Jagdeo not attacking Trinidad and Tobago Government

THE EDITOR: Reference is made to Bharrat Jagdeo’s “falling apart” statement (March 25) about Trinidad and Tobago in remarks delivered to an audience in Guyana. It is reported that the TT Government is peeved. Foreign Minister Dr Amery Brown has protested on behalf of the Government. Is the Guyana vice president right? He was describing the economy.

It may not be politically correct for a high government figure like the VP of Guyana to make such a remark that could be interpreted as an attack on a fellow Caricom nation. It may also be viewed as undiplomatic. No one would be offended if the statement was uttered by me or some other political analyst or academic. One must understand it in the context used.

The VP did not mean to offend or pass judgment on the current administration of TT but to learn from its model of using its petro-dollars. At any rate, not too many people in TT would disagree with the VP. I travel to TT frequently, as many as ten times a year over the last few decades, except during 2020 and 2021. I was there just two weeks ago to conduct a survey on the popularity of the Government and other issues.

(The Government is very unpopular but more acceptable than the political opposition that is not viewed as a viable alternative even among its traditional supporters. Although very unpopular in 2020, Rowley was comfortably re-elected, as polls I conducted predicted.)

Jagdeo was simply referring to TT’s unwise use of petro-dollars (over US$300 billion at today’s value) without planning for the future of the economy after oil runs out. He was commenting about the economy not about governance, although economy is tied to governance.

The TT economy has not been doing very well in recent years. Jagdeo was cautioning Guyanese that we must not fall into the same boat, and he assures that administration will not spend our petro-dollars unwisely. His goal is for Guyana to avoid the so-called oil curse to which so many countries have fallen victim.

There is nothing serious in Jagdeo’s remarks for the TT administration to be upset about. The VP did not attack or criticise the Rowley government. Economists or socio-politico analysts in TT and throughout the Caribbean would not disagree with the VP’s assessment of the TT economy.

Jagdeo was not criticising the Rowley administration for its handling of petro-dollars. The misuse of oil money began decades ago under Eric Williams and was continued by successive administrations. Rowley (in office since September 2015) has not been in a position to change economic course although his administration has been criticised for not making serious efforts to plan for an economy post-energy. Only the Basdeo Panday administration attempted to plan for the future by putting money aside for hard days.

Many people around the region and in TT in particular feel the country does not have much to show for the large amount of oil money received. They say much of the money was frittered away. Also, many in the public believe a lot of money was siphoned off by officials going back to the 1960s and invested in Miami, Toronto and London. There were many reports in the media.

An alternative economic base has not been created unlike, say, among Middle Eastern oil economies or Malaysia or Mexico. Agriculture has been neglected; arable land was used for public housing instead of building an agro-based economy as several countries have done.

No TT government in recent years has been able to fully meet rising expectations and demands. Every administration since ANR Robinson in 1986 was advised to pursue economic diversification, but none wanted to swallow the unpopular medicine, fearing a backlash from the population and non re-election. And unless a lot of energy is discovered soon and the Government pursues economic diversification, TT could find itself in greater economic problems. Many Trinis have migrated to Guyana looking for work and or to invest.

In his remarks about TT falling apart, Jagdeo aims for Guyana to learn a lesson, nothing more in its meaning. He does not want Guyana to follow the TT precedent among Caricom partners – of frittering away oil revenues. Guyana’s oil revenues must be used to diversity the economy – agro-industrialisation and encouraging start-up industries tied to low-cost energy like petrochemicals, fertilisers, glass, tiles, etc.

DR VISHNU BISRAM

Guyana