A hard sell

Infrastructure-related matters are critically linked to the issue of poverty and the environment. This point is highlighted in various World Bank reports on which this article leans. It is indisputable that infrastructure is important for ensuring that growth is consistent with poverty reduction. Access to at least minimal infrastructure services is one of the essential criteria for defining welfare. In infrastructure terms, the World Bank defines the poor as those who are unable to consume a basic quantity of clean water and who are subject to unsanitary conditions, with extremely limited mobility or communications beyond their immediate settlement.

This human condition gives rise to graver health problems and fewer employment opportunities. This condition is characterised by the  burgeoning of squatter communities surrounding most cities in developing countries which lack formal infrastructure facilities. This factor  has led to efforts at squatter regularisation in Trinidad which extends beyond the cities because the line between urban and rural is blurred. 

Poverty
Different infrastructure sectors have different effects on improving the quality of life and reducing poverty. Access to clean water and sanitation has the most obvious and direct consumption benefits in reducing mortality and morbidity. It also increases the productive capacity of the poor and can affect men and women differently. For example, the poor – women in particular – must commit large shares of their income or time to merely ensuring that the family survives. This time could be devoted  childcare or income earning activities. Such gender-specific effects need to be considered in the evaluation of social development initiatives.

The World Bank studies have found that access to transport and irrigation in farming areas, can contribute to higher and more stable incomes, enabling the poor to manage risks. Both transport and irrigation infrastructure have been found to expand the opportunities for non-farm employment in rural areas. A seeming development dilemma is that while rural poverty reduction requires higher incomes, raising farm gate food prices could make urban poverty worse. An increase in the incomes of agricultural workers and a reduction in food prices for the urban poor can be achieved by raising the productivity of farms and of rural transport. The benefits of transport and communications include improved access  to other goods and services, especially in cities. Where the poor are concentrated on the periphery of urban areas, as in many developed countries, the costs and availability of public transport become key factors in their ability to obtain employment.

Access to secure and reliable public transport has been identified in household surveys in Ecuador as influential in determining the ability of low-income women to participate in evening training classes. In Trinidad, transport engineer Rae Furlonge asserts that women are particularly disadvantaged by the inadequate transport system as evidenced by the long waits for taxis or buses when it rains. The World Bank statistics have shown that construction and maintenance of some infrastructure — especially roads and waterworks — can contribute to poverty reduction by providing direct employment. Civil works programmes in Botswana, Cape Verde, and India, have been important in strengthening famine prevention and providing income. Locally, we initiated programmes like CEPEP which have the dual objective of improving maintenance of infrastructure and providing income to poorer groups.
                                                    
Environment
The various infrastructure sectors involve interaction between artificial structures and the natural environment and this relationship between  sectors and the environment is complex. The provision of infrastructure necessary for improving growth and poverty reduction demands that efforts be consistent with the objectives of the “green agenda” which focuses on natural resources and the environment. The most positive impacts of infrastructure on the environment concern the removal and disposal of liquid and solid wastes, a major issue in Trinidad and Tobago. In fact, Tobago is positioning itself as a green destination and must address the waste treatment and disposal issues with urgency.

Poor management of solid waste complicates urban street drainage and has been linked with the proliferation of disease-bearing mosquitoes in standing water and we have had encounters in Trinidad with dengue fever. The growing problem of hazardous and toxic waste as countries industrialise poses particular concerns about safe disposal, the disposal of batteries being our more recent example. Power plant and vehicle emissions are important contributors to air pollution, so that their air quality impacts deserve careful attention. In Trinidad we are fortunate to have natural gas powered generating facilities, but Tobago is still dependent on diesel, as back up to the under sea cable. With the increasing gridlock situation on our road network, dealing with car emissions becomes vital but the environmental  initiative of monitoring emissions seems to have faltered. Expansion of transport infrastructure can reduce total pollution provided congestion falls, average vehicle speeds rise, and routes are shortened.

This does not apply in Trinidad because of the high ratio of cars to the population as demonstrated by Rae Furlonge in his columns in a daily newspaper. Road improvements can also encourage vehicle use and increased emissions, therefore, additions to infrastructure capacity are only part of the solution which Mr Lloyd Cartar should recognise. Improved management of traffic and land use allocations, promotion of non-motorised modes of transport, cleaner fuels, and efficient public transport are the indispensable requirements.

The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Guardian Life.
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