Road map – medium to long-term

THE EDITOR: As we look at the medium to long-term objectives set out by the Government to engage the recovery committee, one gets the impression that there is very little current activity going on in areas identified for attention. For example, if the Government had embarked on certain initiatives towards diversification of the economy, the committee might have been asked to review such activities and make recommendations for adjustment or addition in light of the global environment in the post-pandemic era instead of focusing on new potential opportunities.

When it comes to the agricultural sector, one wonders what the Ministry of Agriculture was doing for the past five years if only now a committee is being asked to examine the expansion and deepening of the sector's linkages within the economy or the promotion of import substitution by increasing dietary preference for locally produced foods or widening the use of new technologies or increasing the earning capacity of local producers as incentive.

One would have thought that assessment of Government's development programme for relevance and effectiveness would have been an ongoing exercise which may require it to be reshaped and reoriented instead of the committee being asked to engage in a fresh initiative.

With respect to identifying practices in the public sector which are inimical to the facilitation of business activities or initiatives which would enhance productivity and efficiency, there must be numerous reports, representations and recommendations over the years. Why is it only now that a hurriedly assembled committee is being charged with formulating proposals to deal with such hoary, long-standing issues?

In the context of the stated need to transform the economy and society, the committee is required to evaluate and recommend core values. If after 58 years of independence and almost five decades of PNM rule, politicians are innocent about what are the basic values that should be embraced by the population and must rely on the cogitation of a committee, then it seems there is little hope .

Dr Rowley himself has been in Parliament for three decades and in politics longer and is yet to be apprised of desirable core values.

To the uninitiated, certain values may seem obvious. There is the commitment to the work ethic, to productive effort, discipline, sacrifice, self-empowerment, knowledge-seeking and inventiveness, thrift, investment and risk-taking, adherence to the rule of law and the ethos of democracy and responsible citizenship, vigilance, justice, equity, caring and compassion.

It goes without saying that the inculcation of the appropriate values in the citizenry and the transformation of the economy and society are inter-related objectives. For the latter to be accomplished, there is need for the consciousness and thought processes of the citizens, or a majority of them, to change in a positive way in their capacity as worker, manager, executive, investor, entrepreneur, innovator, financier, service provider, educator, opinion maker, judicial officer and public servant.

There is the need for the average citizen to understand the premises of and be committed to wealth creation and its equitable distribution, whether through their individual or collective productive endeavours. Jobs and employment are generated only through investment by individuals or groups in their private capacity or through investment by the State. Without such prior investment, there can be no jobs. Government expenditure on make-work programmes may provide temporary relief but they do not create wealth.

The Government's role in this envisaged transformation is to provide leadership, direction, proper policy prescriptions and create an enabling environment for efficient and innovative economic activity through an empowered educational system, mobilised community resources, cultural reorientation and public information. It will not be accomplished by wishful thinking, sloganeering, pandering to populist urges or electoral objectives or by condoning indiscipline, laxity, irresponsibility, favouritism, merriment and sloth.

TREVOR SUDAMA

San Fernando