Corporations must communicate better

Business interests yesterday tried to explain the challenges interacting with officials from regional corporations at the eighth Parliamentary Joint Select Committee (JSC) on Local Government Reform.

Almost all the representatives present, from Port of Spain fish vendors, Chaguanas, Tunapuna Palo Seco, San Fernando and Princes Town Chambers of Commerce, and Rio Claro market vendors, highlighted the need for better communication, visibility, interaction and accountability from their respective regional corporations.

Chairman Paul Richards, however, preferred to keep grievances to a minimum and instead insisted that the conversation be limited to the bill at hand, frequently interrupting contributors before they could fully articulate their points.

“We don’t see the plan for Chaguanas,” chamber representative Tricia Ramlal told the committee. Because of that, it’s hard to see how business can fit in and what’s the direction and vision for the area. “How can we buy into something that is ambiguous?”

“Stick to the bill. I appreciate what you are saying but what can you recommend for us to improve the situation?” Richards countered.

Princes Town chamber representative Alicia Ali also tried to use examples, like a $150,000 “welcome to Princes Town” sign that nobody liked, as misallocation of resources that could be better put to use, like say, fixing a drain.

Richards, ignoring her concerns, interrupted her to say again, stick to the bill.

“I know you have a lot of grievances but we are here to deal with a bill. If everyone starts to unload their grievances we will not deal with the bill.”

Ali found an ally with committee member Suruj Rambachan, who said her point was valid to highlight her general concerns regarding proper resource allocation in a time of scarcity.

Richards acknowledged the point but again emphasised, stick to the bill.

Rambachan turned his attention to Ramlal, and citing his previous experience as mayor of Chaguanas, dismissed her claims that there was not enough engagement and plans were submitted to chambers for review and feedback.

Ramlal, however, insisted, “There’s no clear strategic plan and I think the bill takes that into consideration but that is a gap I see right now.”

But Rambachan replied, “I find that hard to believe, with due respect, because every corporation has produced a plan and sent it for feedback. It’s very important to say this because we cannot have a situation where corporations are being unfairly blamed and I want to defend that.”

Ramlal clarified, “What I am saying is there is room for more integrated and synergistic work between the corporation and community.”

This time Rambachan was insistent, “With due respect, with due respect, how come Mr Charran (a former director of the Chaguanas chamber), who is a businessman and involved (when I was mayor) how come he is not part of this?”

Ramlal again clarified that she was speaking in general terms.

Rambachan then changed tack to put forward his suggestion that regional markets be moved from the purview of the corporation to privately owned and operated by vendors themselves, funded by government lending agencies.

Outam Ramnarine, representing Rio Claro market vendors, agreed that some sort of collaboration between the vendors and regional corporation could be worthwhile, but he suggested that officials take more time coming out into the field to speak with vendors, meeting them in the market, rather than setting up meetings that might be inconvenient. Vendors may also have suggestions on how to improve the operation of the market.

“We may not be engineers but we might have ideas because that’s where we live.”