Sahadeo at home in Couva South

"As it is, coming here makes me feel like home territory," Sahadeo said.

She recently addressed a meeting of party supporters, stating that the Government does not discriminate in representing all the people of TT."

The minister told a Couva South meeting that this year’s Budget has been referred to as "the People’s Budget," and an "Election Budget" because, she said, it was too good to be true.

"This year’s Budget constitutes another critical link in the chain of human development that has been the hallmark of this administration’s tenure in office. It is another pillar of the platform for achieving the goals of Vision 2020," the minister said.

Sahadeo pointed out, "2005 marked the 12th consecutive year of economic growth for Trinidad and Tobago. The traditional drivers of the economy — oil, gas and energy-related activities — have performed and continue to perform well. Yet, as important as these drivers are and have been to economic growth, it is to the development of our nation’s human capital that we must look for long-term and sustainable development."

Sahadeo said that "one of the most basic of human needs is the need for food. It is for that reason that the incidence of rising food prices in Trinidad and Tobago is a cause of great concern to this Government."

She said one of the factors pushing food prices out of the reach of ordinary citizens was the increase in the prices of corn, wheat, and soyabean on the international market. "Another factor has been the fact that the amount of goods grown and produced locally had declined in the recent past.

Unprecedented and unseasonable rainfall, exacerbated by indiscriminate patterns of cultivation and of settlement, had resulted in annual flooding, often of disastrous proportions. These events have served only to worsen the situation of rising food prices," Sahadeo said.

She noted, "With the recent allocation of lands to the former workers of Caroni Ltd, we should see some improvement in this area." The minister said 7,247 former employees were granted two acres of land for agriculture; and 18,368 acres had been put into productive use.

Faced with the spectre of the escalation in the prices of food, and of the effects of such movements on the rate of inflation in general, Government appointed a ministerial sub-committee in July of this year to examine and recommend initiatives to deal with increases in food prices. Government will be focusing on both short to medium-term, and medium to long-term strategies, she said.