Post-covid19 recovery plan

THE EDITOR: As our super team of technocrats are busy putting together the recovery plan for TT, I humbly suggest they consider paying attention to the following critical areas of national life that need to be improved exponentially:

1. The judicial system currently operates so slowly, in so many critical components, that if allowed to continue in the same way it will negatively impact any other measures taken to revive the economy and add value to the efficient administration of all national institutions.

So we must as a matter of great urgency fix the court system by instituting strict timelines for decision-making in all matters, erring at all times on the side of expediency.

2. Add “responsibility” to our national watchwords and set an objective, followed by a well thought-out and articulate plan to have 95 per cent of our citizens self-sufficient by 2030. So our new national watchwords will be discipline, production, tolerance and responsibility.

3. Institute a programme of national service for all youths not in a registered educational institution or long-term gainful employment. As an urgent priority we can no longer afford to leave many thousands of energetic young school dropouts to become fodder for the burgeoning gang culture.

4. Set an objective to reduce teen pregnancy by 95 per cent by 2030, driven by a committee of our best healthcare professionals and properly funded to do so. Funds invested in this most critical area will pay off in the most meaningful fashion down the road.

5. Institute a massive stimulus programme for agriculture after consulting with the most competent experts in the business – and there are many. Pay particular attention here to downstream food processing ventures for both the local and export markets. When we run out of land in TT, look to lease land from our Caricom neighbour Guyana.

6. Craft a tourism master plan for post-covid19 or when there is an effective and widely available vaccine for this deadly virus. Again, we need to be guided by the industry professionals in our midst, irrespective of their age or ethnicity. It can no longer be jobs for the boys and girls who support the party in power, or we will make no real progress in this most important industry, which like agriculture employs many people.

7. Finally get the Revenue Authority up and running with an early primary focus to go after unpaid taxes in all sectors. Consider replacing personal income tax with a higher level of VAT, as this will simplify our compliance machinery.

8. Create a revolutionary plan, with real teeth, that will clean up the environment and keep it clean, which has to include severe penalties for all polluters, especially those who desecrate sensitive environmental areas such as our forests, rivers and coastlines.

9. Roll out meaningful incentives for value added manufacturing, especially for those companies that are net earners of foreign exchange.

10. Revamp the management of our healthcare institutions with a new focus on providing quality healthcare for our elderly and physically and mentally challenged citizens.

11. Transform the public service to have 100 per cent of the services offered fully delivered online by mid-2021.

12. As an urgent priority, modernise the content and delivery of education to match the career opportunities available in a largely digitised world.

Above all, as we make our uncertain way in a post-covid19 world, we can no longer afford to loose even a single dollar of precious national funding to waste, inefficiency or corruption, and time is not on our side.

GREGORY WIGHT

Maraval