Commissioner of Police
Police Service Administration Building
Cor. Abercrombie & Sackville
Port-of Spain
Dear Sir,
Re: Request for Permission to hold Public Event
By way of this letter I wish to formally request permission to hold a “conscious cultural” event at the St. James Amphitheatre on Saturday 23rd May from 3-6 pm.
This event will combine drumming with public speaking and will require a PA system. We will be speaking about matters of social and environmental importance including food, water, land, energy, culture and sustainable development.
Residents of communities from around Trinidad will be speaking about their experiences and solutions to problems. Members of our Group ‘Truth Drummers’ will also be speaking. I have attached a detailed agenda to illustrate the content of the presentations at our event.
This event is intended to raise public awareness for the greater good of the country and will be conducted in a professional and publicly responsible manner.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Senior Superintendent of the Western Division for her intervention at the first Drummit Event which resolved the unnecessary confrontation which arose between the police and persons participating in the event.
We look forward to you granting permission as soon as possible and the support and presence of the Police Service on the 23rd.
Sincerely,
_______________
Truth Drummer
cc: Senior Superintendant, Western Division, St. James Police Station
AGENDA (revised)
Date: 23rd May, 2009
Venue: St. James Amphitheatre
Time: 3pm to 6pm
Theme: "Our Water, Our Food, Our Energy - Our Future"
1) Welcome
2) National Anthem
3) Silent Tribute to Adrian Richards (little drummer boy who lost his life)
4) Drumming tribute to 'Hosay Drummers'
5) Presentations by Community Residents (Claxton Bay, Pranz Gardens, Chatham, Square
2) National Anthem
3) Silent Tribute to Adrian Richards (little drummer boy who lost his life)
4) Drumming tribute to 'Hosay Drummers'
5) Presentations by Community Residents (Claxton Bay, Pranz Gardens, Chatham, Square
Deal, Acono Village, Maracas Valley)
6) Statements by Truth Drummers (on security of food, water, land, energy and culture)
7) Launch of ‘Sustainability First’ Initiative
8) Poetic Presentation
9) Unity Drumming – Invoking a National Community
10) Closing Remarks
END
Names of persons scheduled to make Presentations include:
Michael Parris
Cathal Healy-Singh
Norris Deonarine
Gary Aboud
Peter Vine
Wayne Kublalsingh
6) Statements by Truth Drummers (on security of food, water, land, energy and culture)
7) Launch of ‘Sustainability First’ Initiative
8) Poetic Presentation
9) Unity Drumming – Invoking a National Community
10) Closing Remarks
END
Names of persons scheduled to make Presentations include:
Michael Parris
Cathal Healy-Singh
Norris Deonarine
Gary Aboud
Peter Vine
Wayne Kublalsingh
I am extremely disappointed that you are seeking permission from the Commissioner of police to hold a gathering to discuss your business - the business of the people of T&T. You are unwittingly aiding the Manning regime in its quest to inflict a police state upon us so that we will not be able to resist the depredations that are sure to fall on the heads of the citizens of this country as the economic meltdown worsens.
ReplyDeleteYou are voluntarily ceding to the police/stste the exercise of your rights that not even their neo-colonial laws confer upon them. Please do not be complicit in your own repression. The defence of civil and human rights must be fought for and not begged for, You fought magnificently at the drummit to the summit, please don't spoil it now.
It's the law of the land that public gatherings must be approved by the Commissioner of Police. Whether one likes the law or not, if one is a respectable citizen of the country, one will obey it until it is changed.
ReplyDeleteTo do opposite would be to justify the actions of those who flaunt our rights as citizens of a democracy by choosing which laws they will or will not follow in their daily doings while in power.
That being said, this law itself is archaic, and in keeping with Colonial society thinking where this law would probably be approved and promoted specifically so that the free but unequal people of that time could not gather publicly to address and protest injustices to them as one unified body.
But wait, how is this different to why this law still exists today and noone has mentioned repelling it to now??