Eye on the oil money

With the price fetched by Trinidad and Tobago’s crude oil soaring above the magic figure of US$40 per barrel what measures have Government instituted or plans to institute to keep corrupt hands out of the Treasury’s cookie jar this time around? Indeed it would be ironic if having hit out at the wasteful spending as well as the corruption which was said to have tainted the last administration and previous administrations during the oil boom of the 1970s,  the country should once again be faced with reckless spending and a return of almost unbridled corruption. Brent crude reached US$38.83 a barrel on Saturday following a surge in international crude prices. This together with the approximately US$1.50 added premium fetched by the country’s marine oil meant that Trinidad and Tobago’s crude had pierced the US$40 a barrel ceiling.

Regrettably, there are people  in this country, including a few corrupt public officials and some businessmen/women, who may be tempted to see this windfall as an opportunity to benefit not Trinidad and Tobago, but themselves personally. The harsh conditionalities imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) in 1987, when TT applied to them for Structural Adjustment Loans following on the collapse of oil prices to below US$9 a barrel, are not that far away to have been forgotten. Government has to make sure that this money will filter down to the rest of the community and try to close the gap between the rich and poor.  Finding that formula is not going to be easy and even now seems to be so elusive.

Government should seriously consider the introduction of measures aimed at combatting corruption and at the same time ensuring that the money gained from the high price of crude and the massive revenues from natural gas are used to benefit not the corrupt few but rather the majority of citizens. It must be prepared to question any sharp rise in quotations on State projects even as it applies rigid standards for the selection of persons in Government offices and State Enterprises who by virtue of their jobs are in a position to award small contracts. It should frown on the age old system of large contracts being broken up into smaller agreements for the supply of goods and services, and be prepared to act against relevant public officers, if necessary, and offending business interests. We should keep an eye out for those lining up at the trough.