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Daly Bread: On Boodoosigh’s quizzical appointment, and Tancoo’s soothing but ambitious Budget
Mr Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh is worthy of holding the office of Chief Justice to which he was appointed on Wednesday and I congratulate him. He is a person who may be able to heal some of the wounds that his vulnerable predecessor, former Chief Justice Ivor Archie, inflicted on trust and confidence in the Judiciary.
Nobody knows why, but former Chief Justice Archie abruptly activated his notice given last month that he intended to retire.
Regrettably, it appears that the acting President of the Republic botched the express constitutional requirement for consultation by that office when the occasion for the appointment of a chief justice arises.
My comments on that fiasco were already made to the media.
Turning therefore to other current anxieties about the state of the nation, the annual Budget presentation that is made in the House of Representatives in October has long ago evolved into a lengthy address by the Minister of Finance on the state of our island nation.
This October, more than ever, open-minded citizens are wrestling to arrive at an accurate assessment of the state of our tiny island nation, which once had a solid gross domestic product (GDP) but was left to remain in persistent economic decline hurting many people.
We are also proof that a healthy GDP does not reveal the state of the nation in terms of standard of living and well-being.
Quality of life in Trinidad and Tobago has been gravely compromised by violent crime, highlighted by high murder rates and the commission of murder and other serious crimes with widespread impunity and a persistently low crime detection rate.
On top of the economic decline, the latest State of Emergency declared to combat violent crime will end this month. How effective has this State of Emergency been and what next?
Davendranath Tancoo, MP, is the minister of finance of the United National Congress (UNC) Government, which was elected after comprehensively defeating the People’s National Movement (PNM) last April. He made the annual budget presentation on 13 October.
In this column in August 2024, while the PNM were still in government, I expressed concern that the country might go broke. In response, a highly placed government source informed me then that we were not going to go broke.
I remained unconvinced because, as is well recognized—other than in one year when global conditions triggered a spike in energy prices—government expenditure has greatly exceeded revenue, routinely producing sizeable deficits.
Despite this, there has been insignificant action towards socio-economic reform, preferably by means of more gradual shifts in the way the country is run, rather than in the form of the usually harsh terms of structural adjustment.
Instead of reform, over many decades in Trinidad and Tobago, all of our governments have simply sought to share the wealth through transfers and subsidies—for example, funding make-work programs, fuel subsidies and uneconomic utility rates—even while permitting certain state enterprises not to pay their huge utility bills.
These are serious strains on the country’s revenue while revenue has been persistently declining.
As narrow-minded as our partisan politics are, it might upset UNC party zealots to have these concerns expressed at the beginning of another UNC reign.
However, these concerns have been somewhat soothed by the emphatic projection of the oratorically gifted Minister Tancoo, that the budget deficit will be brought down in 2026 to $3.87 billion from the 2025 overall deficit of $9.67 billion, which he reportedly estimated in his mid-year review.
Minister Tancoo has therefore built into his 2025/2026 budget presentation, clear means by which to measure its accuracy and success.
Hopefully, more borrowing, “creative accounting” and grants from international sources will not be used to foster unrealistic claims of success at bringing the deficit down to this Government’s projected amount.
Sadly, elements of the PNM, now in Opposition, remain so punch drunk from the catastrophic election defeat into which former Prime Ministers Dr Keith Rowley and Stuart Young led the party, that they were pitifully outmanoeuvred in the now concluded House of Representatives debate.
I recommend that the party go into rehab—that is political rehab—and come out of it clean of their old ideas and the constant reflex to moan about their rejection.
Mr Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh is worthy of holding the office of Chief Justice to which he was appointed on Wednesday and I congratulate him. He is a person who may be able to heal some of the wounds that his vulnerable predecessor, former Chief Justice Ivor Archie, inflicted on trust and confidence in the Judiciary.
Nobody knows why, but former Chief Justice Archie abruptly activated his notice given last month that he intended to retire.
Regrettably, it appears that the acting President of the Republic botched the express constitutional requirement for consultation by that office when the occasion for the appointment of a chief justice arises.
My comments on that fiasco were already made to the media.
Turning therefore to other current anxieties about the state of the nation, the annual Budget presentation that is made in the House of Representatives in October has long ago evolved into a lengthy address by the Minister of Finance on the state of our island nation.
This October, more than ever, open-minded citizens are wrestling to arrive at an accurate assessment of the state of our tiny island nation, which once had a solid gross domestic product (GDP) but was left to remain in persistent economic decline hurting many people.
We are also proof that a healthy GDP does not reveal the state of the nation in terms of standard of living and well-being.
Quality of life in Trinidad and Tobago has been gravely compromised by violent crime, highlighted by high murder rates and the commission of murder and other serious crimes with widespread impunity and a persistently low crime detection rate.
On top of the economic decline, the latest State of Emergency declared to combat violent crime will end this month. How effective has this State of Emergency been and what next?
Davendranath Tancoo, MP, is the minister of finance of the United National Congress (UNC) Government, which was elected after comprehensively defeating the People’s National Movement (PNM) last April. He made the annual budget presentation on 13 October.
In this column in August 2024, while the PNM were still in government, I expressed concern that the country might go broke. In response, a highly placed government source informed me then that we were not going to go broke.
I remained unconvinced because, as is well recognized—other than in one year when global conditions triggered a spike in energy prices—government expenditure has greatly exceeded revenue, routinely producing sizeable deficits.
Despite this, there has been insignificant action towards socio-economic reform, preferably by means of more gradual shifts in the way the country is run, rather than in the form of the usually harsh terms of structural adjustment.
Instead of reform, over many decades in Trinidad and Tobago, all of our governments have simply sought to share the wealth through transfers and subsidies—for example, funding make-work programs, fuel subsidies and uneconomic utility rates—even while permitting certain state enterprises not to pay their huge utility bills.
These are serious strains on the country’s revenue while revenue has been persistently declining.
As narrow-minded as our partisan politics are, it might upset UNC party zealots to have these concerns expressed at the beginning of another UNC reign.
However, these concerns have been somewhat soothed by the emphatic projection of the oratorically gifted Minister Tancoo, that the budget deficit will be brought down in 2026 to $3.87 billion from the 2025 overall deficit of $9.67 billion, which he reportedly estimated in his mid-year review.
Minister Tancoo has therefore built into his 2025/2026 budget presentation, clear means by which to measure its accuracy and success.
Hopefully, more borrowing, “creative accounting” and grants from international sources will not be used to foster unrealistic claims of success at bringing the deficit down to this Government’s projected amount.
Sadly, elements of the PNM, now in Opposition, remain so punch drunk from the catastrophic election defeat into which former Prime Ministers Dr Keith Rowley and Stuart Young led the party, that they were pitifully outmanoeuvred in the now concluded House of Representatives debate.
I recommend that the party go into rehab—that is political rehab—and come out of it clean of their old ideas and the constant reflex to moan about their rejection.
