Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says Trinidad and Tobago must stop blaming its problems on its colonial past and accept responsibility for the decisions made during the 64 years since Independence.She argued that after 64 years, the country could no longer use its colonial past to avoid taking responsibility for its current challenges.“It’s time we grow up and stop blaming our problems on our colonial past to escape accepting responsibility for bad decisions we made post Independence that have resulted in negative consequences for ourselves and our nation,” she said.In her Independence Day message issued yesterday ahead of today’s 64th anniversary of Independence, Persad-Bissessar said the country needed to confront its post-Independence history honestly and acknowledge that it should have performed much better.“We must confront our post-Independence history with honesty and acknowledge that we should have done much better over the past 64 years,” she said.Persad-Bissessar said Trinidad and Tobago entered Independence in 1962 with a strong economic and institutional foundation inherited from Britain.She pointed to the country’s per capita income at the time, saying it was higher than that of several countries, including Japan, Chile, Greece, Spain, Hong Kong, Singapore, Portugal, Mexico, Turkey, Iraq, Brazil, Malaysia, Iran, Morocco, Taiwan and China.“Almost all of these countries have now superseded us,” she said.A prosperous,functioning countryAccording to the Prime Minister, Trinidad and Tobago also entered Independence as a well-organised legal and governance structure, an advanced oil exploration and refining industry, an expansive agricultural sector and a developed railway system.She also highlighted what she recalled as the country’s low crime rate and clean environment at the time.“The fact is that the British left us a very prosperous functioning country in 1962,” Persad-Bissessar said.She acknowledged that individuals and societies made mistakes, saying people sometimes make regrettable choices and take short-cuts in pursuit of quick success.“Whatever our shortcomings, biases and grievances, we share one citizenship, one homeland and a collective duty to put Trinidad and Tobago first,” she said.The Prime Minister said the country now needed to move forward with “conviction and accountability” if it was to leave future generations with a stronger, safer and more prosperous nation.