Fire has not destroyed TT’s FTAA hopes

This was the declaration yesterday from Trade and Industry Minister Ken Valley, outgoing TT Manufacturers Association (TTMA) president Anthony Aboud, and his successor Paul Quesnel. Speaking with reporters following the TTMA’s 49th annual general meeting at the Hilton Trinidad, Valley said the fire was a tragedy, but it had not damaged TT’s chances of becoming the headquarters of the FTAA Secretariat. "Moving upwards is never a straight line. There are blips. This (the fire) is a blip on our continued movement upwards," he said. Valley explained that because TT was lobbying for the FTAA Secretariat, "we are now forced to look at ourselves in a way we would not have been doing otherwise. We have got to look at out shortcomings and correct them in time (for the FTAA) headquarters," the minister added.

Valley said a committee headed by Junior Trade Minister Diane Seukeran had been mandated to make Port-of-Spain FTAA-ready by the end of 2006, and would take into account all of the shortcomings of last weekend’s fire and the necessary mechanisms to address them.

Aboud agreed with Valley that the fire would not hurt TT’s bid for the FTAA Secretariat, but he said the TTMA remained very concerned about the state of the nation’s overall infrastructure.

He said the national infrastructure must be re-created and not merely overhauled. "This must be done quickly, and everyone must get on board. If not, we as a country will continue to go from disaster to disaster," Aboud warned.

"I don’t think it (fire) would (hurt TT’s FTAA chances). We are a resilient people. We will rebuild the city and build it better as we go forward," Quesnel said.

The new TTMA president added that TT’s major problem where business is concerned "is being competitive." "To be competitive, we need to have our infrastructure in place and functional," he stated.

Regarding ongoing rebuilding efforts in the fire’s aftermath, a delegation of affected business owners will meet with Valley and Junior Finance Minister Conrad Enill today at the Eric Williams Financial Complex to see what assistance Government could give them.

In confirming today’s meeting, Valley said an eight-member Cabinet committee is continuing to look at ways to address the concerns of People’s Mall entrepreneurs, who lost their livelihood in the fire. The minister expressed confidence that the tragedy "is going to be behind us" soon.

Valley placed last weekend’s fire and the Excellent City Stores fire of 2001 in the same category as a Port-of-Spain fire in the 1970s, when salt water mains were now being laid in the city. In all of these cases, Valley said: "What is important is that we continue on the trajectory of upward movement."