I do hope and pray that 2017 will be much better economically and socially for us as citizens. Here is m.y wish list for 2017: For oil and gas prices to rise to an acceptable lev.el. The detection rate for murders, rapes and robberies to be above 40 pe.rcent. White-collar criminals to be brought to jus.tice. Less carnage on the na.tion’s roads. Government and opposition working toge.

ther to pass legislation. Less broken marria.

ges and homes. Our porous borders be.coming secured. A breakthrough in hu.man trafficking. A concrete plan to div.ersify our economy. Better representation from our members of parliament.

May God bless our nation and may we strive as one people for the greater benefit of this land.

Beatrice Charles, Barataria

The TT Express did so from Saturday, December 10 while the TT Spirit resumed full service runs the following day; Sunday December 11.

The Trinidad and Tobago Inter-Island Transportation Company Limited (TTIT), in a statement issued yesterday, said that in conjunction with management of the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (PATT), it wished to “advise the public” of the aforementioned resumption. TTIT also said the ferries had been temporarily out of service while “all the necessary repairs” were undertaken to ensure “a safe and reliable service”, particularly during the just-completed “peak Christmas demand.” TTIT also said “the public is reminded that ferry tickets can be purchased on line at www.ttitferry.

com from your nearest ticket outlet or at the Ferry Terminals in Port of Spain and Scarborough.” The full sailing schedules of the TT Express and the TT Spirit, effective December 11, 2016, are as follows: Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays departs PoS at 6.30 am and 4 pm, departs Scarborough at 6.30 am and 4 pm; Wednesdays departs PoS at 6.30 am and 12 pm, departs Scarborough at 6.30 am and 12 pm; Fridays departs PoS at 6.30 am and 4 pm, departs Scarborough at 6.30 am and 4 pm; Saturdays departs PoS at 6.30 am and 4 pm, departs Scarborough at 6.30 am and 4 pm; Sundays departs PoS at 9.30 am and 3 pm, departs Scarborough at 9.30 am and 4 pm

Maritime and CKFTO paired up to host the first ever Music Therapy Christmas camp for the kids.

Maritime and CKFTO’s camp hosted children from Rainbow Gems School in Maraval and one from the sister isle, Tobago. The camp was led by the internationally renowned Music Therapist Maya Chriqui, who was the first to bring music therapy to Trinidad and Tobago. The camp was unique in that the children also have the opportunity to do work with the Occupational Therapist Christopher Ristic and Speech therapy with Marcia Akan. All three forms of therapy contribute to the improvement of the children’s learning, communication and social skills.

Deepa L. Persad, CKFTO Clinical Manager, expressed her gratitude to Maritime for partnering with them on this initiative. “We are extremely grateful to Maritime for making this camp possible.” “Music therapy allows kids with various disabilities like Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Speech Delay, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism and Developmental Delay, to use their cognitive and fine/gross motor skills in a fun and enjoyable manner that encourages social interaction.” “The week long camp was both fun and educational and emphasised the importance of early intervention for all children to achieve key developmental milestones.

We are so happy to have been able to provide them with this opportunity this Christmas.”

CABINET RESHUFFLE Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley undertook his first major Cabinet reshuffle on November 1. People’s National Movement (PNM) deputy political leader Rohan Sinanan – the man credited by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley with bringing home the 2015 general election for the party – was announced as the new Minister of Works and Transport

Kazim Hosein, who a few weeks ago was spearheading the San Fernando City Corporation’s disaster relief campaign for Hurricane- ravaged Haiti, in his capacity as San Fernando Mayor, is Minister of Rural Development and Local Government

Stuart Young, was made a full Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). Previously, he was a Minister of State in the OPM in addition to being a Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs

Young later assumed chairmanship of the Cabinet’s Finance and General Purposes (FGP), allowing Finance Minister Colm Imbert greater room to handle several substantial matters on his plate. Rowley later said there is no set rule for the finance minister to chair the FGP

PNM MPs Nicole Olivierre (La Brea) and Ancil Antoine (D’Abadie/O’Meara) were shown Cabinet’s exit door as they were stripped of their posts of Energy and Public Utilities Ministers, respectively. PNM chairman and former Urban Development and Local Government Minister Franklin Khan was shifted to the Energy Ministry, while former Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds is the Public Utilities Minister

NOT TRUE CARMONA Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on September 29 denied ever giving his approval for a September 5 meeting called by President Anthony Carmona and attended by National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and the heads of different arms of the protective services. Rowley declared there was no leak of confidential documents from the Office of the Prime Minister to the Office of the President, pertaining to this meeting

In providing a detailed response to claims made by President Anthony Carmona during an address to reporters at the Office of the President in St Ann’s, Rowley made it clear during a post-Cabinet news conference that at no time did he exercise powers outside of his constitutional remit. He was also adamant he will maintain the working relationship which he and Carmona must have under the Constitution. In a recap, Rowley said he was in Tobago on September 5 when he received a phone call from Dillon indicating he was requested by the President to attend a meeting that day. Dillon did not know why the President wanted to see him. “I then thought it might be something personal or something to do with his (Carmona) family or his immediate security,” Rowley said

He told Dillon, “well then, find out.” Rowley said he had no further conversation with Dillon on the issue and Dillon left the country the following day for a trip that had been arranged prior to their discussions

Dillon returned home on September 12 and subsequently gave the Prime Minister a written statement on the meeting with the President. Rowley said he became alarmed and concerned on September 11, when he read in the newspapers about, “a major national security meeting” involving the Chief of Defence Staff, the Acting Police Commissioner and Minister Dillon, which was chaired by the President

While awaiting direct communication from Dillon, Rowley said he discovered a 30-point document on national security sent to him from the President

Rowley said he was concerned about a phrase in Carmona’s letter, in which the President said, “he had the consent of the attendees to tell me, what happened at this meeting.” Rowley sought advice from a Senior Counsel “with respect to the line of reporting and communication between the Minister, Prime Minister and President on this specific matter.” He said the legal advice received showed his concerns, “were well founded.” The Prime Minister said through the Head of the Public Service, he wrote the President on this development. Rowley told Cabinet about the legal advice and Cabinet reaffirmed the constitutional requirements relating to government ministers reporting to the Prime Minister and/ or President

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on September 2 said Government and the Opposition have agreed to use the Joint Select Committee (JSC) on National Security as a mechanism to collaborate on the passage of effective anti-crime legislation in the Parliament. Indicating this mechanism will evolve as Parliament resumes its sittings from September 9, the Prime Minister said both sides have agreed to collaborate on legislation pertaining to the abolition of preliminary inquiries (PIs) and trials by jury

He also said Government and Opposition will have further talks regarding implementation of the death penalty

Addressing a news conference, following a meeting between Government and the Opposition, Rowley was optimistic that both sides have, “set the framework for future effective cooperation” to deal with crime in TT. He said after 90 minutes of dialogue, Government and Opposition agreed “to cooperate more effectively in the Parliament.” To this end, Rowley said Government will relinquish chairmanship of the National Security JSC to an Independent Senator, “so as to ensure that the political acrimony that may exist between Government and Opposition may not form part of the chairing of this committee.” This JSC was chaired in the Tenth Parliament by then Independent Senator Dr Rolph Balgobin. Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds is the current chairman of that JSC now in the Eleventh Parliament

Rowley said the National Security JSC will literally be, “meeting on what the country needs to do…what legislation needs to be addressed..

to be created to be amended…where are the disagreements and do that behind closed doors before we come to the Parliament.” He said Government has also committed to alert the Opposition about legislation before the Legislative Review Committee “and then go forward when legislation takes shape, into committee and then to the Parliament floor.” Rowley said there was also consensus on the need for greater resources at the Parliament and Opposition Leader’s Office to facilitate more effective passage of legislation

In a release, Khan said, “it was pleasing to have witnessed such compassion and commitment by fellow colleagues in the medical fraternity, who offered their services to members of the public free of charge in the true spirit of the Christmas season”. For this season Dr Ronnie Bhola gave free surgeries for 25 cataract patients and Dr Vijay Naraynsingh provided 100 patients from the public health sector with free surgeries by a team of 21 surgeons of Medical Associates private hospital.

Khan in the release commented: “While they would have been constricted by the time frame in which they chose to conduct this exercise, it was satisfying to know that at least a few dozen people in our nation are now better able to navigate their lives through the assistance of these medical treatments”.

He continued: “While it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of this generosity however, it must not be overlooked that our public health institutions are still overburdened with persons who require free medical treatment on a more regular basis.

For this reason, while it is commendable that these doctors have demonstrated such exuberance in this instance, one can only hope that they will transfer this same energy into their practice at the public health facilities in 2017 to reduce the waiting time that patients are forced to endure and ease the burden on their colleagues”.

Khan recalled that in 2012 an audit into the Ophthalmology departments at national health facilities indicated that many doctors were under-performing, which resulted in these patients seeking treatment at private hospitals, “where they would be charged considerable amounts of money to perform the very services that could have been received free of charge”.

“In other instances, there have been specialists in various fields who have shied away from their public practice in an effort to profit from their expertise, despite the fact that there were many who required the treatment but unable to meet the financial requirement in the private sector.

While doctors do have the right to earn a living based on their profession, there must be ethical conduct that guides them to ensure that no patient is forced to suffer as a result of their ambition,” he stressed.

Khan said that as a former Minister of Health it his my intention to create a system that would incorporate both private and public institutions to deliver the best and timely health services to the entire nation, despite anyone’s income bracket.

“As doctors we have also sworn an oath to protect and preserve the lives of our fellow human beings, and this should take precedence in the way that we carry about our duties and conduct our practices.

So, as wonderful as their actions of these few doctors during this Christmas season has been, the significance of their generosity would have been undercut had the public health system been able to care for these patients in the manner in which they were intended,” he stressed.

“The question we need to ask therefore, is whether we prefer a system wherein a charity event can rescue a handful of patients from the public health facilities and be lauded as a result, or one in which each and every patient is treated in a timely and efficient manner and can all enjoy a healthier life together with the rest of the nation.”

Another of her achievements was the introduction of the May Pole Festival.

*Renowned playwright Freddie Kissoon, passed away at age 85.

He was the founder of the Strolling Players Theatre Group, which he started back in 1957.

He was also an actor, director and cultural ambassador who won many awards both locally and internationally, including the Humming Bird Medal of Merit National Award, for his contribution to the sphere of culture.

* On the nation’s 54th Anniversary of Independence, National Awards given to people in the field of culture including Leston Paul – arranger/producer/ composer/musician – The Chaconia Medal (Silver) for long and meritorious service to TT , and for loyal and devoted service to TT , the St Margaret’s Boys’ Anglican School/Youth Steel Orchestra, and calypsonian Irwin Reyes Johnson aka “Scrunter” and Timothy Watkins aka “Baron”, the Hummingbird Medal (Gold), and Austin Wilson (posthumous) – retired sound engineer – Hummingbird Medal (Silver).

SEPTEMBER *Austin Lewis, better known in the calypso world as King Austin, passed away. He was well-known for his classic calypso and, perhaps one of the best of all time, “Progress”, released in 1980.

* Invited to give the feature address at the ceremonial opening of the 2016/2017 Law Term, Dr Hollis Liverpool (Chalkdust) with guitar in hand and in song, advised the legal fraternity to familiarise themselves with local culture as they go about dispensing justice.

* Calypso Series promoted by Anslem Douglas held weekly at Atherly’s and Epicurean in the southland was a rare treat for calypso lovers outside of the Carnival season.

The series featured some older bards who brought back memories of the good old days of genuine kaisos.

* Play the Devil, a powerful, coming of age drama, set in the high altitude of rural Paramin, opened the 11th edition of the trinidad+ tobago film festival (ttff). Trafficked, the ttff “Best Feature Film” winner 2015 made its European premiere at the prestigious film festival in Cannes, France, following its inclusion at a festival in Los Angeles a month before.

Also, four fiction features from TT were among this year’s lineup of Caribbean films at the 2016 ttff.

* Beryl McBurnie’s portraits may continue to decorate the walls of The Little Carib Theatre but no longer at her 34 Panka Street, St James home, after it was demolished, ironically during National Patriotism Month.

* Trinidad-born poet Vahni Capildeo won the Forward Prize, one of the major literary prizes for poets published in Britain and Ireland.

One month later another Trinidadian Danielle Boodoo Fortune copped a foreign literary prize – 2016 Wasafiri New Writing Prize.

* In celebration of Leroy Calliste’s 75th birthday a star-studded cast was invited to perform at an event entitled: “Diamond at 75”. The cast included reigning Calypso Monarch Devon Seale, the bard’s grandsons Keegan and Keevan Calliste, David Rudder, Brian London, Karene Asche, Explainer, Helon Francis, Singing Sandra, Cro Cro, Ras Kommanda, Pink Panther, Mister Shak, Len “Boogsie” Sharpe, Sugar Aloes and Chuck Gordon, who all sang songs by Stalin, who suffered a stroke in 2014, while comedian Damian Melville’s monologue: “Play yourself!” was equally entertaining.

* At the start of Calypso History Month themed: “Kaiso… the Mother Music”, Tuco president Lutalo Masimba told eager-tolearn kids that from Mother Calypso came soca, parang soca, chutney soca, ragga soca, rapso, gospelypso, zouk, cadence and Caribbean pop.

He added that even reggae and dancehall music had their genesis in calypso, but yet still not enough credit has been given to calypso music.

* Bazodee, the local movie featuring debutant actor and soca star Machel Montano, British actress Natalie Pereira who made her debut as a singer, Bollywood actor Kabir Bedi, Teneille Newallo, Rahul Nath, Chris Smith, Valmike Rampersad and Staz Nair was released in New York, USA, Toronto and Ontario, Canada and here in TT .

It was a movie where music and passion collided.

Given the hype of the movie there were long lines for each airing.

* The Birdsong Steel Orchestra was evicted from its Tunapuna site that it occupied for the past 28 years. Young band members from the academy shed tears knowing that their future was uncertain.

The band eventually got a temporary home close by.

OCTOBER * Calypso Queen of the World, Calypso Rose (McCartha Linda Sandy-Lewis), started making waves in Europe from June promoting the Calypso Sound System compilation album, and her own new album Far From Home.

She received a “gold” record in France for the latter that eventually went platinum. She then copped the 2016 WOMEX Artist Award at the Santiago de Compostela in Spain and now has 40 international gigs already lined up for 2017.

* After a three-year absence Brian Mc Farlane announced his return for the 2017 Carnival season, making it known that the presentation was not only going to be Mc Farlane’s creations, but those of top fashion designers, among them Claudia Pegus, Heather Jones, Peter Elias, Diane Hunt, Adrian Foster and a designer from Tobago.

But after the launch of his presentation, Cazabon – The Art of Living, in tribute to one of TT ’s best known 19th century artist, Michel- Jean Cazabon, the section “La Belle Dame and Garcon de la Maison” (The Pretty Lady and the House Boy), raised brows which critics say embodied racial undertones and skews the work of Cazabon. Bowing to the controversy, Mac Farlane, pulled the section.

* Iconic mas man Stephen Derek died suddenly hours after working on costumes at his mas camp. Fellow mas man Peter Minshall described him as a mas man who belonged to a special era that began with famed and deceased mas maker George Bailey. Glowing tribute was also paid to Derek by several speakers at the Mentoring by the Masters 2016 awards ceremony, one of which he received posthumously.

* Having been shut down for the past couple of years The National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port-of-Spain, reopened earlier this year, then closed again in May and after $20 million was spent in repairs, it was deemed safe to occupy, but didn’t reopen until October.

NOVEMBER *Bryon Serrette resigned from his position as Pan Trinbago vice-president citing financial impropriety by the executive and in the main, the president.

Serrette said there was a trail of questionable transactions and instead of addressing his concerns he was ostracised.

Some of the questionable financing included the financing of a vehicle for one Kenwick Bethel, as well as the purchase of another vehicle for the use of the president.

* The Kixx and Kaiso series produced by Robin Foster continues to be a crowd puller at Kaiso Blues Caf? each Thursday. Each week it features a humorous calypsonian and a comedian.

*Queen of comedy, parang singer and retired teacher Shirley “Beulah” King, passed away at age 74.

A total of 12 teams, in three groups, will be participating in the event, which will see four teams qualify for the 2017 FIFA Under- 20 World Cup in South Korea .

Trinidad and Tobago have been drawn in Group C, alongside hosts Costa Rica, El Salvador and Bermuda .

Williams, in an interview on the TT Football Association (TT FA) website, is impressed with how things have been going with the team since they resumed preparations earlier this month .

“Things are going pretty okay at this point in time,” he said. “Presently we have about 32 local players in training .

We train every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings and I’m pretty pleased with how preparations are going at this point in time. What I’m happy about is the competitiveness within the training sessions .

“We also have some new guys that we called up into training,” he continued. “So I’m taking a keen look at them .

Some of those guys (are) looking promising .

I don’t need to call names but I should say training is on course and we’re hoping to do a camp from the 8th of January to the 18th .

From that camp we’ll look at our final 20-26 players to go on tour, either to Colombia or Brazil, before we get to Costa Rica.” The dreadlocked Williams, who featured as a right-back on the Strike Squad team who narrowly missed out on a spot on the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, is hopeful of getting men’s team winger Levi Garcia in the squad for the CONCACAF phase .

The 19-year-old Garcia currently plays for AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie .

“We have 32 players right now,” said Williams .

“We’re looking at getting Levi Garcia into the squad but we’re working really hard on that. We’re hoping to get him to join the squad.” One player who has left a good impression on Williams in the training sessions is Denmark-born midfielder Mark Gangiah .

According to the Under- 20 coach, “he came to train and did two weeks training with us .

A really nice player, very athletic, a midfielder (who) can play both attacking and defensive .

He (has) some document work to do in terms of acquiring his Trinidad and Tobago passport.”

Luis Peralta and Daniel Cadena were the goal-getters for Nicaragua, in the third and 48th minutes respectively, while midfielder Hashim Arcia pulled one back for the visitors, in the 75th in their first match under the guidance of Belgium- born coach Tom Saintfiet.

This result was Nicaragua’s first ever win over Trinidad and Tobago in four international meetings. In 1967, TT prevailed 3-1 in a CONCACAF Championship match while five years later, the twin-island republic whipped their Central American opponents 3-0 at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games. And on October 13, 2015, both teams battled to a goalless draw at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo.

On Tuesday, an unmarked Peralta rose above the defence and headed downwards past Adrian Foncette from a short corner on the left.

Cadena later unleashed a left-footed volley from 35 metres out which caught Foncette unawares early in the second half.

Arcia trimmed the deficit when he drilled home a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area.

In a post-game interview, Saintfiet said, “as a coach you don’t like to lose. I am disappointed with the result but I can’t be too disappointed in the performance of the team.

Nicaragua were full strength and naturally we missed a lot of players.

We gave some opportunities for players to make their debuts (striker Akeem Roach and defender Maurice Forde) with a lot of young players in the squad and it was the first game after only two weeks in training together.” The coach continued, “first half I think it was a neutral game. Both team didn’t really create chances and it was a little bit sad that Nicaragua scored immediately after a few minutes. It was a goal out of a standard situation with two players didn’t follow instructions of what was done in advance.

“The second half we wanted the make the equaliser but they scored a world class goal with a player shooting from 30 to 40 metres.

We were now pushed to score two goals.” “Tyrone Charles came on and did well,” added the TT coach.

“He hit the crossbar with a fantastic free kick and then he had a good cross. Then Hashim Arcia scored a good goal 15 minutes from the end.

We tried to press more and we had some good occasions.

“It was also difficult on the artificial pitch but we can’t change that surface. It was a very disappointing result but a satisfying performance for the first time of this team. Sure there were some weaknesses which we have to improve on and be ready for the future for the most important games against Suriname and Haiti (in the CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifiers in January) and then Mexico and Panama (in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in March).” Both teams will meet again tomorrow as TT continue their build-up towards the Gold Cup qualifying matches against Suriname on January 4 and Haiti on January 8 at the Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva. TT resume World Cup qualifiers in March.

Teams – TRINIDAD AND TO BAGO: Adrian Foncette; Aubrey David, Radanfah Abu Bakr, Maurice Forde, Alvin Jones (Daneil Cyrus 80th), Carlos Edwards, Hughtun Hector, Nathan Lewis (Trevin Caesar 66th), Hashim Arcia (Curtis Gonzales 78th), Jomal Williams (Tyrone Charles 54th), Akeem Roach (Cornell Glen 54th).

NICARAGUA: Justo Lorente; Luis Copete, Jason Casco, Josue Quijano, Manuel Rosas (capt), Marlos Lopez, Luis Peralta, Elvis Pinel, Daniel Cadena, Bryan Garcia, Nofran Lazo.

The duo were stuck in Trinidad on Tuesday while the national squad fell to a 2-1 loss in the first friendly, at Managua.

Andrews was unable to leave with the TT team on Sunday due to an expired passport while Davis remained in Trinidad for undisclosed reasons.

“I’m on my way now and Andrews is on his way also. Somebody needs to be there to make sure that players are managed (properly), there were some issues,” Davis said.

An indication of how trying, economist and UWI lecturer Dr. Roger Hosein told Business Day, is that the ECLAC projection of the economy’s contraction by 4.5 percent may actually be under reporting.

“The actual growth performance may be worse,” said the economist. He said the first quarter of 2016 saw an economic growth rate of -5.6 percent, while the second quarter registered eight percent. But even if the economic growth rate of 4.5 percent is used, Hosein said this would make it the worst contraction “Assuming that the UNECLAC forecast is correct, the level of GDP in TT would have shrunk to that midway between what occurred in 2016 and 2007 and would be seven percent lower than that of 2013,” Hosein said. (see GDP graph) However, according to economist, several oil and gas projects already on stream or coming into play, may make 2017 potentially brighter.

“I do not think economic growth in 2017 would be negative,” said Hosein, “I think that the TROC and Juniper projects would help by the middle of 2017 to increase the production of crude oil and natural gas in TT. The limited degree of buoyancy offered to hydro carbon prices by the OPEC production cut decision, would, other things being constant, help to buoy the Trinidad and Tobago economic a bit.” (for list of projects see table) He offered this opinion with several important caveats.

The first said Hosein, was OPEC members sticking to their decision to cut production.

“OPEC members have a tendency to cheat and any increase in supply of crude oil can adversely affect prices.

Libya and Nigeria were also exempt from the production cuts, so, as they increase production, market prices would dampen,” he said.

A Trump administration decision to increase production may also act as a strong headwind against prices remaining buoyant. If this is coupled with a strengthening dollar which Hosein thought likely as the American economy improved, this could dampen international demand for crude oil.

The possibility that TT’s oil and gas production may not improve as much as expected may also dampen prospects next year.

“If the slide in the production of crude oil and natural gas continues with only marginal increases in the price of oil and natural gas, then this can potentially undermine economic growth in 2017 as well,” said Hosein.

As government fights to raise revenues, the economist said the State had made “significant headway”, in curbing expenditure.

“The level of government expenditure down from approximately $63 billion to around $54 billion,” Hosein told Business Day.

He said though, he remained concerned by the level of capital expenditure, which is only ten percent of total government expenditure and which has the effect of crowding in private sector investment in the economy.

“At the same ti me there seems to be some degree of hesitancy by the State to reduce transfers and subsidies to programmes such as CEPEP,” observed Hosein, “In the current economic climate and the expected medium term situation for the energy sector, the State needs to engage in deeper forms of structural adjustment. Even if it does it on its own, without the formal guidance of the multi laterals.” He also saw conflict between government and the country’s major trade unions over subsidies in the coming year, which would not be helpful to the economy.

“These are trying times, and only amicable, reasoned solutions, will move the economy forward.”

He said government also had to continue to explore ways to raise revenues through taxation.

Hosein said even though adjustments to the VAT regime were not as successful as they could have been, there still was much potential in an amended property tax regime.

The purpose of State borrowing was also a source of concern for the economist. Hosein said while much of the debt incurred by the government was necessary, too much of it was still centered on recurrent expenditure and consumption, rather than sustainable long term investment.

“Diversification has gone nowhere in this country and economic hopes and aspirations seems to be hinged around a recovery in some miraculous way in the energy sector. In the next three years, barring some major external shock, this will not happen,” predicted Hosein.

The UWI lecturer also told Business Day that a downgrade of the value of this country’s currency relative to the US dollar may be in order. Adjustments already made, he believed, have not worked because they are not yet at a level to stimulate a response from exporters and import substituters within the economy.

“My view is that the State, following the footsteps of other oil producing countries, will want to consider bringing the currency closer to its market value of around TT$9 to US$1. While we may not wish this, the structural realities point in this direction,” he said.

“The experience of the depreciation of the TT dollar associated with its floatation in 1993 was not entirely terrible and indeed by 1994 and 1995 growth returned to the economy.”

Overall, Hosein noted that the responsibility for a return to economic growth in 2017 resided with multiple stakeholders and not just government.

“As we recalibrate the economy, it is expected that everyone should contribute to get Trinidad and Tobago back to optimal production capacity. All hands on deck are urgently required at this stage and these hands must pull in the same direction,” he said.