JavaScript is disabled in your web browser or browser is too old to support JavaScript. Today almost all web pages contain JavaScript, a scripting programming language that runs on visitor's web browser. It makes web pages functional for specific purposes and if disabled for some reason, the content or the functionality of the web page can be limited or unavailable.

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

Looking at T&T other than through Mitchell’s rose-coloured glasses

by

280 days ago
20241024

Ap­par­ent­ly stung by the Op­po­si­tion's re­lent­less crit­i­cism of the 2025 Bud­get and of the Gov­ern­ment's stew­ard­ship of the do­mes­tic econ­o­my for the last nine years, Min­is­ter of Tourism, Cul­ture and the Arts, Ran­dall Mitchell, on Tues­day chose to re­spond with an un­bal­anced and over­ly rosy por­trait of Trinidad and To­ba­go in Oc­to­ber 2024.

Speak­ing in Par­lia­ment, Mr Mitchell in­vit­ed Trin­bag­o­ni­ans to trav­el with­in the Caribbean, and to Cana­da, the US or the UK, to "see in those coun­tries what the high cost of liv­ing re­al­ly looks like and feels like...

"When you go out there and you ex­pe­ri­ence the high cost of fu­el, the high cost of util­i­ties, the high cost of trans­porta­tion, and the high cost of ac­com­mo­da­tion, that is when you know how good we have it here in Trinidad and To­ba­go.”

In com­par­i­son to coun­tries in the re­gion and across the world, it is true that cost of elec­tric­i­ty and wa­ter in T&T is low, and the price of fu­el is fixed and pre­dictable, un­like many coun­tries in which it may vary on a month­ly or even dai­ly ba­sis.

Trans­porta­tion costs are close­ly linked to the price of fu­el, which has risen quite sub­stan­tial­ly in the nine years that the cur­rent ad­min­is­tra­tion has gov­erned T&T. The cost of ac­com­mo­da­tion de­pends large­ly on lo­ca­tion.

The low­er cost of fu­el, util­i­ties and trans­porta­tion in T&T, is due to the mas­sive trans­fer of wealth that res­i­dents have ben­e­fit­ted from for the last two decades.

Guardian Me­dia es­ti­mates in­di­cate that T&T's to­tal ex­pen­di­ture for the ten fis­cal years be­tween 2016 and 2025—which co­in­cides with the nine-plus years the cur­rent ad­min­is­tra­tion has been in of­fice—amount­ed to $531.35 bil­lion.

Of that amount, $285.45 bil­lion was spent on trans­fers and sub­si­dies, some 53.72 per cent of to­tal ex­pen­di­ture, which in­clud­ed sub­stan­tial sums of mon­ey spent on the fu­el sub­sidy and bil­lions trans­ferred to WASA and T&TEC to keep util­i­ty rates low. T&T res­i­dents al­so ben­e­fit from huge sub­si­dies on the cost of ed­u­ca­tion, health­care, state hous­ing and in­tra-is­land trans­porta­tion, as well as a range of grants to thou­sands of peo­ple.

Mr Mitchell is right that the mas­sive amount of mon­ey that has been spent on trans­fers and sub­si­dies by the three ad­min­is­tra­tions in the 21st cen­tu­ry has mod­er­at­ed the cost of liv­ing.

But it is al­so ac­cu­rate to state that since the 14 per cent wage hike for pub­lic ser­vants and teach­ers grant­ed in 2014 and 2015, com­pen­sa­tion for work­ers in this coun­try has not kept pace with the in­creas­es in the cost of liv­ing.

This has meant that the qual­i­ty of life of a sig­nif­i­cant per­cent­age of the pop­u­la­tion, es­pe­cial­ly those em­ployed by the State, has de­clined in re­al terms.

Sec­ond­ly, we are sure that, on re­flec­tion, Mr Mitchell would ac­knowl­edge that some­one's qual­i­ty of life is much more than whether their com­pen­sa­tion keeps up with in­fla­tion.

Qual­i­ty of life met­rics must mean that peo­ple live free from fear that gun-tot­ing killers would not kick down their doors with mur­der in mind. Qual­i­ty of life goes to is­sues such as the length of time spent in traf­fic dai­ly, the stan­dard of ser­vice de­liv­ery in the na­tion's hos­pi­tals and the abil­i­ty of a fam­i­ly trav­el­ling over­seas on va­ca­tion to buy for­eign cur­ren­cy they need.

In many re­spects then, life in T&T is sweet for some but sour for many.


Related articles

Sponsored

Weather

PORT OF SPAIN WEATHER

Sponsored

Today's
Guardian

Publications

Father Anthony Abraham, centre, alongside Jesus Explosion coordinator Lesley Taylor-Gouveia, left, Kerry Ragoobarsingh and Father Ian Taylor, right, pray over the congregation during Jesus Explosion 23 at the Cheryl F Greaves Auditorium, Bishop Anstey High School East, Trincity, on July 19.

Father Anthony Abraham, centre, alongside Jesus Explosion coordinator Lesley Taylor-Gouveia, left, Kerry Ragoobarsingh and Father Ian Taylor, right, pray over the congregation during Jesus Explosion 23 at the Cheryl F Greaves Auditorium, Bishop Anstey High School East, Trincity, on July 19.

Father Anthony Abraham, centre, alongside Jesus Explosion coordinator Lesley Taylor-Gouveia, left, Kerry Ragoobarsingh and Father Ian Taylor, right, pray over the congregation during Jesus Explosion 23 at the Cheryl F Greaves Auditorium, Bishop Anstey High School East, Trincity, on July 19.

Father Anthony Abraham, centre, alongside Jesus Explosion coordinator Lesley Taylor-Gouveia, left, Kerry Ragoobarsingh and Father Ian Taylor, right, pray over the congregation during Jesus Explosion 23 at the Cheryl F Greaves Auditorium, Bishop Anstey High School East, Trincity, on July 19.

Jesus Explosion 23: Visiting priest feeds RC faithful

Yesterday
Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen, right, presents Israel Khan, SC, with the Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League Street Recognition Award while Rajah congratulates him during a ceremony at the St Augustine South Recreation Ground two Sundays ago.

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen, right, presents Israel Khan, SC, with the Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League Street Recognition Award while Rajah congratulates him during a ceremony at the St Augustine South Recreation Ground two Sundays ago.

Courtesy Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen, right, presents Israel Khan, SC, with the Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League Street Recognition Award while Rajah congratulates him during a ceremony at the St Augustine South Recreation Ground two Sundays ago.

Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen, right, presents Israel Khan, SC, with the Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League Street Recognition Award while Rajah congratulates him during a ceremony at the St Augustine South Recreation Ground two Sundays ago.

Courtesy Aneal Rajah Windball Cricket League

Israel Khan honoured by community cricket league

Yesterday
SSCasa chairman Eudaine Garcia meets Guyana President Irfaan Ali

SSCasa chairman Eudaine Garcia meets Guyana President Irfaan Ali

SSCasa chairman Eudaine Garcia meets Guyana President Irfaan Ali

SSCasa chairman Eudaine Garcia meets Guyana President Irfaan Ali

SSCasa steps up Caricom collaboration after summit

2 days ago
Then acting Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Barry Padarath, right, toasts with Argentina Ambassador Gustavo Martinez Pandiani during the Argentine National Day function at the Renassaince Club Room, The Renaissance at Shorelands, on July 9.

Then acting Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Barry Padarath, right, toasts with Argentina Ambassador Gustavo Martinez Pandiani during the Argentine National Day function at the Renassaince Club Room, The Renaissance at Shorelands, on July 9.

ANISTO ALVES

Then acting Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Barry Padarath, right, toasts with Argentina Ambassador Gustavo Martinez Pandiani during the Argentine National Day function at the Renassaince Club Room, The Renaissance at Shorelands, on July 9.

Then acting Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Barry Padarath, right, toasts with Argentina Ambassador Gustavo Martinez Pandiani during the Argentine National Day function at the Renassaince Club Room, The Renaissance at Shorelands, on July 9.

ANISTO ALVES

Argentina wants to export world-famous beef to T&T

2 days ago