Privatisation is our only hope

THE EDITOR: We in TT view ourselves as a budding First World country; while we continue to say “thumbs down” on liberalisation and privatisation. The recent offering up of the Port for sale and privatisation of TSTT have been met with serious opposition; resulting in the opening of a hornet’s nest. No one stops to think that the best people to run a business are the people with the expertise, which does not encompass the government but entrepreneurially spirited individuals. The pursuit of the privatisation of TSTT is a golden opportunity for employees of TSTT in particular and the economy of TT in general. The government’s shift from its socialist posture by acquisition of many business ventures to the open enterprise system posture is meeting with mixed feelings.

It seems apparent that there are people amongst us who would rather have the government as a “whipping-boy” than to allow it a certain amount of autonomy to make pertinent decisions. The innovative, creative minds in the society have no interest whatsoever in direct involvement in government. The less capable who flock to the bastions of government in droves, for all intent and purposes see government as a safe haven which is rife with nepotism and incompetence. It is a known fact that the prevailing “mind-set” is: if I work for the government, I do not have to be productive, loyal or responsible. Government has always been viewed as an entity to exploit rather than one to support or preserve. Those of us with tunnel vision see only deleterious results from the proposed privatisation of TSTT.

TSTT Union leader Townsend remarked that liberalisation has nothing to do with the development of the economy of TT. What action does Townsend suggest with regards to TSTT? We are all aware that our government learns from trial and error, which is the position in which TT now finds itself. We are a ship without a compass; just going around in circles. There is a saying that if one does not know where he is going any road can take him there. With reference to BWIA; despite all the millions thrown at BWIA by the government it was not sufficient to rescue the airline from its financial woes. The airline continues to remain in desperate need of creative, efficient management. There must be a good side to privatisation if the US government is considering the privatisation of its penal system and social security.

If anything, we should have learned from our indecisiveness in privatising Caroni (1975) Limited. Had the government taken the bull by its horns and went ahead with the privatisation of Caroni (1975) Limited this would have circumvented having to go to the route of VSEP, an unpopular programme, not to mention the unwarranted drain on our revenue. Privatisation would have saved Caroni (1975) Limited from liquidation. A few of our unions are taking the country in a direction that could prove to be harmful to the economy. Workers are called on to strike by these unions, and after many months of financial dislocations in the family and economic setbacks in the economy, the striking workers are asked to return to work by their unions, with very little improvement derived from their sacrifices and inconvenience suffered. We should consider the privatisation of all businesses owned by the government which could only help in addressing the unemployment situation that continues to run “rough-shod” in TT, without any light at the end of the tunnel.

ULRIC GUY
Pt Fortin