CEPEP hopscotch

Government administrations have come and gone. Yet, the programme’s problems remain.

What started under PNM Prime Minister Patrick Manning as, ostensibly, a measure designed to help small business and improve community environments soon spiralled into a foul Hydra. CEPEP is now associated with corruption, criminal enterprise, economic inefficiency and political abuse.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s decision to shift the programme to the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government is just the latest move in what has been a game of hopscotch.

Under Manning, CEPEP started out in the Ministry of Works and Transport. After 2010 it was split between five ministries: the Office of the Prime Minister; the Local Government Ministry; the Works Ministry; the Housing Ministry and the Food Production Ministry. The new PNM administration moved the programme to the Ministry of Public Utilities before last week’s shift.

The timing of the latest move has awakened the perennial concern about political abuse.

It seems every time an election looms, CEPEP is the first port of call for a campaign. And so the UNC accuses the PNM of seeking to put measures in place to help engineer a favourable outcome in the local government election due this year.

But those in glass houses should not throw stones, the PNM would counter. The UNC had more than its eye on Tobago development when it sought to buttress CEPEP workers on the eve of the 2013 THA election.

At times however the allegations go further than just sweetening the pot. Both sides have been accused of blackmailing CEPEP workers into attending political rallies. Even more serious is how the programme relates to crime. Instead of encouraging sustainable communities, it has triggered warfare.

Gangs have battled for contracts.

Measures to support enterprise have been nothing but handouts.

The business community has long complained. The programme has been blamed for a shortage of labour. Workers, it seems, would rather stay within the State’s employ than take up private jobs under fluctuating market conditions.

Grand plans for reform have been launched. But they have not changed the overall picture.

A special state company was set up to manage the programme under Manning.

The People’s Partnership split the workers up into areas covering marine and agricultural activity. The Partnership also announced the ambitious “absorption” of 2,500 CEPEP workers into the private sector.

After the initial announcement, not much was heard of this plan, though it was supported by stakeholders.

Meanwhile, the budget allocation for the CEPEP programme in 2015 was $594 million. In 2014, the allocation was $536 million, while in 2013 the allocation was $584 million. How much money will Finance Minister Colm Imbert be able to allocate when he presents the annual fiscal package in coming weeks? If the Government could not afford to spend $700 million per year on GATE, can it justify spending about $600 million on CEPEP? Rowley’s move could well be a precursor to more drastic change. In theory, cutbacks balanced with rural development programmes under Franklin Khan’s ministry.

For now, CEPEP remains a hot potato. Whether it will remain so after Budget Day is yet to be seen.