Above: Port-of-Spain

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Trinidad and Tobago “must” invest in its youth population, according to Minister of Gender, Youth and Child Development Marlene Coudray.

The Minister was speaking at the National Youth Awards 2012 at the Hyatt Regency in Port-of-Spain.

“A nation aspiring to sustainable development on par with first-world countries must provide a definite and unambiguous role for its youth population,” she said.

Coudray also pointed to the success of young Olympians representing the Caribbean in London over the past two weeks, highlighted by Trinidad’s Keshorn Walcott, who took home the country’s first gold medal since 1976.

“We are extremely proud of the achievement of all our athletes for being chosen to participate in the Olympics, for reaching the finals and for improving on their best times,” she said.

She pledged that Trinidad’s government would support in “investing heavily” in the country’s young population, saying that the quality and quantity of investments made by government would “ensure quality leaders tomorrow.”