Opposition parties predict rehashed THA budget 2018

Minority Councillor Dr Faith BYisrael, is predicting that nothing new will be presented in the Tobago House of Assembly’s annual budget statement which will be read by Finance Secretary Joel Jack on June 25.

BYisrael told Newsday Tobago on Wednesday, that for the last 17 years, the THA has presented budgets that were not based on thought, any real vision for Tobago, and were not forward-thinking in its planning.

“We do not expect anything different from this budget, because for the last year or so the current administration, which is just a continuation of the administration that had been there for the last 16 years, has not shown that it can critically analyse the needs of Tobago, the developmental needs and therefore the budget will simply represent that,” she predicted.

“We envision it to be a rehashing of all of the old projects that have been on the cards for the longest while and have failed. We expect it to look exactly like what the Comprehensive Economic Development goals analysis looks like, which was why we have these two Comprehensive Economic Development plans for the last eight or ten years, and we’ve accomplished less than half of what was set out by those plans, so we don’t envision it to be anything of substance,” she added.

BYisrael said she was unaware a date had been set for the presentation, “and considering that the Executive Council would have chosen to meet with the private stakeholders and not include the Minority in any of those discussions is also telling.”

On Monday and Tuesday, Jack met with private sector ahead of his sixth THA budget presentation which will take place at the Assembly Chamber in Scarborough from 10 am.

Political Leader of the Tobago Forwards, Christlyn Moore, also predicted that this year’s budget presentation would be a rehash of years gone by.

“As usual, I expect that the budget will be a wish list plagiarised from the wish lists of the last ten years. I expect that some unrealistic figure will be sought that is completely disconnected from economic actualities.

“I expect recycled ideas and promises to start the same programmes that were promised last year and the year before that. I expect crowing about projects completed in 2018 that were 20 years in waiting.

“I expect that the THA will continue in the business of misleading the nation, safe in the knowledge that it is accountable to no one,” said Moore.