Our blighted PNM country

Photo Courtesy: Trini view.com

Commentary by Capil Bissoon. 

I have said it before, I will say it again that the greatest disaster to befall Trinidad and Tobago is the fact that the PNM has governed us for most of its 52 years since independence.

The PNM took our country which in 1962 had a higher per capita GNP than Singapore and turned us into a struggling underperforming PNM country characterised by escalating crime; persistent poverty especially in PNM controlled areas; misallocated resources; an oversized, inefficient and expensive public service; a costly, unproductive welfare state; and systems that frustrate initiative and our entrepreneurial spirit.

If the PNM and Keith Rowley were to win in 2015 that would be an unmitigated disaster. We may not be able to survive.

It is a great pity that the two recent oil booms occurred when the PNM was in office.

The wastage of the late 1970s is recorded in history – O’Halloran affair, costly government to government contracts, incomplete comprehensive schools and a shift system that helped create the escalating inner city crime we now face, and the shift to imported foods.

To cut a long story short PNM’s ineptitude drove us to the IMF.

The second energy boom occurred under the watch of the last PNM government.

We know about Calder Hart, about Malcolm Jones’ failed and costly “Gas to Liquids” and “Gas Optimization” projects at Petrotrin; about Joan Yuille William’s scholarships for PNM children; about Hunt’s $2-million flag; 75 outstanding wage negotiations and unquantified debts at Clico and HCU together with $6 billion owed to contractors. We know about useless blimps and significant loans from the Chinese – debts left for future generations…READ MORE