UNC divided on Budget

DIFFERING POSITIONS are emerging within the ranks of the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) about the type of Budget which Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Patrick Manning, will present in the House of Representatives towards the end of September or early October. Speaking with Newsday mere hours before yesterday’s resumption of Parliament, Opposition Chief Whip Ganga Singh predicted that the 2003/2004 Budget debate will be “very heated.” Singh explained that this will be so because of the “poor state of the economy” and the intertwined non-performance of the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) in managing Trinidad and Tobago’s affairs.

He said alleged nepotism and corruption by Government in terms of the Community Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP) will also be a hot topic in the debate and hinted that Government will draw fire from the Opposition benches regarding additional funding for CEPEP. Singh added that the UNC remained unconvinced that the PNM was being totally transparent and accountable regarding governmental expenditure, especially during the period prior to last year’s general elections. However, former Finance Minister Gerald Yetming adopted a guarded approach to the upcoming Budget. “I don’t know if it will be heated. I don’t know what they (Government) will come with,” he said. Yetming noted that given the variety of issues in society today, any parliamentary debate could become heated. 

The St Joseph MP, who has differed with his fellow UNC MPs over the last month on different parliamentary strategies adopted by the Opposition, stated that he preferred to wait until Manning delivers the Budget before making any pronouncements upon it. Asked last week, whether a date had been set for the Budget’s presentation, the Prime Minister said: “The answer is yes, but we are now trying to see if we can make that date before we announce it.” Manning revealed that Government’s 2003/2004 Budget preparations will be a radical departure from the past with Government Ministers being intimately involved, with final budgetary cuts being made by an eight-member Ministerial Committee headed by the Prime Minister and not by civil servants. That exercise began at the Ministry of Finance on Wednesday and Manning was optimistic that it would be concluded by today. While being tight-lipped about the exact contents of the Budget, the Prime Minister has hinted at major expenditure in the area of national security. Last week, Manning also announced that the national deficit had been reduced from $4.2 billion to $2.7 billion.