Saying citizens in T&T are “just living on the margin of chaos,” Independent Senator Helen Drayton yesterday called on Government to make drastic cuts in expenditure in response to the continuing drop in global oil and gas prices. Among the areas she highlighted for major cutbacks were the GATE programme, Carnival, the fuel subsidy and the proposed constituency fund.
She made the suggestions during her contribution to debate on the Finance (Supplementation and Variation, Financial Year 2014) Bill, which was presented by Finance and Economy Minister Larry Howai. Drayton called on the Government to “minimise its involvement in Carnival except for the basic infrastructure and traditional folk activities and just leave it to the private sector.”
She also said Government should reduce spending on the Government Assistance for Tuition Expenses (GATE) programme, “cut out entirely” the $410 million constituency fund for MPs and cap the billion-dollar fuel subsidy. Elaborating on GATE, Drayton said previously the banks and corporations would provide scholarships for students. “Yes, businesses are still continuing with their training funds but today they don’t have to bother with the scholarships because the Government is doing it,” she added.
Drayton said a bank could make profits of over a billion dollars so “surely it can pay for these scholarships.” About $650 million is spent on GATE annually, Tertiary Education and Skills Training Minister Fazal Karim has said previously. Drayton also suggested that:
• State enterprises, like WASA, should tighten their belts.
• Government should reduce the tax amnesty and enforce the law.
• Government should examine all infrastructure spending and cut back on the highway spending.
• Government should cut all vanity advertising from the budget.
She said there was a difference between “political advertising and information the public needs to have.” None of her recommendations, she said, would affect people in need. Oil prices dropped to under US$50 a barrel last week, forcing Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to peg the national budget at US$45 a barrel for oil and $2.25 for gas, among other measures to reduce spending.
Reliance on handouts
Yesterday, Drayton said while the country had experienced recessions and economic depression before “our resilience has never really been tested.” She said everyone, including babies, elderly and businesses, “are reliant on Government handouts or incentives to survive.” She said while she was not implying that welfare was not essential to cushion the vulnerable, too much government largesse weakens the nation.
However, she said the falling energy prices presented the country with more opportunity to gain than loss. She said it would allow citizens to look at their lifestyles and to “rid ourselves from the unnecessary and costly baggage and to plough resources into resources that would yield wealth down the road.”
She said all the statements about the resources in the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund and months of export cover were “part of a depressing culture. I think it is a distraction from how complex the problems are,” she added. Drayton said the country continued to run huge annual deficits while Government praised itself about the fund.
“The trend of spending will not change unless the culture of leadership changes to one that sets the tone and the example for the rest of the population,” Drayton said. She agreed that if the cuts were “too deep” the situation could be worse, as it could affect business revenue and result in job loss. She said she was told by businessmen that some of contract workers have not been “taken back” for 2015 because of the prevailing economic conditions.
She said the trend of job cuts existed as oil prices continued to fall and the Government “continues to believe that it need not take any significant steps with respect to spending.” According to Drayton, the “problem is social spending,” adding that decisions to deal with the matter “appear to be done by whim and fancy.” She said that was why “it was so easy to dispense with hundreds of millions of dollars under the (now disbanded) Life Sport, just for the sporting fun of it.”
She said there was also a lot of double-speak to deflect from issues and reminded legislators that last September the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed concerns about spending in this country.
More Info
On the controversial issue of immigration, Drayton said she was told by three businessmen that if they did not have labour from Caricom countries, Africa, China, India and South America, they would have had to close their businesses. She said some of those workers’ status remained pending as some have overstayed and were working illegally. Drayton said some of the immigrants have applied for legal status but the process takes a long time.
She said she was “not advocating leniency for people who broke our laws. I am merely putting forward legitimate concerns from our business people.” She said the businessmen have said the Government was aware of the issue. “There are issues with local labour, in terms of quantity, work ethic and the quality of skills,” she said. She said the businessmen have said the work ethic of the foreigners was more desirable than their compatriots.