Senator: Smart money is going green

The tranquil shoreline at Store Bay, Tobago. Independent Senator Anthony Vieria says diversification must include the blue and green economies. PHOTO BY AYANNA KINSALE -
The tranquil shoreline at Store Bay, Tobago. Independent Senator Anthony Vieria says diversification must include the blue and green economies. PHOTO BY AYANNA KINSALE -

Independent Senator Anthony Vieira on Friday called on the country to adapt or die.

Speaking during the debate in the Senate, Vieira said that while he agreed with the vision of the 2020/2021 budget presentation, he hopes the government will focus on green and blue economies in the diversification drive.

Vieira said China is creating "a new Silicon Valley" using the blue and green economies. He explained that the blue economy was water-based and encouraged the use of the country’s maritime resources while the green economy was centred on eco-tourism.

“Smart money is going green. The country should be forward looking. We need to develop beyond land base economy when diversifying. The blue economy is the new economical frontier. Chaguaramas should be our blue Silicon Valley.” Silicon Valley, located in San Francisco, US, is the epicentre of technological progress. The trifecta of a global pandemic, fallen oil prices and a global financial crisis is an opportunity, he said, that ought to be seized by the country to “hit the restart button.”

Regarding food security, Vieira said the government should not to use "a guillotine" to cut food import bill but through a phased basis, allow the local market to increase to meet the wants and needs of the country.

“Budgets are about the allocations of resources in service of the highest good of all” he said adding that relying on other countries to supply our food is “neither smart or effective” and places TT in a vulnerable position.

He said the declaration of food security in the budget, which was passed in the lower house on October 22, without opposition support, was “music to my ears” but food security could not be attained in isolation. While incentives are useful, Vieira said there also needs to be guidance offered to farmers for technical and financial support so they will best utilised what is offered to them.

“We can’t have food security when thieves and organize crime plague farmers. Fines and increased sentences may be a deterrent but those things come after the person is arrested. It assumes there is adequate law enforcement.”

He said more must be done to protect farmers as agricultural law enforcement must be strengthened with the possibility of a special court for environmental and agriculture offences.

Vieira said the systems that are in place now are very isomorphic and there needs to be changes in order for TT to survive in the future. Cultural changes are needed, he said, to exorcise "the ghosts in the economy.”

One of the changes needed, he identified, was the education system as he questioned whether the current test driven style will produce innovators. TT is headed in uncharted waters and the changes are needed to steer the country through it. He called for a teleportation from analogous systems to digitisation.

“Removing taxes on digital devices is just scratching the surface. Our laws and regulation rooted in previous century thinking is analogous in nature and not keeping pace with digital advancements. Covid has shown how important digital economy is.”

The funding of start-up companies should be done and with TT scheduled to host Commonwealth Youth Games next year, the government, private sector and universities should create a hive for IP activities making TT the technological hub of the Caribbean.

While calling on TT to use the budget as a lens for looking at the future, he called for a creative ecology for the entertainment industries that will see public spaces being offered to them to showcase their talents. He also called for world record holder for limbo, Shemika Campbell to be recognised in her “unique cultural space.”

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"Senator: Smart money is going green"

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