Kumar: Govt has made strides in first year

Kumar was speaking to reporters yesterday following the graduation ceremony for 83 candidates at the 19th edition of the Jump- Start Programme. The event was held at the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce Columbus Circle, Westmoorings.

Kumar indicated that she was “very pleased” to hear the Prime Minister and the government talk about crime being their number one issue and to see the Opposition and the government working together to try and solve the problem.

“At times it probably sounds just like a recurring decimal, crime is a number one issue, crime is a number one issue, we are going to put all our attention to it,” Kumar said. “Whether it is the previous government or this government, we continue to see murders escalate.” She continued, “We see some basic things not being put in place - proper technology for all security forces. I really think that, perhaps, some of the matters needed to be attended to will be greeted with a lot more urgency. To point an initiative that was indicated in the 2015/2016 National Budget, some are still pending. ” Kumar indicated that some of the issues have been a challenge for the government, and also feels more things could be done that may be not necessarily required money.

“For instance, the list of legislation is an area the Attorney General did say what legislation he wanted to see past within this year and in the medium and long term.

I think that needs to move ahead faster so I still believe that there could be a little more urgency in some of these things.” When asked if she can rate the government’s performance within its first year in office, Kumar said, “The government came into power in a very difficult situation.

By the time they came into power the word recession was already circulating and the money just has not been there in the treasury, the way they would have liked it, to be able to spend, to make investments and to do certain things.” Asked about the Chamber’s budget wish list, Kumar told reporters it included several previously submitted recommendations, from more Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to privatisation of some State entities and, of course, the further reduction or even removal of the fuel subsidy.

“A lot of what we have in our budget recommendat ions really has a lot to do with how we encourage business growth,” Kumar added. “The government is heavily involved in business because they own so many agencies and we keep saying we need to see the government get out of that and really be more aligned to a policy formulation and direction of the country and allow businesses to do what they do best.”