Dookeran warns of utter confusion and chaos

The Budget is not about empowering people, it can be more appropriately called “creating clients of the State,” St Augustine MP Winston Dookeran stated yesterday.

Urging Government not to fritter away “this period of plenty” with its “political and election engineering,” Dookeran accused Government of constantly fighting elections (“either the last one or the next one”) with every Budget it presents. Speaking in the House of Representatives, the UNC MP said a Budget was not about fighting elections, it was about painting a vision for the future.  Dookeran criticised the Government for painting a “picture of plenty” with such statements like “oil is flowing like a river.”  Government, he said, seemed oblivious to the law of gravity — “what goes up...(must come down).” He said the picture of plenty and the assertation that  oil and gas wouldn’t run out, masked the reality a growing non-energy fiscal deficit.  Stating that Manning’s entire presentation painted a picture that money was no problem, he said that the last time he heard that phrase, money turned out to be the problem and the NAR Government had an enormous job to take us out of recession and restore a platform for growth. “Minister of Finance, almost in a girlish ecstasy could not help treating the nation to a dose of expenditure, millions here, and millions there, millions everywhere with little understanding as the real financial, economic and social solution of our times,” he said.

He warned: “If we do not take appropriate action now and save some of our newfound wealth, invest and generate income from this revenue, then in the medium-term we will pay a high price. The pleasures of today would soon give way to the troubles of tomorrow,” he said. Dookeran also spoke about the rising debt, saying that Government had to generate an annual primary surplus of about 4-5 percent up to 2008 in order to pay the debt comfortably and to ensure that it does not get out of control. He cautioned Government about relying entirely on the energy sector, noting that the economy’s vulnerability to external shocks had increased greatly. He said instead of talking “gleefully” about LNG “trains 1, 2, 3,” Government should use this revenue to plan for the future.  He said the Central Bank report contained the warning signals which he cited as the domestic deficit, debt repayment ability, the quality and nature of the  growing unemployment and persistent excess liquidity in the banking sector with no opportunity for relief.

The report suggested that Gover-nment pursue a policy of fiscal prudence and consolidation, he noted. He said that there was now in the population the realisation that this Govern-ment, after 22 months in office, had lost its way. He said social policy must not be anchored in creating clients of the State. He said  Government was creating more clients whether they were consultants, homeowners or welfare recipients.  He added that when one looked in the world today for  examples where the nation-State failed to deliver positive political goods — Haiti, Colombia, Guyana, Somalia, Yugoslavia, Rwanda — the root cause lay in ethnic, religious or inter-communual conflicts and the growth of criminal violence and repressive political tactics. Turning to the Unit Trust Corporation “debacle,” Dookeran said Government had shown complete disrespect for the legitimate actions of the Board and had shown no regard for the damaging effect that the episode was having on the financial confidence of the institution. “(Former chairman) Herbert Alleyne has had to face the onslaught of the use of raw political power,” he said. He said the political elites in this country were dancing in their suites while there was gloom in the streets. “The distance betwen the State and the civil society is widening, and the clients of the State line up for their goodies, and when the ‘‘losers’’ become larger in numbers than the ‘‘winners’’ there will be utter confusion and chaos,” Dookeran said.