PM: State of Trinidad and Tobago better than many others

THE Prime Minister has said both the state of the economy and the quality of life in Trinidad and Tobago are better than in many comparable countries, such as other Caribbean nations.

He spoke in the budget debate in the House of Representatives on October 10.

"The Government has done a wonderful job. We have been managing a very difficult period."

Dr Rowley chided critics who described TT as a hell-hole, as he said that in contrast global authorities rate TT very high on the human development index.

"TT ranks number 60 on this scale of the countries around the world."

TT's rating is 0.814, he said.

"That, on the system, is very high human development, which means life expectancy, access to education, health care, and income distribution and so on. All of these things are put together to determine what goes on in a country and the quality of life."

He said TT's no 60 rank compared to Barbados at 62 and Bahamas at 57, Belize at 118 and Jamaica at 115. Argentina's quality of life was ranked at 48 globally, despite a 200 per cent inflation rate, he added.

"Judge us by how well we are doing compared to others."

Rowley also spelt out TT's economic indicators, compared to others.

He compared TT's GDP growth of 1.9 per cent to Jamaica at 1.8 per cent, Barbados 3.7 per cent. Guyana "booming at 33 per cent," Antigua at minus 2.8 per cent and three hydrocarbon-based Gulf States each at 1.2-2.0 per cent.

"So that indicator tells us we are doing something good."

The PM said TT has the lowest inflation at 0.4 per cent on a list of 18 comparative countries.

He favourably compared TT's unemployment rate of 5.4 per cent to Bahamas at eight per cent, Barbados at 8.2 per cent and an average of 8.0 per cent across a list of 18 countries.

"We manage pretty decently, with the rest," Rowley said.

He also hailed TT's current level of per-capita income, which he said had bounced back from a lull in 2020 which he attributed to the covid19 pandemic.

"That is good realism, a good situation, a good performance."

Rowley accused the Opposition of making statements about the restructuring of Atlantic LNG which betrayed their lack of knowledge that TT had no ownership in Trains Two and Three.

The PM said Pointe-a-Pierre MP David Lee had been poking at the Dragon deal by which TT would be supplied with Venezuelan natural gas, but in fact the Government had been keeping the public informed at every step of the way. Replying to opposition criticism of his overseas travel, he justified his trip to BP in Houston, Texas, because talks had broken down between BP in TT and the National Gas Company (NGC), posing a risk to the entire Point Lisas Estate.

"We did not go to Houston to negotiate any gas price."

He asked the Opposition, "Why is that so difficult for you to understand? It is either you are dumb or you are wicked."

Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh complained to Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George, who ruled, "Continue, Prime Minister."

Rowley tartly quipped, "Point proven!"

Rowley used the occasion to justify the ongoing implementation of the property tax, saying the former People's Partnership government's waiver had expired in 2015. He said while his Government set the tax at two per cent of rentable value, the PP had set it at seven per cent (although it was never collected), and dubbed the Opposition "mischievous underminers."

Rowley then accounted for the funding of the Prime Minister's residence, seemingly scoffing at former Congress of the People's leader Winston Dookeran's proposal for it to serve as a domestic-violence refuge.

"The Prime Minister's residence is not a home for battered women. It is a home to house the Prime Minister of TT."

Rowley said under the PP government between 2010 and 2015, some $170 million was spent on running the PM’s residence (and the Diplomatic Centre), but only $52 million under his government between 2015 and 2020.

He said the $170 million consisted of $122 million in operating expenses plus $48 million for events. The $52 million comprised $42 million and $9 million for the respective allocations under his government, he added.