Selby: Spending $$ not the answer

FORMER FINANCE Minister Selby Wilson yesterday questioned Govern-ment’s ability to deliver on the promises made in the 2005 Budget, stating that in his view, the Budget was not “internally consistent.” Addressing a post-Budget seminar hosted by the American Chamber of Industry and Commerce at La Boucan, Hilton Trinidad, Wilson said he had serious doubts on whether Government had any intention of ensuring total public welfare in the long-term, noting that the process was flawed.

In a presentation entitled, “Choices made in the Budget and what could have been done differently,” Wilson said he had his doubts on whether the population’s general standard of living would be better as a result of the Budget, noting that while it scored “high” politically, it was doubtful whether the social welfare of the population would be sustained on this Budget. The former minister noted that developed social programmes must be more specific in order to reach the people who are to benefit the most from them. He said the programmes must be designed in a way to lift the self-esteem of the people who participate in them.

Wilson  advised Government to be wary of social programme funding, noting that “the funding in social programmes are flowing into the wrong hands.” He said there must be equity in everything that is being done in the country right now, and there must be the view that, “We all have a chance to survive, to move forward,” noting that there must be more opportunities available to the people. On the issue of crime, Wilson said spending more money to buy additional vehicles for the Police Service is not the answer to solving the rising crime wave in Trinidad and Tobago. Wilson said that he felt sympathy for the officers in the Police Service, since they are the ones who are blamed for the crime rate sweeping the country.

However, Wilson said there are elements that should be dealt with if the problem is to be brought under control. “What about the selection process for bringing officers into the service? What about continued training and development of existing officers? What about the judiciary?” queried Wilson. “Do you know how frustrating it is for an officer to arrest someone for a crime and then have to wait five years for the case to come to trial?” Touching on taxes, Wilson explained that by tampering with Value Added Tax, Government was making things more difficult for the business sector. He said what should have been done, was that the integrity of the VAT be preserved and the rate lowered to either ten percent or even eight percent.

He said that by offering increased tax exemptions to companies, Government has increased the possibilities for leakage. Wilson stated that while he knows it is never an easy task to put together a Budget, he believed that the time is right for the Government to be charting new courses, since this was a time when the country has the money to do it. He said that we should never wait for the time when there is no other choice, since this can create an unnecessary burden on the population. Wilson said if he was presenting the Budget, he would have ensured that more was done in the social sector before Budget day.