"Trinidad and Tobago Ready" claims Summit Spokesperson in Blog Interview

Judette: So how is it going?

Dennis Mc Comie: Well its been going, its been going for the last few months and now I think there is a  snowball effect, whatever arrangements and, whatever tenets and little bits and pieces that we put in place for the last few months are now going to have to…

Judette: Come to fruition  

Dennis: Come to fruition and get to the point

Judette: So we  are ready?

Dennis: Oh yeah, we are  ready alright; we have been ready for awhile. We have never been resting because the shopping list of dos and don’ts are enormous, it is an enormous list. It is always gratifying to tick off things

Judette: And get to the next list?

Dennis:  Yes, it only  means that you are going on to the next list that needs to be ticked.

Judette: But let’s talk about that shopping list. A lot of Trinidadians and there I say those in Tobago are thinking, "what are the messages?" What I am seeing in the newspapers is that reporters  are saying that Port-of-Spain is being “prettified”. But  Dennis I wonder what does the Summit mean to Owen and Sophie in Fyzabad. How do you distil a message that is relevant for a large audience in a geo-political context to Owen and Sophie who live in Fyzabad, run a shop and are  thinking what does this summit mean to me?
 

Dennis: Yes, well I think everybody who is involved in communications would recognise and appreciate that it is a two way street. You can’t keep sending messages to a listener or a viewer and not have feedback or reciprocity and then call that effective communications, so the responsibility, the onus is now on Owen and Sophie to make an effort to find out what the summit means to them on a personal level.

Judette: Ok, so great, but then the right channels must be created for that

Dennis: Yes

Judette: What channels are you all using to communicate the messages of the summit to Owen and Sophie who live in Fyzabad?

Dennis: Every possible communication channel that is available to us. One of the big impulses from the communications department was to try and reach the region, the western hemisphere on the net. And I know, Owen and Sophie might not have a computer, but if they got kids that have a computer at school, we should like to ask them to go to the website because it does answer a lot of the questions. The declaration of commitment for Port-of-Spain 2009 is on the site.

Judette: If I had the time  I would  take issue with that fact but let's move on, what is does this declaration mean? I mean you have such  big, broad  themes in that declaration.

Dennis: This is a remarkable document, there are three main themes; ensuring human prosperity which is the biggest, the second big one is securing our energy and the third big one is environmental sustainable, sustainability is my favourite. 

Judette: My favourite is prosperity especially in light of what's happening globally.

Dennis: Well prosperity for human is the biggest, because what makes a human prosper? You have to have that human healthy, you have to have that human with shelter over his or her head, you have to make sure that that human is able to access food and transport and able to go securely from one place to the next. You have to give that human being hope and you have to give that human being opportunity to fulfil his or her own potential in the environment he or she exist.

Judette: So then are those themes relevant to Owen and Sophie or are they relevant to Owen and Sophie’s children and their children? Is this a generational thing?

Dennis: I am glad you asked that question because if Owen and Sophie have to get up everyday and have to find money to go and buy food for their children, then Owen and Sophie are very much involved in the summit. If Owen and Sophie are concerned about their children having education and on a long-term basis, sustainable educational initiatives that will make them be able to deal with the new world which is being formed by these 34 heads. These 34 heads have decided to come together on one physical space which happens to be Trinidad and Tobago to make very serious resolutions on issues that will impact Sophie’s children for a long-time.

Judette: Those messages are critical Dennis, but for many they have been lost in the context of  the readiness of the  city and  on the and the media reports of the  superficial things that are being done, which does not get to the root of our problems as a country. And maybe that is not for the Summit to solve, but certainly I feel as if the key messages of the summit, the real benefits are b is being taken away so it never reaches the audience,  and I ma talking about locals here.

Dennis: We can not dictate to the media, unless of course you pay for the space, you cannot dictate to the media what they are going to disseminate to the people. This is why very early we had our press conferences and we still are having briefings with the media. We try to impress upon them that this responsibility is bigger, it is not only for them to be able to go off the information they gathered from the national secretariat about the summit, they need to be able to join with us and have a shared responsibility in educating the public and educating Trinidad and Tobago. It is a difficult exercise because we wanted to be able to educate Trinidad and Tobago not only about the aspects of the summit but the way it touches Trinidad and Tobago, because we are the host. So, that we have different responsibilities; we don’t only have the responsibilities of facilitating the heads that are going to be here to talk about issues that will rebound to our benefits, hopefully. We have the responsibility of physically hosting, accommodating these people and the responsibility of ensuring their security and safety while they’re here. And we have also the prerogative also too choose, if we so desire, to make Trinidad and Tobago look good, so that we are proud of ourselves.

Judette: So it’s like Owen and Sophie are having guest over for dinner and getting their house ready.

Dennis: Owen and Sophie having guest over for dinner, they might have gotten a months notice, they might have go two weeks notice, or the aunty might have called from New York the day before… 

Judette: (laughing) Its Carnival right.

Dennis: Yeah it’s Carnival and she is staying there instead of at the Hilton, what are you going to do?

Judette:(laughing) Get ready. I guess the concern is if the house will remain in that order when aunty leaves. The real issue is sustainability.

 Dennis: The fact that the Trinidad and Tobago government has advanced the cleaning up or the cosmetology for us, because we have been doing it ourselves. I think it is something we have to thank the government for.

Judette: Hmmm. 

Dennis: Because we can’t go and tell these people you are coming here to talk about environmental sustainability, when they are seeing smoke on the hills because we are denuding our environment or you are talking about domestic violence and you are beating your spouse.

Judette: So maybe this can translate into some kind of national campaign afterwards about the personal responsibility and government responsibility as well.

Dennis: Very much so. This is an exercise for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago to find out if their democracy, if their governance, if their administration, if their management of themselves are at the standard, at the quality, that they themselves desire.

Judette: Let’s just hope it’s an all inclusive responsibility, shared by every citizen and by government.

Dennis: Well unfortunately, I do not think people feel it is a shared responsibility and it is, and this is what I hope within the next few days we are going to be able to suggest to our people.

Judette: Final question, are we ready?

Dennis: Yes.

Judette: Are we crisis prepared?

Dennis: Yes

Judette: Our communication plans are ready and in place, set to go?

Dennis: Yes, I am so happy to say. And on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago we are proud to be the host of the Fifth Summit of the Americas.