As a businessman for the past 50 years, where managing any business is the same as managing a government, when your overdraft is at the maximum you have to do what is the best to save your business; in this case, it is the country. The Minister of Finance and his team have presented a well-thought-out plan in this mid-year review to save T&T.

The fuel subsidy is an area that has hurt our Treasury the most. Its removal is long overdue and we have to bite the bullet even if it is at a risk of our political future—country first.

Both super gasoline and diesel have gone up and the time has come to carpool, and to prepare ourselves for an additional increase. If after further consultation by the advisers this becomes necessary, then so be it. Better late than never and hopefully through prudent fiscal management, our economy can avoid the pitfalls that have befallen countries such as Greece and Venezuela.

The minister addressed most of the areas hurting our country—foreign exchange, Cepep, labour shortage, need for revenue improvement, reducing the fiscal expenditure from 63 billion to 59 billion and the need to base the budget on a more conservative estimate of the price of oil.

Other areas addressed were online shopping and the implementation of a seven per cent charge, which will not only ease the burden on foreign exchange, but will also protect our local businesses from unfair competition. Local businesses have to pay rent, bank loans, taxes, create employment, etc. If these measures work and the government advisers recommend an increase then we will have to further brace ourselves.

One of the important announcements made was the placing of a cap on the foreign exchange. With all due respect to the honourable minister, that 3.7 per cent increase is happening at the banks, but to pay bills, local businesses have had to find alternative sources of US, which are costing over ten per cent in most cases. This of course has had to be passed on to the price of goods to recoup the inflated cost.

The proposed increase by way of new taxes on alcohol and cigarettes is a sound initiative. An additional consideration would be to evaluate a new surcharge on the sale of alcohol toward the prevention of drinking and driving. This surcharge could fund advanced educational campaigns, like the Arrive Alive Safety Awareness Campaign, which was geared towards sensitising citizens about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol. Implementing a system of transport services, at a minimal cost, from bars, nightclubs and other recreational facilities could also be a beneficial move, and is a system employed by other countries around the world. 

In 1970, when oil and gas took over as the main engine of our economy, our production and export of coffee and cocoa declined by 98 per cent. Diversification of the economy is a song that is sung every time there is a decline in oil prices. However, as soon as the prices increase, the song and the music stops. The Government needs to set up a bipartisan team to determine a clear diversification strategy so as to migrate our economy away from its dependency on oil and gas.

Apart from diversification using comparative advantage, we can also look at all social programmes, grants, subsidies and either reduce or stop them if needed. We have observed that the minister and his team have approached this situation in phases.

The first phase seems to be softer measures indicating what new taxes will be implemented. The minister has further proposed the idea that there will be consultation with all stakeholders on these important issues, which seems to be the second phase. The third phase seems to be the performance of the first and second phases. These are challenging times and I commend the efforts of the minister. 

Balliram Maharaj

CEO ADM Import & 

Export Distributors Limited

Sustainable management of T&T’s fisheries sector will reduce this country’s food bill and reduce poverty in fishing communities. T&T’s fisheries sector has gone from being one of the region’s most productive export earners to a net importer. The ocean ecosystem is resilient though. If we treat her well, she will return to life and productivity to the fisheries sector.

 T&T’s waters are overfished. The catch of the day used to be landed on shore by local pirogues; it is now just as likely to arrive by containership from far-flung oceans. A local fish broth can come from half way around the world, from Fiji or Chile.

Gillnet use is one of the main reasons for our dead seas. Gillnets are highly efficient and indiscriminate killers of marine life. Turtles, dolphins, sharks and even whales are caught in gillnets.

Dr Scott Eckert, of turtle research and protection NGO Widecast, found that one in 10 leatherback turtles that enter T&T waters to nest, become entangled and drown in gillnets. This figure should give everybody who cares about the oceans a reason to pause and think.

The public gets rightfully enraged when people sit on the backs of leatherback turtles, or shine light in their eyes when they come to nest onshore. This concern for turtles needs to be translated into a concern for how our seafood is caught.

To protect turtles we must find an alternative to gillnets. The public has a role to play in this. Simply ask how seafood is caught; if the answer is by gillnets, then do not buy it. Encourage vendors to buy from sustainable sources. It is hypocritical to share photos of somebody taking a selfie sitting on a nesting leatherback, while then buying a carite that was caught with a gillnet.

 Gillnets do not only harm the large, charismatic marine mammals and fish. These nets entrap anything that is not small enough to escape through the mesh. They are largely responsible for the decline of T&T’s near shore fishery.

The fisheries law regulates mesh size, but enforcement is lacking. It is common to see non-regulation mesh size gillnets in use. Fishermen know that they are illegal and that by using them they are engaged in a race to the bottom.

One fisherman once asked me what else he could do. It is the tragedy of the commons. All his colleagues use illegal sized mesh to catch the ever-smaller fish. If he doesn’t do the same, then he will starve. It is as simple as that when you live at the margin. Poor policies give fishermen an incentive to poach.

 He suggested that the government must intervene by enforcing the laws and banning the importation of illegal sized gillnets. This will create an even playing field for all fishers. It is just a matter of political will. The Fisheries Act allows the minister to change regulations on nets and target fish by the stroke of a pen.

Of course no gillnet mesh will ever be large enough to allow a six-foot leatherback turtle to pass through it. The short-term goal must be to ban gillnets altogether. The quicker fishers are equipped with selective, sustainable and turtle-friendly fishing gear, the quicker T&T’s fish stocks will recover.

T&T can reverse the tragedy of the commons and shift towards a fishing rights based system. Give fishermen rights to fish. Guarantee them their share and have them agree to limits that will allow fish numbers to recover. When the fish stock grows, so does the profit.

The fishing rights can become an asset, to be bought or sold, and passed down to children and grandchildren. Just like a farmer has land to nurture as an asset, so will a fisher also have his or her asset to take care of.

T&T used to be an exporter of shrimp to the US. That export was stopped by the US because of the unsustainable nature of T&T’s trawler industry and the failure to install Turtle Exclusion Devices. Even if T&T were to comply today, the trawl grounds are depleted. The industrial trawler owners are begging the Government to buy them out.

Several years ago it was announced that industrial trawlers would be banned; to date that is still not the case. Government lawmakers must do their part to rebuild trust and implement effective governance.

AMERY BROWNE

The planet Neptune was discovered in the year 1846. This was a major scientific breakthrough because Neptune’s existence, its mass, its location and its orbital path were actually predicted on paper prior to its telescopic identification. Up to that point in history, planets had been discovered by direct observation of the night sky, using the naked eye for most of them, with Uranus being somewhat an exception having been chanced upon by telescope during a survey of the stars.  

But the aforementioned discovery of Neptune was totally unique. It was not observed by chance but rather by the use of mathematics. 

The key initial development was the observation that Uranus, which was up to that time considered to be the planet furthest from the Sun, was orbiting in an unusual manner which could be best explained if one theorised that there was another object further out that was exerting gravitational influence on Uranus’ path.  

French celestial mathematician Urbain Le Verrier set to work on solving the problem and came up with a predicted location of this hitherto unseen planet. Using Le Verrier’s predictions, German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle initiated a specific search utilising a telescope at the Berlin Observatory, and found Neptune after about an hour.

More than just a history lesson, that sequence reminds us that some things can best be discovered by examining the influence they exert on other things. If we correctly analyse and interpret our known environment we can form proper conclusions about the nature and location of phenomena or objects that might up to now have eluded us. It all starts with observing the aberrations.

An earthly example might be useful at this stage. One might observe that the real estate prices in a small island state are sustained at a level that is astronomically high and difficult to logically explain. One might also observe that the so-called justice system is calibrated to impact the smallest criminals to the greatest degree and the biggest criminals to a negligible extent.  

One might additionally observe that a significant number of international cocaine busts continue to be linked in some way to the products and people of that small state.

One might receive regular reports of a mule or two being intercepted at the airport or dissected on the operating table at a private clinic, with little or no consequence and no linkage to those higher up in the chain. One might measure a high prevalence of illegal firearms in some communities and their regular use in battles for turf and territory. And one might detect signs that many professionals including some in the legal and protective services have been compromised by unseen but powerful hands.

Based on such observations, one can conclude that “untouchables” are well entrenched within that state and that no institution or level of society is exempt from their poisonous influence.

As another example, consider observing a scenario in which there is no transparency associated with the funding of politics, politicians and political parties. One might also observe that despite perennial complaints by public officials about their low salaries, there is often a herculean effort made to get into a Parliament inclusive of bribery, intimidation, collusion, intimate sacrifices and recruitment of political hit men and hit women.  

One might measure the pace of progress toward meaningful reform of campaign and political financing and realise that it is slower than the flow of solid concrete. One might measure the powers and resourcing of the Integrity Commission and conclude that expecting it to find hidden wealth is like chaining a non swimmer to the deck of sinking boat and asking him to dive for lobsters...the lobsters would literally have to come looking for him.  

One might also detect a seemingly inexplicable surge in wealth of certain individuals after they become involved in politics, and a general reticence from certain quarters to prosecute even clear cases of unjust enrichment. Based on such observations, one could confidently conclude that the political culture is heavily impacted by corruption, and that well placed white collar criminals continue to don expensive suits and smile comfortably for the cameras.  

If one considers a history of oil wealth and corruption and observes unusual destinations being selected by a range of public officials for vacation and transit, one would not require a telescope to determine that nationals of the country would have been making heavy use of the type of offshore tax shelters exposed and to be further exposed in the “Panama Papers,” and to determine that some of that activity involves political figures hiding illicitly acquired funds.  

One could certainly predict that those who might have selected other firms beside Mossack Fonseca or countries beside Panama to shield their ill gotten gains must be breathing a sigh of relief and thanking their lucky stars.

You don’t have to be versed in astronomy to be concerned about such matters, and you certainly don’t have to be a celestial mathematician to utter the same refrain every time you look at what is covered and not covered in the news: “heaven help us.”

The Highway Reroute Movement welcomes the efforts by the Government to provide financial information on the collapsed Pt Fortin Highway system.

However, the entire process, from certification to collapse, must be audited. With respect to Debe to Mon Desir, this audit must cover the period from Environmental Management Authority certification (February 2006-April 2010) to late 2015, the date of the bankruptcy and collapse of the OAS. Any audit must consider, in addition to the matters raised in Parliament, the “Panama Papers” and the following:

• Why the EMA, the CEC decision-makers, ignored relevant information warning against Debe to Mon Desir, by consultants, the Institute of Marine Affairs, residents at public consultations and the EMA’s own scientists.
• Why the apparent rush to certification on April 20, 2010, one month before the May 24, 2010 general elections. The decision-maker had not availed itself of the benefit of an understanding of the hydrology of the affected area, the Oropouche Wetland. It had done no proper social or ecological cost-benefit assessments. 
• Why the OAS was chosen over other contractors, globally or locally.
• Why the PP Government ignored the findings of the Inter-American Development Bank, presented to them in mid-2010. The IADB refused to fund this project, stating that the project was over-designed and over-costed; that it had misgivings about the tendering process; that an incremental system of road repair and widening was its feasibility option.
• Why two PP Ministers of Finance failed to intercede and bring transparency and rectification to this project. The first Minister ignored the IDB’s statements presented to him; he also approved financing from recurrent expenditure. The second refused to respond to clear information presented to him in January 2014, demonstrating that the economic rationale, the process and the CEC for this project were flawed. 
• Why the PP Prime Minister, after promising to review the Debe to Mon Desir highway, failed to do a proper review. And subsequently, failed to abide by the recommendations of the $1 million Armstrong Report.
• Why the Prime Minister and her cabinet illegally destroyed the HRM’s Debe camp on June 27, 2012, on a site which the corporate owners had given permission to occupy.
• Why the President of NIDCO allegedly sought to have the Armstrong Committee change parts of the Armstrong Report, leading to its delayed publication. 
• Why NIDCO failed to compensate residents for property occupied by highway construction.
• Why the apparent arbitrariness in compensation packages offered by NIDCO to different property owners.
• Why the NIDCO President failed to produce a cost-benefit analysis for this project after promising the HRM that he would. 
• Why there is apparently no proper cost-benefit for this project.
• Why homes and communities were flooded out at Debe interchange on December 25, 2013, and on July 19, 2015 at Suchit Trace.
• Why aggregate was removed illegally from the Northern Range for the Debe to Mon Desir highway, between October 2013 and February 2014 (Trinidad Express, 31st May 2014). 
• Why the project collapsed under the management of the PP Government, AECOM, the OAS, NIDCO, the Ministry of Works, and others. 

Governments which continue to violate proper approach and process, will continue to retard development. Will continue to burden the Treasury with cost overruns. Will continue to add significantly to the national debt. Will continue to place the business of partisan and corporate actors above the public interest. The immediate financers of this project, the public and the Treasury, must not be robbed of full exposure, the complete picture, from certification to contract to collapse.

There is no need to re-invent the wheel of audit for the Debe to Mon Desir highway process. The 19 experts and scientists of the Armstrong Report concluded that the CEC for the Debe to Mon Desir highway was flawed, and should have been sent back to the applicants, the Ministry of Works.

That no proper social impact assessment, hydrological study, environment cost-benefit analysis were done. It explicitly stated that no works should proceed until the scientific process was applied. It created a template for the execution of projects, particularly large public projects, requiring significant capital expenditure. 

Wayne Kublalsingh,
Highway reroute movement

I am not unhappy with Minister Imbert’s budget review. Like everyone else, I don’t like paying more for anything but finally we have the first glimmers of reducing government dependency and this is a welcome sign. 

The candid comment about Cepep/URP represent a long overdue correction. I feel that increases in super gas/diesel should be phased in yearly rather than one sudden increase. 

I suggest that GATE entry criteria be modified to include a minimum of 12 months local work experience as a prerequisite for tertiary education (helps the scarce labour situation). 

Government must remember that in return for increased taxation the public expects an improved level of service delivered (police, health, etc) and we should not pay more for the same level of service.

R Samaroo

Flabbergasted is the only word that came to mind when I heard the Communication Minister, Maxie Cuffie’s, reply to questions from a television news reporter about the transfer of staff from state-owned GISL to state owner, CNMG.

He said that it was a decision of management as he does not get involved in the day to day operations of state enterprises under his control.

This is well and good but one would think that the Minister, who was at one time an integral part of GISL, would want to have a hands-on understanding of  these two state enterprises, especially with their poor track records and considerable high expenses. 

Pressed further he went on to admit that he does not watch their news! To just say it was a decision of management to transfer staff leaves one to think that the minister is quite content to have the state enterprises under his stewardship just “operate.”

Surely the function of a line minister is to see the companies directly under their portfolios be properly and profitably run so that they can say to voters, and by extension the stakeholders, that their tax dollars are being effectively utilised.

Or if not, recommend to the Cabinet that taxpayers monies are being wasted and the operation be shut down.

In the year 2016 the least we can expect is effective management of our limited resources.

C Peters

The Attorney General summons talking heads to a consultation on prison reform, informs them that the country, in the throes of a recession caused largely by diminished revenues, is spending $50 million per month on people on remand in the nation’s prisons, and says that the consultation is being used to inform the public about what his government intends to do about it and solicit their opinions.

 Now I am sure that the Government’s intentions go further than prisoners on remand. In fact, the AG admits that he is on the admirable course of selling proposed legislation to the population. All well and good. But this smells like a lengthy process and a haemorrhage of $50 million per month in this guava season calls for urgent action.

With this in mind I am offering the following suggestions: 

Firstly, immediately free all who have been already incarcerated for a period longer than that for which they are likely to be jailed, or who are likely to be charged less than $75,000 if convicted. Give them a “get out of jail free” pass and let bygones be bygones.

The second category to be considered are those people who did not fall in the first category, who have been incarcerated for over five years, are not awaiting trial for acts of violence, sexual offences fraud or other offences to be determined, and who have not been convicted more than once for a similar offence within the five years prior to the offence for which they are presently charged.

These people should be released on the condition that they report to a police station or other designated place twice each week and in addition attend a rehabilitative programme to be conducted by Vision on Mission or similar organisations and maintain an attendance record of 80 per cent for the duration of the programme. There should be suitable, legally enforceable penalties for failure to comply with the terms of the release.

This would immediately result in substantial savings, free up prison space, reduce the need for additional prison officers, save court time and thus speed up processing of trials, reduce the need for additional court space, ease the burden on the office of the DPP, reduce the frustration within the prison population and bring about a general improvement in the administration of justice.

Mr Attorney General, if you wish to do anything along these lines I am sure that you can easily sell this to the general population without any further consultation. Your only opposition will come from the opposite benches in the Parliament and from your legal colleagues who will see a reduction in their sources of revenue.

Go for it, and donate 0.5 per cent of the savings in the first year to a charity or charities of my choice.

George Boxill,
Lower Santa Cruz

When I look at so many Caribbean islands that are our neighbours, I am amazed how they have taken the tourist trade and made it into such a growing, striving industry. For some of them tourism has become one of their main sources of revenue.

I honestly believe that tourism in our country can step up and really generate huge foreign exchange (FX). The Carnival season without a doubt is that main isolated time of year when we see an influx of tourists visiting our shores in abundance. But let us face it, that is only once a year and while we may have a cruise liner docking at our sea port every now and then, that is not on a regular basis.

We must take ownership as a people and exploit this great avenue for FX, but it will take some work before we see the real benefits. Without a doubt, the tourism ministry will have to spearhead a vision of this magnitude. 

With this in mind, I would like to offer some simple suggestions. First of all, connections and communication will have to be top priority. Those major cruise liners must now become our friends and a sustainable relationship must always be maintained with the view to get them to see our country as a key spot for docking.

Now for this to become a reality we need to develop attractions that the world will want to come and be part of. Our beaches need to be upgraded, not just Maracas but everywhere, being made attractive with cabanas that people can live in and walk out on the sea shores in the morning—a real Trini vacation. 

Our rich history and culture need to be displayed and advertised everywhere so the world can see and admire. A thirst must be built in them that they would want to visit. It is important when they visit, meaningful tours and shows are put in place that our country with all its wealth of talent will be put on display. They must not be left to wander around the city but we guided to suitable places where, in turn, they can invest.

Another thing that is necessary if we are going to reap the real benefits that are there in tourism is citizen awareness. There are always impressions left on people’s minds when they are treated properly. Everyone likes to feel wanted. I know of individuals who vow to return to certain countries simply because of the way they we treated there. 

Good service goes a long way and that is not just in the hotel. Now there are other areas that can be developed by those in authority but we must begin or strengthen what may be already existing. I am aware that it will take some doing and investment, but I sincerely believe it is the way forward and huge FX can come out of this.   

Arnold Gopeesingh,
Lower saddle Road, San Juan

The first week of April is often a time of startling notices. I don’t mean Budget speeches which we know mean little, since governments do what they want in the Caribbean without parliamentary oversight or civil society representation. For example, in April 1957, the BBC broadcast a film on the news show Panorama, showing Swiss farmers picking freshly grown spaghetti, calling it the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest and fooling thousands of English women into calling in for requests for the plant. Since 1986, press releases for the New York city “April Fools” Day Parade have been issued. It does not exist but still manages to fool many into asking for directions to the “parade.” 

Last week icebergs were said to have appeared, floating in the middle of the Demerara river off Georgetown. This caused some consternation among my climate believer friends, only too ready to believe the worst about hurricanes, earthquakes, icebergs and polar bears. 

So it seemed appropriate at this time for last week’s New York Times to look at some misconceptions in paediatrics and what better place to start than with the teeth since undoubtedly “teething,” together with “gas” and “reflux,” form part of the deadly trio of the most commonly discussed children’s ailments in T&T, almost on a par with adult notions of motor car sickness, the extent to which vomit lingers in a car or whether a Mercedes Benz or a Tiida is better for sore bottoms and backs. Even what we going to call the T20 woman’s cricket team before they become Mommys and start demanding houses for winning games.

Misconception # 1: “Baby teeth do not matter because they are going to fall out anyway.” As the Times article says, nothing could be farther from the truth (unless you believe that the price of oil going back up to $100 a barrel in 2018 so “jess hold strain for a couple of years an we go be good,” which, with the singular exception of the hardworking Minister of Health, seems to be a strong component of this government’s economic policy).

Baby teeth matter because they set up a child’s permanent teeth. Preschoolers with cavities in their baby teeth are three times as likely as other preschoolers to have cavities in their permanent teeth. Bad teeth at five, before the baby teeth fall out, also predicts bad teeth at 25. Caries is partly due to bacteria and if left untreated can develop into an abscess and abscess can spread to the brain and other parts of the body and occasionally kill children. 

Caries is set up by a multiple of things including the genes the baby inherits, the type of bacteria in the mother’s mouth and unsupervised bottle-feeding. Western society places much emphasis on brushing the teeth with toothpaste containing fluoride but preventing the child from drinking excessive amounts of milk and fruit juice, especially the ones in those nasty but convenient little cartons, sugar water masquerading as fruit, is more important. Children are quite unable to brush their teeth properly until they are dexterous enough to tie their shoe laces. That used to happen by the time children started primary school but the popularity of Velcro now means that many are learning this skill a couple years later.

Like competent parents, baby teeth serve as guides to the permanent teeth. When they are not around the permanent teeth may become blocked from growing into their proper place or wander off somewhere else. This invariably leads to the orthodontist office and the expenditure of large sums of money but not usually Forex! Still, who knows?

Misconception # 2: Exercise builds strong bones. It does not. Nor does taking expensive drugs for osteoporosis, one of the latest fashionable women’s diseases. Neither the latest nutritional fad, Vitamin D nor Fosfamox make any difference to building bone mass or strength. There is also no evidence that walking around the Savannah or running a marathon or lifting weights makes any difference to bone development. 

This idea may have risen because of the observation that people who are bedridden lose bone mass. So do astronauts living in weightless conditions. People inferred that the pull of gravity, whether in space or on earth, was necessary for bone to strengthen. That is true but does not mean however that more gravity (from exercise) will make bones stronger.

In fact, exercise does build strong bones but not in adults, in children. By the time you are 18 or so and passed through puberty, your bones are built and fixed and there is almost nothing you can do to change them. Another reason to let children roam and run and climb and bicycle. That, and not milk, makes strong bones.

What you can change is your muscle mass and strength and most people confuse this with bone mass and bone strength. Older people who do weight bearing exercise can decrease their risk of fractures. But this seems to be more likely explained by the fact that exercise leads to stronger muscles that in turn makes falling less likely.

It’s difficult to understand why people believe certain things. I once asked the father of a patient of mine who I had been driving behind on the way to the office why he had slowed down so much going up Flagstaff Hill and then went faster going down? 

“But the car always slows down going up hill,” he explained.

Last Friday the Minister of Finance announced further increases to the prices of super gasoline and diesel. This came as no surprise. As I had mentioned before, the subsidy on petroleum products has its basis in the Petroleum Production Levy and Subsidy Act of 1974. 

The removal of the subsidy can only be effected by the repeal of this Act or amendments to the relevant sections. The Minister of Energy can however change the prices of petroleum products by Legal Notice. 

Section 9 of the Act creates the Levy. The Levy is used to offset the subsidy. The oil companies that produce crude oil pay the Levy. It is calculated as four per cent of the gross income from the production of crude oil. Smaller oil companies that produce less than 3,500 barrels of oil per day are exempted from paying the levy. The Minister of Finance has not told us what he plans to do with the Levy going forward. If he plans to dismantle the subsidy then the levy should also go. 

For years the country’s leading economic minds had been saying the subsidy had to go. Past Governments, including the one I was part of, kept subsidy in place. The opportunity to start the process of removing the subsidy presented itself when oil prices collapsed in 2014/2015 thus making its removal less painful. Mr Imbert has seized the opportunity and has bitten the bullet. 

With regard to diesel, in the last seven months, the retail price has moved from TT$1.50 to TT$2 per litre. This is a 33 per cent increase. The price of diesel had been TT$1.50 per litre since 2003. Keeping the price of diesel the same for 12 years came at a significant cost. It promoted a culture of waste and created the black market for diesel. 

Can you imagine KFC keeping its prices the same for 12 years? On the other hand it may be argued that the majority of goods and services are transported using diesel—powered trucks and vans and therefore the subsidy helps to keep inflation down. While there will be an initial inflationary impact from the fuel prices increases, the economy will eventually find an equilibrium point again. 

The other fuel that was impacted upon was super gasoline. This is the most used fuel in T&T. It accounts for 53 per cent of the 1.3 million litres of liquid fuel the nation consumes on an annual basis. By increasing the price of super gasoline from TT$2.70 per litre to $3.58 per litre, the Minister has totally removed the subsidy on this fuel. 

In fact, the Minister may have gone too far. He told the Parliament that US$45 per barrel for crude oil equates to a retail price of TT$3.61 per litre for super. He then set the retail price just below that at TT$3.58 per litre. However, oil is not US$45 per barrel. It is US$40 dollars a barrel. 

If you do the adjustment the retail price of diesel should be about TT$3.22 per litre. This means that the country is being overcharged for super gasoline. Of course that situation could change if oil prices increase.

In T&T, premium gasoline remains at TT$5.75 per litre. It accounts for just three per cent of the liquid fuels we consume. It is the preferred or recommended fuel for high performance vehicles such as Audis, BMWs etc. At US$40 per barrel for crude oil, premium is overpriced by about TT$2 per litre. If the Government is moving towards a market-based approach it should consider pricing premium at a price more reflective of market conditions. 

With regard to incentives, the Finance Act of 2010 had introduced incentives for CNG vehicles. These incentives expired on December 2015 but were recently extended to 2018. The Finance Act of 2015 removed Motor Vehicle Taxes on Hybrids up to 1600 cc’s and on electric cars. The Minister has now gone a step further and announced that he would remove all taxes on CNG, Hybrid and electric cars. It is good to see that there is continuity of policy in this area. 

It is also good to see private sector companies such as Automotive Components Limited, Classic Motors, Dumore Enterprises and Sterling Motors taking the initiative on CNG. With regard to Hybrids, Toyota is already selling their Hybrids into the local market. The Ministry of Energy is the owner of two Hybrid vehicles. 

Given the move to a more market-based approach to pricing fuel, the Government should also have a serious look at the retail margins that gas stations get as well as the wholesale margins that are afforded to NP and Unipet with the view of improving both these margins. Improving the retail margin will help some gas station owners stay in business. Some gas stations are on the brink of closure given the increases over the years in minimum wage, green fund levy and business levy. 

I will dedicate another column to CNG as it has been incorrectly said that nothing was done in the last five years.

Like many citizens in T&T I am deeply concerned about the plight of the over 600 ArcelorMittal and other workers who recently lost their jobs through no fault of their own. The report of one spouse trying to end her life because of impending financial problems adds to the pain we must all feel for these workers. 

Mr Christopher Henry, president of the Steel Workers Union that represents these workers stated in one newspaper, “The situation is terrible and will get worse as time goes on. The social fallout has started.” He went on “Everyday that goes by it gets worse. It’s a hopeless situation. Right now the workers are getting by on the two months’ salary they got from the recent court judgment but when that is finished they will have no money…They have house mortgages to pay, car loans and utility bills, not to mention food and other living expenses.” 

In response to this alarming situation the Minister of Labour indicated that Government has approved a ten-point mitigation plan to assist these retrenched workers. The plan appears to have several commendable features but in my view does not go far enough; a more direct intervention is needed. 

To this end I wish to propose that a plan along the lines of the Unemployment Insurance available from the Department of Labor in the USA be immediately introduced. This plan is designed for “workers who become unemployed through no fault of their own.” It is intended to provide temporary financial assistance for them while they seek new employment. 

There are several eligibility requirements and strict rules that govern the operation of the fund. In general, “benefits are based on a percentage of an individual’s earnings over a recent 52-week period” up to a maximum value. The USA fund pays for a maximum of 26 weeks but I believe in the much smaller economy here in T&T it should extend up to at least 52 weeks and in exceptional cases beyond this.

For the first year, funds (which I estimate to be of the order of $100 million) for this proposal can come from the Heritage and Stabilization fund which as the Minister of Finance reminded recently is intended for use in circumstances such as the country is now experiencing. For the longer term the proposed plan can be funded by, for example, the re-introduction of the property tax or some other deduction that may be considered reasonable for this purpose.

I implore the Prime Minister to urgently consider this suggestion. We are among the wealthiest countries per capita in the Americas and cannot allow some of our citizens to go through such hardships and agony without doing more. 

I suspect that a majority of citizens would favour such a proposal as it is a tangible realisation of the caring we must have for each other especially in times of crisis. Moreover as has often been said, “good policy is good politics.”

Professor Stephan Gift

Dean, Faculty of Engineering, UWI

Online shoppers shop online to bypass local price-gouging merchants. What are we citizens to do when government sanctions us with tariffs to force us to desist from boycotting their merchant friends and party financiers?

The Finance Minister blames private online shoppers for draining US currency. But he doesn’t blame merchants for importing too much, thus having over stocked businesses and warehouses. The Minister doesn’t see it fit to twist his merchant friends’ arms to import less to make more US currency available to private shoppers to buy what they actually want and need at decent prices. It appears in his opinion online shoppers should patronise the cutthroat prices and inferior goods that these merchant sell.

What type of government executes a tariff against it’s own citizens to buffer profits for the merchant class friends and financiers? Tariffs are normally imposed on foreign business merchants. T&T’s import merchant cartel have gotten government to place a seven per cent tariff on imports made by private citizens who import goods at cheaper prices and of higher quality than what the local merchant cartel class imports and sells at inflated prices.

What is horrendous about this tax is that it is in addition to import duty of 20 to 30 per cent and VAT of 12.5 per cent. This nuisance tax measure surely will cripple national initiative and creativity across the nation’s productive sector.

In a latest twist concerning taxing online shoppers Mr Imbert gave the commitment that buyers will get a “bligh?” Mr Imbert, keep your bligh. I for one am more resolved than ever to not buy merchandise from local price-gouging businesses. I’ll stick to buying quality products at superior prices online. 

B Joseph

The Finance Minister blames private online shoppers for draining US currency. But he doesn’t blame merchants for importing too much, thus having over stocked businesses and warehouses. The Minister doesn’t see it fit to twist his merchant friends’ arms to import less to make more US currency available to private shoppers to buy what they actually want and need at decent prices. It appears in his opinion online shoppers should patronise the cutthroat prices and inferior goods that these merchant sell.

What type of government executes a tariff against it’s own citizens to buffer profits for the merchant class friends and financiers? Tariffs are normally imposed on foreign business merchants. T&T’s import merchant cartel have gotten government to place a seven per cent tariff on imports made by private citizens who import goods at cheaper prices and of higher quality than what the local merchant cartel class imports and sells at inflated prices.

What is horrendous about this tax is that it is in addition to import duty of 20 to 30 per cent and VAT of 12.5 per cent. This nuisance tax measure surely will cripple national initiative and creativity across the nation’s productive sector.

In a latest twist concerning taxing online shoppers Mr Imbert gave the commitment that buyers will get a “bligh?” Mr Imbert, keep your bligh. I for one am more resolved than ever to not buy merchandise from local price-gouging businesses. I’ll stick to buying quality products at superior prices online. 

B Joseph

Hooray for whistleblowers! It is because of the success of their efforts that the enormity of the secret financial industry is being revealed. People who have been swearing by their integrity have been found to be engaging in illicit activities.

While holding offshore accounts in itself is not a crime, and there may be legitimate reasons for the secrecy, in so many cases people have been telling lies about their business activities that it cannot be for only reasons of security. 

In fact, if it were not that they were forced to tell the truth, the lie would have been perpetuated. But thanks to the vigilance of some people, nauseated by the dishonesty of these supposed exemplars, the information has come out and the guilty ones are being exposed.

The trend started some years ago with revelations about extraordinary renditions of alleged terrorists by the United States, which country did not have the time nor the inclination to justify its actions, and in many cases incarcerated people against whom there was no evidence. This was followed by the scandal about the tapping of the phones of the leaders of friendly nations.

Without the transparency forced upon world leaders by these revelations the actions of these leaders would never be reined in. We need more of this type of conscientious oversight.

Karan Mahabirsingh

The country has sustained its’ people all their lives and now it is the turn of the people to return the favour to the country. The time is right and conditions are perfect, for it is the beloved PNM that created the freeness and the dependency syndrome and quite appropriately it has fallen on them to rectify, as another regime would hardly be able to implement these measures and escape. 

However, now that citizens are asked to directly intervene in the economic fortunes of the country, the protection of workers must take priority along with the age of retirement. 

The days of sitting and moping around till age 65 while collecting social welfare on the way must be discontinued and there must be proper propriety of the peoples’ money as our natural resources of asphalt oil and gas can no longer sustain our cronyism nepotism and corruption.

Ramesh Marajh

Palo Seco

We are all revelling in the glorious victories of West Indies cricket teams—women, youth and senior. This has brought back great memories to a particular section of the West Indies public who tell stories to their children and grand children of a once all-conquering West Indies team. And those children may have felt just that it was a fairy tale for the present teams hardly reflect any traces of a once-dominant cricketing force.

This trio of victories has changed all of that. They have seen, they may now believe. But more importantly the players and the technical staff and administrators must share that belief and act on it. It will never be good enough to bask in the glory of the victories, or just sit back and wait for another alignment of the stars. Visionary leadership and effective implementation of well thought out plans are absolute necessities.

Closer home, I ask our population to seek inspiration from the recent performances of our three successful West Indies teams. 

Faced with a plethora of negatives, each one of the three teams stood up, faced the myriad adversities at home and at the tournaments, eventually conquering all. How sweet are the joys of victory.

The words “grovel,” “mediocre,” and “no brains,” used to perhaps belittle our maroon army, at different times, served instead to motivate and inspire our troops.

Let us as a people, in the face of financial and other adjustments our country must make, similarly utilise what seems to be a negative position to create a new success model for smaller nations. The opportunity is ours, the time is now. Adjust our lifestyles, re-adjust our goals and objectives, work smarter and harder for our country, our children and their future. Utilise as much as possible, local content, starting wherever we can without too much discomfort and working our way towards becoming adjustment champions.

Just remember that in order for us to be part of a champion team, we must each be a team champion.

Thank you, Windies, and may your inspirational victories make a positive and lasting impact on the people of our Caribbean diaspora.

Baldath Mahabir

Wendy Nanan is one of our more interesting artists—reclusive, unorthodox and quirky. Her most recent untitled show, which opened last week at the Medulla Art Gallery, adds “darkly humorous” to those descriptors.

Long story short, they’re sculptures and installations reminiscent of the pudenda. Some look like long seed-pods split down the middle, showing an array of small objects embedded on the red inner walls, like sea or cowrie shell. Others pieces were withered palm and banana leaves folded to a vaguely triangular shape. The artist actually asked for suggestions to name the pieces/show.

Well, an almost reflexive and prurient interpretation popped into my mind, which I kept to myself. But I wasn’t alone. I started hearing sotto voce comments from the klatches gathered around the pieces: vag…., giggle, vag…. giggle, vag…..giggle. It sounds like a Sesame Street clip, but if I get the headline through (“Mostly about vaginas” was the initial offering, don’t know whether my editors will be amused), I certainly wouldn’t want to push my luck by writing “vagina” too many times. This paper is approaching its 100th birthday, and might not be so amenable to a blasé 21st century liberality.

So where did all these vaginal meditations come from? Ms Nanan isn’t an overtly political artist, but politics infuses her work. Her 50th anniversary of Independence show comprised a number of sculptures pasted with British stamps, along with effigies of blue-skinned cherubs, reminiscent of Hindu deities, with angel wings. In the early 2000s when the racial politics were like dry-season bush fires in Trinidad, she painted Hindi/Sanskrit phrases onto canvas, which translated into things like “Trini to the Bone.” There was also an exhibition on cricket.

It also occurred to me that for the people (there weren’t many) at the opening to come to the same conclusion, and find it amusing and admirable, wasn’t coincidence. People who look at art regularly have become accustomed to different ways of seeing. That is, they’ve acquired the ability to see things in a non-literal way, deliberately, and they have the ability to see several things simultaneously. This isn’t necessarily a function of formal education; it has a lot to do with the environment that produces the minds and personalities interpreting it. Clearly this is not true of the society.

Ms Nanan couldn’t have planned this, but about the time when her work was launched at Medulla, health minister Terrence Deyalsingh was screeching the Government’s commitment to the archaic laws that govern abortion. This as the first case of the Zika virus infecting a pregnant Trinidadian woman was reported.

The issue has been noted by other commentators: of a bunch of old men making decisions about women’s bodies and rights. There’s something positively medieval about that. Along with something misogynistic, myopic and sadistic, when you view the consequences of the tableau.

The CNC3 News has been doing an excellent series on victims of rape and sexual abuse these last weeks, and the stories have a few themes in common. Young girls, mostly in their teens, raped by stepfathers, strangers, ignored or further abused by mothers and authorities, and ending up in the streets, with children in tow. For these girls/women there’s no sign of the moralists who insist on the sanctity of life which makes abortion unthinkable.

Apropos, on another excellent CNC3 show, the Rundown on Monday night, a clip was shown of a Moruga shopkeeper being asked what they did in Moruga for recreation. The answer: getting drunk and watching “digging”—better known as porn. And not just in Moruga: you hear about school kids making their own “digging” videos on phones and sharing them.

Reforming abortion laws won’t solve all these problems. But making safe abortions available to women (and teenage rape victims), especially of the lower economic strata, will have a long-term positive effect on the country. It will probably not stop the abuse without the police actually doing their jobs, but it would stop young girls from being doubly assaulted, the second assault being left with the frequently unwanted consequence of rape for the rest of their lives, and the trauma they must relive.

And it is also a class issue, as middle-class women have access to safe and competent abortions. It’s yet another instance of transparent hypocrisy crushing the poor and unfortunate. The present government can’t take the blame alone. It’s a source of morbid fascination to me as to how uniform, below the skin, the political establishment is. 

The previous government, with its large lower house majority, could have brought changes to laws governing gender, marijuana and abortions. The PP being led by a woman might have led some to believe a different set of values to the standard-issue patriarchal, rigid and misogynistic one would prevail.

Needless to say, nothing changed during the PP years. And the PNM has made its position clear: it remains reactionary, hidebound and puritanical. (At least on the surface. But we all know what goes on below that brittle veneer.) You’d hardly suspect that their founder, Dr Eric Williams, was spat out by the powerful Roman Catholic establishment in his day for supporting contraception.

Did Wendy Nanan know that this futile abortion debate was coming? Or was she responding to something else with her choice of media, image and ambiguity in not naming the show? If anything the show proves one of art’s great characteristics: that it is constative—capable of being simultaneously true and false. It also shows that artists are, like Pound says, the antennae of the race, and at least one of them is doing her job. If only we could say that of politicians and police.