Budget must place emphasis on agriculture

By HERMAN ROOP DASS Monday, August 20 2007

OFFICIALS from both the Chaguanas and Couva/Pt Lisas Chambers of Commerce are calling on Prime Minister Patrick Manning to give greater importance to agriculture and other non-oil and energy sectors in today’s presentation of the 2007/2008 National Budget, if the economic well-being of the nation is to be maintained and preserved.

Manning who is also Finance Minister, is expected to deliver the Budget today at 1.30 pm in Parliament. Gavin Seemungal, president of the Greater Chaguanas Chamber of Industry and Commerce, said Government must devise a greater diversification plan for the economy both within the gas and oil sector and other feasible areas such as tourism, manufacturing, information technology and agriculture.

He emphasised that tax breaks should also be considered in today’s Budget as “it is impossible for many people to make ends meet.”

He said he considered it necessary to “restructure the Agricultural Development Bank to meet the challenging needs of the community.” Seemungal said: “If farming is to become a reality, subsidies should be improved to those tilling the soil to provide food for the nation.”

Seemungal said that the chamber forwarded to Government its proposals for consideration and inclusion in today’s Budget. “Among matters we prepared for Government’s consideration are improved infrastructure for Chaguanas, decentralisation, greater computerisation and networking of Government Ministries, reduction of selected taxes, control of inflation, improvement in the judiciary system, diversification of the economy and significant reduction in crime,” Seemungal said.

He felt that NIS benefit should be increased to $2,000 monthly to cope with the high cost of living and that the age limit for pensioners should be dropped to 60, and that they should receive a pension of $2,000. He also called on Government to give special grants to religious organisations so that they could embark on social programmes aimed at young people in particular.

Ashmeer Mohamed, president of the Couva/Pt Lisas Chamber, reminded Government of the Development Plan for the area which the Chamber submitted and which included the development of the Carli Bay area and a Town Hall for the Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo Regional Corporation.

He felt that the Budget should bring about more “relief to the physically challenged and socially disabled” and stressed that Government should take a serious note on inflationary trends and work out a plan that would create a situation whereby people can live in a relative state of comfort. “More importantly, there must be a positive plan to encourage people to return to agriculture,” Mohamed said.

Why all yuh doh hush all yuh cont and stop living in a fantasy world.

Now hear how these niggas does operate. They have ah food consultation to fool the public because the budget would have already been prepared. You really think that fockin asshole goin to make any changes to accomodate the views that were heard at the consultation.

I listening to he delivering the fockin budget and one of the first things he say is that Trinidad food prices are amongst the cheapest in world. So why the mudder cont you had a food consultation for. To fool fockin people ?

Fock that yes. The PNM goin to announce that they are goin to get involved in large scale farming. But that is only ah fockin ploy. Another institution that goin to hire dey fockin friend and family and couple years after you go hear it buss. Why? They take all dem fockin ole niggas like Wayne Iniss and dem put dem in big postion and the fockers and dem goin to rip off the fockin place. Buss. Big farming done.

Leh all dem fockin Indian down Central and South haul dey mudder cont. We go geh dem ah fifty dollars when they cont get flood out.