Rowley’s Lack of Vision
Rowley’s lack of vision once more resonates in his idealology.
What would you cut Dr. Rowley ?
As the price of oil continues to plummet on the global market it seems Dr. Rowley’s contribution to this nations development also continues to plummet. As the world endures this unfavourable economic dilemma many Governments are forced and drawn into making tough decisions so as to ensure the stability of their national economies. At home the Prime Minister together with her team has been continuously monitoring the situation and will be making an announcement on the way forward very soon, however as per usual she has demonstrated vision by committing and stating that even when measures have been taken those services which affect the underprivileged and less fortunate would not be affected.
Clearly from the start of this situation the Honourbale Prime Minister has set out a plan and strategy one which will ensure that the best interest of her nation is upheld. However in contrast the individual who touts himself as the “Prime Minister in waiting” has yet again made another meaningless statement. Opposition Keith Rowley has called on the Government to make cuts, but what are these cuts? As a “leader” with vision he has failed like previous occasions to tell the nation what and how the PNM under his stewardship would deal with this situation. One is aware that the PNM is intellectually bankrupt but however we must question the Opposition leader to ascertain what would he cut. Would he cut the following ?
Would it be construction of: new Early Childhood Care and Education Centres;
New hospitals at Penal and Point Fortin, and the Children’s Hospital in Couva?
Would he stop social assistance for the poor who depend on the state for survival?
Would he cheat children of educational opportunities and computers?
There is no doubt with oil prices falling certain decisions would have to be made, however under the Prime Ministers Leadership the nation must find comfort as she has turned our economy around in the past four years, and this rough road will be easily traveled.
T&T continues to attract foreign investment. Since taking office the PP government has moved Foreign Direct Investment from US$500M to more than US$2Billion and it continues to grow. This level of international confidence in the economy is unprecedented and it must be noted the country continues to enjoy the best credit rating from Standard and Poor’s.
The continuing confidence is demonstrated in a meeting the trade minister had recently with a delegation from Sutherland Global Services (SGS), which was facilitated by the Trinidad and Tobago International Finance Centre (TTIFC). The delegation is currently exploring Trinidad’s financial sector as a favourable investment destination. Sutherland Global Services (SGS) is a global provider of business process and technology management services offering an integrated portfolio of analytics-driven back-office and customer facing solutions that support the entire customer life cycle. SGS’s investment into the local economy (outside the energy sector) will provide tremendous economic activity.
Once more Rowley has been out shined by the Honourable Prime Minister as she continues to manage and develop our nation, sector by sector, community by community and citizen by citizen in equitable manner.
It was only last month Trade Minister Vasant Bharath called for more foreign direct investment (FDI) From Canada to stimulate the T&T economy. He did so when he met with a 30-member Canadian delegation—led by Senator Don Meredith—which was in T&T looking at ways to strengthen trade and economic relations, as well as investment opportunities in various sectors.
Canadian Senator Don Meredith was on record saying that this country should look at falling oil prices as an opportunity to move forward and diversify the economy. Meredith said the government of Canada under prime minister Stephen Harper has been able to weather the growing turbulence in the global energy sector because of its diversified economy. “I think this crisis, or this potential problem creates an opportunity for Trinidad and Tobago to move forward and the diversification into other sectors, agriculture, tourism, ICT (Information and Communications Technology) eco-tourism, creates an opportunity for these sectors to move forward at this particular juncture in time,” said Meredith.
The statement made by the Canadian delegation comes at a point in 2015 when our economy is strong and in good shape. The macroeconomic indicators by which we measure our economic strength as a regional leader and global player are far better than the economy we inherited in 2010. The following statistics are testament to that fact ;
– Unemployment remains historically low at 3.6 percent;
– At the end of December 2014, our foreign reserves stood at US$11.3 B (TT$73B), an increase of almost 30 percent from 2010 and the highest in our country’s history;
– The Heritage and Stabilization Fund has increased by over US$2B since 2010 to US$5.5B (an increase of over 65 percent since 2010
– New Investment in the energy sector is projected in 2015 to be well over US$2Billion (TT$13 billion)
– In December, Standard and Poor’s reaffirmed Trinidad and Tobago’s “A” credit rating, with a stable outlook for the economy.
The Government continues to roll out the red carpet and clear the bureaucracy in doing business in T&T which was evident by the World Bank hailing T&T as one of the top ten reformers in the world out of 189 countries. Government remains committed and flexible in ensuring that the necessary reforms are made to make certain the investment dollar stays on the shores of T&T.
It was as a result of this strong economic situation that Canadian senator Don Meredith said, “We are leaving with a sense of optimism, a sense of enthusiasm as well with respect to the projects that will be brought back here infrastructure wise and the ICT and investment that will be brought here the oil has affected your revenues of $1.2 billion and certainly this is an opportune time for all of us to get together.”
Former Great American Football Coach Paul Bryant once said ” Show class, have pride and display character. If you do winning takes care of itself”. One can therefore see why the pure class of Kamla Persad Bissessar will once more be victorious
Yours In Service,
Nicholas Morris
United National Congress
Youth Arm
Chairman.
The sad thing is that even though Dr Rowley lacks vision, it seems that the UNC does as well. And the worst part is, it seems that the UNC have blind supporters who only care about themselves. How can we continue and sustain our rate of spending. With five record breaking budgets, all we have to show for it is box drains and paved roads. Our children and grandchildren will have to pay one way or another. Like it or not, we are in for a rough ride regardless of who wins the elections.
Raven, I ask you to look again and tell me if this look like only “roads & drains”
• Settled 83 wage negotiations 34 of which was left outstanding by the PNM
• Settled $25 billion CLICO Crisis
• Turn around a recession economy from negative 3.5% to positive 1.7% growth
• Turn around the agriculture sector
• Created the Children life fund
• Reduced poverty by 6%
• Created the Single Electronic Window for ease of doing business
• Built the Couva Interchange
• Converted Chancery Lane office complex into a teaching hospital
• Replaced the Navet South Trunk Main which improved water supply to over 250,000 households
• Upgrades to Hollis Main for an improved water supply along corridor
• Paid $1.5 billion owed to contractors by the PNM
• Completed the Aranguez Overpass
• Constructed the St. Helena Delta Bridge connecting Kelly Village to Piarco
• Completed the Churchill-Roosevelt Highway Extension
• Constructed a Third Lane to Uriah Butler Highway
• Rehabilitated the Tarouba Link Road.
• Construction of the Solomon Hochoy Highway Extension from Golconda to Debe
• Completion of the Churchill Roosevelt Highway/Uriah Butler Highway Interchange
• Built 83 new schools
• Built 8 new police stations at Arima, Maloney, Piarco, Cumuto, Brasso, Oropouche, La Brea and Moruga.
• Provided 500 new vehicles to the Police Service
• Created over 40 New Bus routes
• Processed more than 7,000 Certificates of Comfort (COCs).
• Commissioned 12 community centres at Gulf View, Marac, Waterloo, Union Claxton Bay, Malabar Phase IV, La Gloria, Hindustan, Bon Air West, Ste. Madeleine, Sisters’ Road, Second Caledonia, Duranta
• Built over 30 Bridges
• Ministry of Local Gov’t paved 1150 local roads in fiscal year 2012/13
• FOREIGN direct investment increased by over 400% since 2010 from $3.5 billion to almost $16.1 billion.
• Given out 95,000 Laptops to Form one Students
• Reduced Inflation from 16% in 2010 to 6% in 2014.
• Opened 17 MIC Technology Centre
• Increased 24/7 Water Supply from 18% in 2010 to 73% in
2014
• Installed lights at 160 Recreation Grounds
• Increased old age pension by $1,000
• Increased minimum wage from $9.00 to $15.00
Delivery for Tobago
• Completed the long awaited Tobago hospital improving health care in Tobago
• Completed the Magdalena Grand improving rooms for Tourism
• Opened a new gas station at Roxborough.
• Fixing the problem with obtaining land title
• IMPROVED BUS SERVICE
• $150 million upgrade for ANR Airport
• New Fire Station for Black Rock (In Progress, See Udecott site for status)
• New MET Office (In Progress, See Udecott site for status)
• Opened the Tobago Technology Centre at Bon Accord
• The establishment of an integrated campus for UTT
• 100% OF TOBAGO WILL HAVE 24/7 WATER SUPPLY BY JULY
and the list goes on…