We demand to know how every cent is spent

THE EDITOR: With the close of the 2003/2004 financial year on September 30 and with the 2004/2005 Budget due to be presented soon, the questions beg, what is happening with excess revenue from oil and gas? Last year, in response to Opposition criticism, the Government hurriedly dumped $500 million into the Revenue Stabilisation fund on the eve of the budget. Since then they have largely ignored the fund preferring to spend on other areas of high strategic priority like CEPEP, NEDCO and other PNM thought-out, social programmes designed to take us to anti-Singapore status by 2020 or before.

Oil was budgeted at $25 US in the last budget and the NYMEX price has been somewhere in the 40 plus average for the last year. Added to that, gas has been at $5.80 on the Henry Hub for the last year too. So, obviously the problem can’t be revenue, it’s a case of mis-appropriated expenditure on excesses like CEPEP and the other vote getting suicide pills. Enter Matouk (not the ketchup) and he endorses what Basdeo Panday has been saying for the last two years. The only difference is that when Panday says it the media ignores it, but with Matouk being from the Port-of-Spain establishment it’s a whole different kettle of fish . . . it’s taken as front page news. On the issue of accountability, the PNM and their band of so-called energy czars feel that this is 1976 and we are all fools.

We must ask of the Manning regime: Why was the business development portfolio of NGC moved to NEC. Is NEC not headed by Prakash Saith, brother of Lenny? What is happening to investigations into the foreign used crane at PLIPDECO? What price will Government sell our natural gas to Alcoa? Will they get free gas? If so who decides that? What is happening to investigations into allegations of corruption at Labidco? Didn’t former DPP Mohammed see good reason to send that file to the Police? While we are at it maybe we should ask who called Corporal John Morison of Tobago and instructed that two Bajan fishermen be set free? The reality, we have to call on the Manning regime to account for their management of the economy. The era of complacency and docility is over. We the people demand to know exactly how every cent is being spent.

MARTIN MAHARAJ
St Augustine