Citing the recent domestic-related murder of bank employee Neisha Sankar-Ramsundar and the hurricane-ravaged Bahamas, a parliamentary representative has urged Rotarians to take leading roles in addressing issues of violence against women and children and climate change.
Noting that these were two major challenges facing society, Fyzabad MP Dr Lackram Bodoe lamented that these issues would have a negative impact on the nation if they are not addressed in a timely manner.
Speaking at the Rotary Club of Penal’s induction and awards function on Wednesday night in Penal, he said they require urgent action, “Two recent events in the news caught my attention as I am sure it would have caught yours. The first event was the devastating onslaught of Hurricane Dorian on our brothers and sisters in the Bahamas, the death toll of Bahamas continues to rise…That came on the heels of the incident at the Arctic where there was a melting of glaciers and the uncontrolled forest fires in the Amazon right across in South America. I am speaking of the effect of climate change which is going to be a challenge for all of us.”
Also highlighting the tragedy in his constituency in which Sankar-Ramsundar was murdered by her husband who then killed himself, he said eliminating violence against women needs a higher place in the national agenda.
“Whilst hurricanes can cause loss of life and destroy our physical space, domestic violence tears apart our social and psychological fabric, leaving untold damage that sometimes may not even be repaired as easily as rebuilding a house for example, so it can have a tremendous impact on society.”
Dr Bodoe added, “The issues of climate change and domestic violence are not as easy to fix and do not easily engage the attention of politicians and policymakers because they require long term sustained effort and they defy the convenient five-year cycles that comes with elections.”
Encouraging the Rotarians to join national and global initiatives addressing those issues, Dr Bodoe said this will create lasting change in T&T and across the globe. “The increasingly disastrous effect of climate change has the potential to threaten our very existence on this planet by contributing to social and political instability. What happened in the Bahamas will almost be akin to what happened to Haiti with the earthquake. It will create the same kind of social and political turmoil and of course what could threaten the peace of a country and the peace on a planet.”
Eight new members were inducted and their Paul Harris Fellow award was presented to Deo Doolarchan.