Moonilal slams St Vincent PM over 'Monopoly money' comment

MINISTER of Energy and Energy Industries Dr Roodal Moonilal has slammed St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves for alluding to Trinidad and Tobago's currency as "Monopoly money."

Speaking during a Society of Petroleum Engineers energy symposium Moonilal said the Gonsalves, who is the longest-serving prime minister in Caricom, should have made his comments to the previous administration.

"He should have shared his wisdom with his colleagues who are responsible for the collapse of our economy. It is a pity he did not share his thinking with the former administration over the last decade which could have reversed this crisis with prudent management and enhanced investments in the energy sector."

Gonzales' comment came during the opening ceremony of the 77th Meeting of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Authority on June 17 in St Vincent. During his address which focused on regional integration, Gonsalves lamented that the foreign exchange crisis in TT has affected his citizens' ability to trade with the territory.

"The foreign exchange control arrangements in TT have conspired to reduce to near nothingness a hitherto US$12- to US$15 million annual trade in agricultural exports from St Vincent and the Grenadines. This injustice has caused manifest material difficulties to farmers and agrotraders in my country."

"Our country pays TT annually in excess of US$65 million. We pay in hard foreign currency for visible exports from Trinidad, mainly petroleum products and manufactured goods but our sister Caricom country cannot find less than a measly US$4 million in foreign exchange to pay for our agricultural products. This is absolutely unfair and ridiculous. Our traders are paid in TT dollars which are not convertible outside of TT. In Trinidad, they have to use the money to buy goods in Trinidad if they want to make some money on the backend. If they bring up the TT money (to St Vincent) they may as well bring up Monopoly money."

Gonsalves also said benefits from Caricom favour larger territories like TT with its low energy cost encouraging manufacturing growth. He described TT's manufacturing sector as an "uneven beneficiary from Caricom's trade and commodities."

In particular, he accused TT flour manufacturers of wanting to dominate the OECS markets.

"Undoubtedly the producers in Trinidad want to take over the entire flour market in the Eastern Caribbean. We in St Vincent and the Grenadines will draw a line in the sand on this."

He worried about how long the protection for their manufacturers in the Caricom Treaty would remain as it requires periodic review.

In his response to the Gonsalves, Moonilal said the closure of Petrotrin and the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery would have contributed in no small measure for the decline in forex in TT. He said plans to restart the refinery would be revealed at a later date.