Cabinet to ask, because there are a lot of young people who have studied in those areas,
03:35for us to implement programmes utilising the Ministry of Social Development, Family Services,
03:41I know we have it in the Ministry of Education, out of the office of the Prime Minister,
03:46to offer that professional level of support across Trinidad and Tobago.
03:51The acting Prime Minister on the cusp of a general election did not leave without lobbying votes.
03:58We have decisions to make in the next few months.
04:02And I'm asking you to very carefully reflect on whose actions have spoken louder in the last few years
04:11as we make a decision as to who will lead us forward.
Be the first to comment
Add your comment