CARIBBEAN TODAY


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 ~ A Caribbean Today special feature


T&T's ethnic issues surface during health care debate


PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC Don't expect to see
pictures of mass graves scat-
tered across the oil rich twin
island republic, or for that
matter, a special court as in
the case in Rwanda to try
those accused of trying to
have one race dominate the
other through mass killings.
 But allegations of ethnic
cleansing in a country where
the two main races are almost
equal have now engrossed the
Parliament in Trinidad and
Tobago.
 At the heart of the allega-
tion is a claim by gynaecolo-
gist and Opposition legislator
Dr. Tim Goopeesingh last
month that many Indo-
Trinidadian doctors were
being forced out of the Port of
Spain General Hospital in
favour of Afro Trinidadian
medical practitioners.
 "There has been an issue
of ethnic cleansing at Port-of-
Spain General Hospital as far
as the doctors are concerned.
I understand that most of the
East Indian doctors have had
to leave Port-of-Spain
Hospital. I understand the
Port-of-Spain Hospital is a
virtual African hospital now,"
Gopeesingh said.


 The 2000 census figures
released by the Central
Statistical Office (CSO) show
that out a population of 1.26
million, 37.5 percent are of
Afro Trinidadian descent,


while the Indo-Trinidadian
community accounts for
40 percent. The category
"mixed" account for 20 per-
cent, the third highest accord-
ing to the CSO figures.
 Race has always been an
issue in Trinidad and Tobago,
but thankfully as many social
scientists and politicians say, it
has not spilled over into
killings on the scale as wit-
nessed in places like Rwanda
and Bosnia.
 The term "ethnic cleans-


ing" first came to public
prominence in Yugoslavia, to
describe the scale of the geno-
cide and forced migrations
that ensued in the Serbian-
Croat conflicts of the 1990s.

'SENSATIONALIST'
 The Trinidad Guardian
newspaper, in an editorial,
said that such a description is
not just an inaccurate way of
describing the situation that
Gopeesingh believes exist at
the Port-of-Spain General
Hospital.
 "It is also adamantly sen-
sationalist", noted the news-
paper, adding "it's virulently
provocative".
 The allegation by
Gopeesingh is not the first to
be made in Trinidad, even as
political commentators
acknowledged that it might
just be the first time that the
term "ethnic cleansing" has
made it way into the
Parliament. One newspaper
stated that Gopeesingh's accu-
sation "is normally described
as discrimination, a reprehen-
sible enough term for the
practice of preferential treat-
ment of employees on the
basis of race".
 During the 1995-2001


Coat of Arms
period when the Indo-domi-
nated United National
Congress (UNC) held power
in this Caribbean country, sup-
porters of the Afro-dominated
People's National Movement
(PNM) claimed that they were






 SPAIN -






Map of Trinidad and Tobago


being sidelined to the point
that the name of the state-
owned oil company, Petrotrin
was changed to P1 iro i-Singh".
Recent court rulings have
added fuel to the debate, par-
ticularly where Indo-
Trinidadians have been suc-
cessful in accusing the govern-
ment of discrimination in its
hiring practices.
 The Indo-Trinbago
Equality Council (ITEC),
which has lodged complaints
with the Equal Opportunity
Commission (EOC) following
the court rulings, last month,
has since written Prime
Minister Patrick Manning urg-
ing that a Commission of
Enquiry be established "to
investigate the serious allega-
tions of racial discrimination
against Indian workers in the
public sector.
 "Indeed the minuscule
number of Indian Permanent
Secretaries reflects this per-
ceived State bias", the group
added.

SELECTIVE
DISCRIMINATION?
 Leader of the Opposition
Business in the Senate Wade
Mark accused the Manning
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 14)


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