Budget 2022: A war on poverty

SURUJRATTAN RAMBACHAN

IN THE Ramayana the question is asked as to what is the worst sin. The answer is poverty. Poverty is more likely than not associated with the material possessions and finances of a person. Countries have a definition of poverty related to earnings per capita below a certain amount.

Poverty in a wider sense and at a country level refers to other significant human values which are being neglected in one’s life and one can also apply it at a country level.

We are short when it comes to integrity, morality, honesty and productivity, among other values nationally. Something has gone wrong and the country needs a wake-up call and a reset button. The eradication of poverty, or at least its reduction, must be a new national goal.

This budget should be appropriately entitled “A war on poverty.” Even before covid19 the signs of increasing poverty were becoming evident through media exposés of the plight of women and children living in the worst dilapidated conditions that remind one of the slums outside the airport in Mumbai and rural villages in India.

With covid19 the poor have become poorer and many just above the poverty line have been putting personal shame aside and seeking hampers despite being called greedy. At South Park hundreds braved the scorching sun for several hours to get food.

With schools going virtual we realised how many children were without devices to allow participation in virtual classroom learning. We learnt how many did not have access to the internet. We refused and continue to refuse to accept that two classes of children have been created – the privileged and the underprivileged. We realised that children have been dropping out of school to work so that they and their families can eat at least one meal a day.

We have always been surrounded by poverty but now it is more evident. The Government appears to be blind to it. Its ministers in the ministries which should be responsive are more concerned about hairstyle, shoes, bags and chauffeur-driven cars.

One minister had the effrontery to declare in 2015, “We are in charge and you will have to deal with that.” That is the arrogance that prompts the Government to ignore the poverty that is increasing.

Forget the statistics from the Government. The public servants in that ministry are lagging behind, with five-year-old statistics the order of the day. Forget the Minister of Planning who is more interested in words that denigrate and demean members of the Opposition who live among the poor.

The Minister of National Security is responsible along with other PNM MPs for the hills of Laventille and other depressed communities since 1956. What has happened to change the fortunes of these areas and people? Many if not most continue to live in squalor and are breeding grounds for gangs and killers.

Face the truth. The worst sin is poverty. It dehumanises the person and creates dysfunctional people and distressed communities.

One of the dangers of the current situation with children going out to work is that they may never go back to school. Just look at the number of children selling bottled water and nuts on the streets or the number helping out selling doubles and vegetables by the roadsides and you will begin to appreciate the magnitude of the problem.

Poverty is creating a social crisis of great proportions. And the Government is not initiating policies which will create opportunities for moving people above the poverty line.

If you calculate what it takes to live in these times of higher food prices, as well as transport, property tax, a reduced School Feeding Programme, among others, the percentage of poor people will be far higher than pre-covid19.

The Minister of Planning is failing in providing the Government with the updated statistics to make directed and focused policy decisions to combat poverty. As a MP I had great difficulty in getting up-to-date statistics on the social sectors.

The question that is thrust in our faces is whether we are a failed state. What is the definition of a failed state? The single goal of government must always be the happiness of the people. How far are we from realising that goal?

In the meantime the property tax is set to become a reality. The question is what value will we receive from paying property tax and what recourse will we have on a government that fails to use taxes to deliver the required services.

People vote on issues or race or are people voting on the better of the worst? A cultural and mental revolution is required.

Surujrattan Rambachan is a former Member of Parliament and minister of government