Shastri Boodan
Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon admitted that the Rowley administration might very well suffer losses because of the decision to close the Petrotrin. At the time she was fielding questions from the audience at a post-Budget symposium hosted by Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation’s Auditorium on Thursday night.
“We may suffer a loss in 2020 on account of that but I do believe that the right thinking people are very, very clear on the posture we have adopted with Petrotrin,” she said.
However, she maintained that the closure of the facility was inevitable.
“There is absolutely no explanation that can be given to justify carrying a loss making business at $2 billion per year,” she said.
Gopee-Scoon also defended Government’s decision to get back into the aluminum business and responded to questions about the future of agriculture sector based on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s recent statement about the lack of available land in T&T.
She said the sector remains a pillar for diversification even though the budget has been slashed for the Ministry of Agriculture.
“What the Prime Minister was alluding to is the kind of production we should look to having regard to our small physical space,” she said.
However, that explanation was rejected by Vasant Bharath, a former Trade Minister, who described it as “silly.”
He said T&T imports vegetables from Costa Rica where production is maximized through technology and local production can increase but there are limiting factors, such as price guarantees, distribution and marketing.
Another former minister, Mariano Browne, quoted statistics which showed that between 2000-2016 transfers and subsidies grew by 300 per cent while gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 184 per cent.
Browne said debt has been rising while reserves have been falling and will continue to do so until 2023 based on statistics from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said reserves fell from a high of US$11 billion in 2014 and are expected to be down to US$4 billionby 2023. The debt service ratio has also been rising.
According to Browne, while there was 7.3 per cent in the manufacturing sector, that did not include the sale of petroleum products and did not take into consideration the negative effects of the closure of the Petrotrin refinery at Pointe-a-Pierre.
Bharath said there are serious structural issues relating to labour, the public service, the inability to complete capital projects and create a proper business climate.
He said while the Finance Minister continues to speak about reducing expenditure,he does not address ways to increase GDP. He described the budget as a regurgitation of plans that have failed to materialize, such as the property tax, gambling legislation, the Tobago airport and the Revenue Authority.
Head of T&T Automotive Dealers Association (TTADA) Visham Babwah, who was in the audience, told Gopee-Scoon Government would save millions of dollars by investing in hybrid technology and electric cars rather than using scarce resources to develop a CNG infrastructure that has failed to catch on.