seets@carib-link.net

Those budget cuts

Was it not just a few months ago that the Government was talking about the purchase of a private jet? Now we read of the Prime Minister travelling to Cuba on a commercial airline. Shades of how the mighty have fallen, one might think.

This one issue is symptomatic of how the Government spending appears to have been done in the last few years almost by vaps. The PM feels that as head of government of T&T he (and his ministers) should be flying by private jet, a Bombardier no less, and not mere commercial airlines or even a leased aeroplane. The next week we hear of it via the media and the Finance Ministry only then reveals the plans and the cost of the jet about TT$400 million.

The proposal is eventually scrapped not because the Government on its own realised the extravagance but because of the outcry by the more pragmatic public.

Sensible approach

In recent times it has been the public rather than the Government, in my opinion, who has been promoting a more sensible approach towards national expenditure.

In relation to the Bombardier, callers on radio stations seemed more appreciative of the fact that ownership of a private jet was not necessary in a country of this size and leasing, whenever immediate travel was needed, was a better option.

It was clearly more cost effective. The Government in retrospect should thank the public, or at least those who publicly shared their opinions, for pushing this change of policy in this regard since in the process hundreds of millions of dollars have been saved.

Another apparent aberration was the initial plan to buy 200 luxury vehicles for the Summit of Americas next year. This was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs two months ago. Again the public gasped. What was the need to buy the vehicles? Were we intent on simply showing off? Had the Government never heard of leasing? The summit would be for two weeks or so and for that you would buy luxury vehicles for everyone?

Even though the minister did say the vehicles would have eventually been absorbed in the various ministries this did not diminish the extravagant nature of the scheme.

Soon after local car companies suggested that they could supply the vehicles and the Government need not actually buy them (at a cost of over $100 million), the Government back tracked and it did so to the extent that the PM was actually querying who had said they would buy the cars—apparently unaware that it came from his own minister.

The car companies offered to bring in the cars and let the Government use them for the summit if they would simply waive the taxes on them. They posited this as a win-win solution.

The public seemed to agree. When the dust settled the Government had given up the idea of buying the vehicles.

They, however, seemed oblivious to the offer of the local car companies to loan them the vehicles. Last I heard of the matter they were proposing to lease the vehicles directly from the car manufacturers.

Common sense would suggest that the cost of that would be ridiculous what with shipping costs and the like, but again the Government seemed not to be concerned with such mundane matters.

Slower spending

Then came the Budget and the boast of the biggest budget ever. When warned of extravagant spending the Government talked of its deposits in the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund to provide for a rainy day. The fact that the amount was less than US$3 billion suggest that it had not conceptualised that oil princes, having peaked at an unprecedented high of over US$140 a barrel, must come down at some time.

Economists advised putting all of the unexpected windfall into the fund but the Government rejected this and instead what we had were plans to spend more.

In short the free social programmes of the Government had grown to the extent that one wondered how they could be sustained should the price of oil and energy products fall.

Now we know. Oil prices are one third of what they were a few months ago. The world is in a recession and the T&T Government has more than a month after the rest of the world conceded that we must cut the budget and tighten our belts.

This was long after the average member of the public had slowed down on his spending. And what are the things most negatively affected in our budget? Housing and education. But Cepep and URP will remain untouched.

No plans on how the economy is to be improved or what measures will be put in place to diversify outside of the energy sector.

Once again the public got it right while the Government lagged behind. Meanwhile I still await those 100-acre super farms.