Independent Senator Helen Drayton says the Government’s 2014/2015 budget is a “ritual budget.” Speaking on Monday after Planning Minister Dr Bhoe Tewarie, who said the budget was well received across the board, she said it was like all budgets of the past, even those dating back to colonial times.
She added: “It’s a comfortable ritual that concentrates power and wealth among a few. The budget generously gives a piece of the pie to all, from babies to grannies, and helps the middle class. “But this, too, is a ritual in a season of five-year rituals.” Drayton said its welfare measures and overspending without productivity were part of a continued quest to have control over all domains.
A new world order was being put in place and the world was changing rapidly but T&T was still stuck in the old colonial mode, she said. She said she got a sense from the budget it was a defence mechanism to guard against the risk of change. Supporting Chief Justice Ivor Archie’s call for more money for the Judiciary, she criticised the cut in allocations to several entities she deemed important.
Drayton said the Industrial Court, the Financial Intelligence Unit, President’s Office and even Parliament had to go cap-in-hand begging the Government for more money. She also expressed concern about the condition of the Central Statistical Office and doubts about figures given by the Government about the state of T&T’s economy.