Young: Implementation ministry to clear red tape coming

CONFIDENT of victory, Prime Minister Stuart Young says a new government ministry to assist in the implementation of projects will be created on April 29, one day after the April 28 general election.

Young made this disclosure when he addressed the official opening of the La Brea Community Centre on March 21. He also turned the sod for the nearby La Brea Enhancement Centre, which will have a community swimming pool.

Young promised there will be other developments in La Brea in the near future.

Young was sworn in as prime minister on March 17. On March 18, Young advised President Christine Kangaloo to dissolve the Parliament and announced the election will take place on April 28.

He succeeded Dr Keith Rowley who announced his decision to retire from electoral politics on January 6. He resigned as prime minister on March 16.

Recalling this sequence of events, Young told his audience many people have been asking what are his plans as prime minister.

"I think one of the things I'm known for, is getting things done. When I make up my mind I am going to get something done. . . Dragon (gas project) . . . if it's Manatee (gas project), if it's other things, I drive hard and fight, all within the law and get it done."

"Correct?" he asked his audience.

"Yes," they replied.

Young said, "Let me tell you all what my government will have on April 29 of this year, will have.

"I am going to introduce for the first time a ministry of implementation and efficiency in the government of Trinidad and Tobago, out of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)."

A similar initiative was attempted between October 21, 1999, and December 11, 2000, under the Basdeo Panday administration when businessman Lindsay Gillette was appointed as a minister in the the OPM with responsibility for implementation.

At that time, Panday said Gillette would act as a trouble-shooter and clear bottlenecks to help implement projects. It is unclear how successful Gillette was in that role. He later served as energy minister from December 22, 2000, to December 24, 2001.

The proposed ministry echoes in name US president Donald Trump's department of government efficiency, led by billionaire Elon Musk, which has initiated significant cuts in the federal government workforce.

Young says his ministry will seek to get projects done without red tape.

"For too long, things get lost in abeyance. That ministry will have the ability when I as prime minister say, 'Hey you see that deep water harbour (in La Brea), need that done.'

"When I need this done, need that done, that ministry will have the ability to go in, to get the inefficiencies done across the system to break the bureaucracy, within the confines of the law to get things done because TT deserves better."

He based the creation of this ministry on the PNM winning the election and the UNC still being the opposition.

Young hinted this ministry could play a role in advancing constitutional reform.

Should the UNC try to oppose constitutional reform, he continued, "Fine, that ministry of implementation and efficiency out of the OPM, me riding them, them riding everybody else . . . we will get a lot done in that period.

"It's a new chapter where once again we have broken glass ceilings that should not exist. No one can change the past.

"We are all in charge of our present and we can all dream and have hope for the future."

Young did not provide any further details about this proposed ministry during or after the ceremony.

But in a subsequent Facebook post, he said, "This ministry will not replace existing institutions nor will it be responsible for any job losses."

He added the ministry "will work alongside existing institutions, introducing a more supportive, co-ordinated and effective approach to implementation. It will also require new staff."

Young: Big things coming for La Brea

During the ceremony, Young urged La Brea constituents to ignore the narrative from the PNM's political opponents that the constituency has been and will continue to be neglected by the party.

"I want La Brea to understand how important you are to the fabric of TT.

"Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Don't let anyone try to convince you that La Brea is forgotten."

Young said the new community centre and a nearby enhancement project, which will include a community swimming pool, were just two projects earmarked for La Brea.

"I was hoping I could buss the mark here today but I can't.

"I am currently negotiating and pushing for a state-of-the-art project to be put right down here in La Brea. It is a project that doesn't exist anywhere else."

This project, he said, will utilise "your (La Brea) harbour there so people could ship, they could bring in, they could bring out etc."

Young told his audience, "Give me the opportunity to deliver that to La Brea."

He added by December 31 he will return to La Brea "turning the sod to put down right here in La Brea, a facility that exists nowhere else in the Caricom region."

Young said TT is competing with other countries for this project.

"But you know what the people told me when they came to meet...because they are being wooed by other prime ministers in other Caricom countries, they said, 'Mr Young, they saw what you did for TT. If you are here we will deliver his project.'"

Young repeated he could not give any further details about the project.

"So stand by. I am looking to come back here as prime minister after April 28, down the road . . . and deliver that to La Brea."

Young said the La Brea dry dock facility, which Rowley spoke about during his term, is still on the cards.

"Deepwater Panamax dry docking facility. We are doing the work. It is the environmental laws that we have to see how the ocean going and we have to see how it is going to affect the sea bed. You have to see how it is going to affect the environment etc."

Young described these as academic conversations.

"We are going to protect the environment but can you imagine when we put down that deep water harbour here?

"We can put Panamax vessels which are the largest vessels in the world and they are coming right here in La Brea to dock, to be serviced."

He said this facility will create direct employment for the people of La Brea.

Young said the process to obtain the certificate of environmental clearance from the Environmental Management Authority is ongoing.

"It's taken too long in my view so that is another that we will be looking at."

Young said government will look at how to review and amend the law to protect the environment and "to allow progress to take place."