An unscheduled shutdown of operations is how some surprised members of the business community described the announcement on Sunday night, of a national holiday yesterday in honour of 2012 London Olympic gold medallist Keshorn Walcott. All sectors of the economy would have been affected by the not totally unexpected holiday, said business people who spoke to the T&T?Guardian. Trade union leader Vincent Cabrera said thousands of daily and hourly-paid workers would have lost a day's income because of the honour paid to the 19-year-old athlete from Toco. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in a televised address to the nation on Sunday night, made the surprise announcement to celebrate Walcott winning gold in the men's javelin event and the achievements of the entire Olympic team. The PM invited the nation to join in a welcoming party, and then a motorcade from Piarco Airport to Walcott's Toco hometown.
Downtown Owners & Merchants Association (DOMA) president Gregory Aboud said yesterday members of the business community share the national pride felt by all citizens and were extremely proud of the performance of all T&T Olympians. "We, however, were quite startled," he added, "by the announcement Sunday night that Monday was to be a holiday which can have the characteristics of an unscheduled interruption or shutdown of all operations." Aboud said the objective of a national celebration would perhaps have been more successfully achieved by adding a national holiday to the Independence weekend and a street parade with the athletes. "This would have given citizens the opportunity to come together and show our national pride, our appreciation to the athletes and, perhaps, to reflect on the many challenges which still lie ahead," he said. With an advance announcement of a holiday, various sectors of the economy, including the manufacturing and industrial sectors, the Port Authority, the administration of justice, various international courier agencies and the hospitality industry could have been better prepared, Aboud added. "We wish to join with the national community in adding congratulations to the athletes and hope we can resume operations tomorrow (today)," he said. Ibrahim Ali, of the San Juan Chamber of Commerce, had a similar perspective.
He said: "When you call a holiday eight o' clock in the night for the next day, it becomes unproductive. The entire construction sector has shut down. "People who had appointments with lawyers, doctors were affected. The entire court system and the general economy has suffered from this unexpected announcement. "I know we have to be jubilant and patriotic but they could have found a different way to do it. It was done without consultation and in an ad-hoc manner." Taran Singh, of the Tunapuna Chamber, felt the occasion was so "once-in-a-lifetime" that something had to give. The 'something giving,' he said, was the business sector and Singh felt, in this case, the pros outweighed the cons. He added: "There are a number of businesses that will still open for some part of the day. "History was literally created on the world stage by T&T, which is just a little dot on the map. We have to find a way to celebrate it. "There were thousands of people at the airport. We don't get a chance to demonstrate this every day or even every year." Labour union leader Cabrera said the young athletes deserved the public holiday but blamed the inequality of local labour standards if thousands lost a day's pay because of it. "There are thousands of such workers, at supermarkets for instance, who would have lost a day's work if they decided to take the public holiday. Labour standards have to be applied across the board so they, too, would be paid for working on a public holiday," he added. The Grenada Government declared a half-holiday last Tuesday after Kirani James won gold in the Olympic men's 400 metres. It was Grenada's first ever Olympic medal and the half-holiday was given the day after James won on August 6.