Information for a better Trinidad and Tobago

Dr Anjani Ganase wonders about the quality of information that is used to drive campaign promises, or voting for that matter.

Good governance begins with a good understanding of the country’s needs, what is required for its social, economic and environmental well-being.

While there is no single system for governing the process by which governments seek to achieve social well-being, surely inclusion, transparency, accountability are necessary principles; in addition to information.

Governments must make decisions on the knowledge they possess while recognising that gaps can be filled in through collaborations with regional/ international agencies, NGOs, academia and civil society including the private sector.

The benefits of any decisions must consider the needs of all its citizens, communities present and future. Most important is the role of the citizen in holding governments accountable to their governance.

For a scientist, the currency for good decision-making is knowledge defined by the information and data gathered for the specific purpose; and then it’s recommended to have the experts in the room to advise according to the knowledge.

Too often in my line of work, I am met with decisions based on singular experiences, hearsay and short-term solutions that do not address the urgent issues in the marine environment; at best, band-aid solutions. Central to this process must be how governments gather the right knowledge to strategise.

Considering the three main themes for our well-being, we must have knowledge for social development – including health, education, crime, social welfare; information for the environment – pollution, resource depletion, climate change and biodiversity; and the aspect that seems to dominate, the economy – inflation, unemployment, trade, fiscal and investment data.

These pillars can be an easy guide for understanding what your government needs to be doing for you.

Listen to the conversations of the election and take note of the information being used to drive the campaign promises. Think about issues holistically as social development, economy and environment are all interconnected. How will economic plans impact our environment and our social well-being?

Our social well-being

The trajectory of the social well-being of a country is typically monitored by national surveys such as the National Census. In Trinidad and Tobago, the census is mandated for every ten years to establish demographic shifts, such as population growth, gender ratio, age, race and culture; economic status, such as employment, household income, education, jobs and industry.

The census provides a standardised snapshot of the state of the country and its direction when compared to the previous decade. The census allows the government to understand the local workforce, and identify gaps and needs of its citizens.

It allows strategic development of policies and programmes, while also serving to track progress on existing policies. Understanding the trajectory, it is possible to plan for the future, especially with regard to land-use management, food security, and job opportunities.

The last census was conducted in 2011, and we should have taken a census in 2021, however, the covid19 pandemic intervened. Four years later, there is another election and we have to wonder what the government is using to determine social development policies.

Much has changed in our society since 2011, including episodes of violent crimes, states of emergency, covid19, and the influx of migrants. This data is critical to national progress.

Complementary to the census are additional data collections highlighted as issues from the census. For TT, issues such as crime statistics, health – mental health, non-communicable diseases – require further monitoring for government planning, not to mention serving as justifications for expenses.

Our environmental well-being

Why should we map and monitor all our natural resources, ecosystems on land and within our economic exclusion zone, for health and biodiversity? It is because citizens’ health is supported by our natural resources and our understanding of nature can be an asset for national innovation.

It is also important for our health and safety to understand the threats and risks to our populations, especially with respect to climate change. We need to track the use of our natural resources – not only oil and gas – and to be able to protect our local biodiversity and prevent over-exploitation.

The management of land and ocean resources is critical to our lives. Poor management of the environment is often only realised after a disaster hits and lives lost. Look at Hurricane Katrina, Deep Water Horizon oil spill, and Chernobyl. We don’t need to look beyond Trinidad to understand the impact of poor land management. In 2018, flood damage alone was estimated to be $24 million, and affected about 150,000 people.

Flood management is a complex issue that requires careful site selection for building, watershed management for essential water, flood risk reduction, catchment area, drainage, even flood forecasting. Data driven management would have positive results, as well as save cost and lives.

National environmental monitoring programmes are critical for recording the changes in our natural environment and assessing the effectiveness of our laws. If you know what to look for, you can find the many laws and policies that have been passed, but there is no centralised space for accessing the information for environmental monitoring and management.

Think about deforestation for example. Over the last 25 years we have lost about 6.2 per cent or 24.3 kha (this area is equivalent to 78 per cent of Tobago’s land mass) of TT’s tree cover. This rate of loss is of concern. Can we afford to have tree loss at this rate? What will TT look like in another 25 years? What about the environmentally-sensitive areas – Matura National Park and Aripo Savannah, Nariva Swamp? Are our current laws and management protecting these sensitive areas? Where is the data to show effective management?

Our ocean backyard is worse off, out of sight and out of mind. Sections of our ocean areas are zoned for oil and gas exploitation, even before they are investigated for biodiversity value. We have one marine protected area, Buccoo Reef, which has suffered over 50 per cent of coral loss in this decade alone.

Are governments doing enough to protect and manage these important marine spaces, so that we can continue to benefit in the future?

And then there is climate change. Long-term monitoring at the Piarco met office of air temperatures has recorded a 1.1C rise in the average air temperatures over the last 70 years. Ocean temperatures have also risen: at Buccoo Reef, day temperatures were 26C over ten years ago, now the average is around 28C.

One- or two-degrees increase may not seem like much but it is associated with disease prevalence, drought conditions, crop failures, health issues and food insecurity. This is where environmental health links directly to social well-being and economic impacts.

The economy

Over the last 100 years, billions of dollars have flowed from oil and gas exploitation. Is the well-being of our population a reflection of wise use? Do we need a review of all resources that should be considered valuable, the natural environment, the people?

Altogether

Access to and sharing of information carefully and impartially gathered is important because it allows everyone, government, civil society, students, anyone, to build upon existing data collections, to improve methods and provide studies for further improvement. These should be the talking points and topics of conversation prior to the election.

More importantly, information should be the basis of planning by the new administration. And after the vote, citizens must be active in ensuring that decision-making is based on information, inclusion, transparency and accountability.