The National Advisory Committee is set to host its first of several town hall meetings on constitutional reform, this evening, in Sangre Grande.
Committee chairman Barendra Sinanan told Guardian Media that the sessions will run through April and the first two weeks in May.
He explained that the plan is to reach all constituencies, and to listen to what people think about the Constitution before submitting a report to Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley by the second week of June.
According to Sinanan, many people talk about constitutional reform as if it were “a plaster for every sore”, when in fact it may not be.
“It's a main issue,” he says. “Actually, it's also a main governance issue. Accountability across the board from the top—from the executive to the legislature to the judiciary and then most importantly the public service. The police service, any service you think that is lacking, is accountable.”
Mr Sinanan, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, says laws must change to cater for societal evolution.
He revealed that the National Advisory Committee examined documents from past Constitutional Reform Commissions and Committees, to ensure they were not reinventing the wheel.
It also has received over 100 written submissions on the Constitution and expects more in the coming weeks.
But as the Committee goes to the public, it notes there is a segment of the population that seems uninterested in the law and national participation.
“We are targeting, in particular, young people through social media, asking them to get involved and contribute,” the Committee chairman says. “We are hoping to get a group out of The UWI to come and express their views.”
“Listen, you could lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink,” Sinanan admits. “Basically, we are doing all we can to alert the public.”
The current Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago was passed in 1976.
