The appetite for foreign goods

THE EDITOR: Funny how our erudite Prime Minister can condemn citizens' “appetite for foreign goods” when this is the same individual who jumps on a flight each time his head aches to have his blood pressure checked by doctors in foreign jurisdictions, California to be precise.

At least he and his regime have been consistent in blaming citizens for their massive incompetence, as is evident in faux pas after faux pas.

Apparently when he decided to close down Petrotrin, a forex asset, to import fuel, a forex liability, he never considered the mater of forex (forex exchange). Perhaps someone was closing a fridge door and he didn’t hear himself. It is either that or he calculated relying on his advanced maths, PNM style. Nowhere in any of the regime's responses to the nation’s economic woes is Petrotrin ever mention.

Our “appetite for foreign goods,” Mr PM, stems from the fact that we have failed to be a producer of anything, which I have reason to think is intricately linked to the watchwords provided by PNM’s “esteemed” founder: discipline, production and tolerance. I have since come to suspect that Dr Eric Williams was merely being sarcastic.

I can say without fear or favour that, as a people, we lack discipline, and are barely tolerant. And, when it comes to production, we are as non-productive as a nation can get. We live to fete and seek out any reason to celebrate or party, from baby showers to funerals and anything in between.

It should come as no surprise that he decided to import “yam.” While Benz seems to be his preference. And since no one wants our precious TT dollar, each time we import, we do so in foreign currency, our choice being the US dollar.

In 2016 the Mercedes S-Class was said to be $2 million. Was it paid in TT dollars? He said it was merely $900K. Was Young’s Benz GLE 450, Deyalsingh’s Prado TXL, or Al-Rawi’s Porsche Cayenne purchased using TT dollars? What about all the other MPs who purchase high-end luxury vehicles, tax free, only to sell them at book value two years later?

Speaking for thyself, I too hold a strong appetite for foreign goods. Onions, garlic, salt, sugar, flour, rice, cooking oil and pastas are prime on my list. As are a wide variety of peas and beans. We all know how much of that stuff NFM “produces.”

Included on my list of foreign goods are sardines, tuna, corned beef, saltfish, smoked herring and, of course, the “tax-free” pigtails. I am almost sure the pigs who donated their tails must be ecstatic.

I must admit that much of the latter items have been priced out of my range as a NIS beneficiary, whose benefits have remained constant at $3,000. But that requires a separate response. Oh, and my 25-year-old vehicle was “manufactured” in Bamboo #3.

All praises due to our esteemed PM for reminding us of the need to scale back on our appetite for foreign goods. The next time I get the need to purchase a basic food item like rice, I will visit Moruga. I heard they have great mountain rice. I should be able to get flour in Debe, garlic and onions in Santa Cruz, cooking oil in Point Lisas, and sugar, obviously, in Caroni.

In my part to assist this brilliant regime in its struggle with the forex shortage, I am all too willing to find a TV manufacturer in the Trincity Industrial Estate, and an excellent cell phone manufacturer somewhere in the Omera Industrial Estate.

As for vehicles, I am quite sure the folks in Morvant still “manufacturer,” from scratch, nothing but the best. I might even consider ordering a GLE or Porche Cayenne or two myself, seeing that it would be free of import duties.

It is clear that as a people we have grown too used to consuming foreign products and ideas. May I humbly suggest that parents who have their children attending foreign universities have them repatriated immediately, if not sooner; no exceptions.

Ban the import of foreign clothing immediately. All items worn should only be made of locally produced materials. I am sure fig leaves can be treated and dyed and made into wonderful Armani-type suits. I am also sure good uses can be found for the entire balisier plant.

In case the accomplished author missed it while teeing off, TT did not become a consumer of foreign products and ideas overnight. Let us begin with our constitution. Dr Williams argued “if it’s good enough for the British, then it must be good enough for us.” And hence began the adaptation of foreign.

So, the next time one consumes a Carib/Stag s/he should learn “where barley grows.” And I am sure it’s not in Balisier House.

RUDY CHATO PAUL, SR

D'Abadie