‘Ease burden on working class’

NATIONAL Solidarity Assemby (NSA) leader Nirvan Maharaj has called on Finance Minister Colm Imbert to ease the pain and suffering of the working class and citizens in general and to ensure they are not further burdened by adjustments. Maharaj said any review of the budget must take into consideration the adverse social consequences of economic policies implemented without a social conscience and a thought towards social justice.

He advocated that as Imbert does his readjustment, focus must be placed on the brutal crime situation, the lack of basic medication at public hospitals and the retrenchment of thousands amidst an atmosphere of uncertainty in the workplace.

“The review must focus on other aspects of our economy such as manufacturing, tourism, agriculture and culture along with measures for the development of the small and medium sized enterprises to assist in servicing an economy held to ransom by an almost insurmountable dependency on oil and natural gas,” Maharaj said.

He said Imbert must see the necessity of using the agricultural and manufacturing sectors upon which true diversification of the economy can begin and pointed to several areas in which adequate funding must be allocated to begin the process.

He identified the development of state-run farms, geared towards the production of organic produce, specifically chosen to prevent direct competition or lead to a surplus on the market. He said this could aid in the reduction of the food import bill and also in employment.

Maharaj said the agricultural sector must be properly subsidised to create an enabling environment alongside the continued infrastructural development of the VESEP agricultural and residential sites owed to ex-Caroni workers. The lands owned by ex-Caroni workers, he suggested, could become the mainstay of a vibrant agricutural sector for those entitled or willing to use the said lands.