BEFORE I FORGET – A final thought for the evening #11

When I was two (2), in 1986, Gypsy asked if we should “abandon ship”. Two years later, De Mighty Trini responded that “sink or float” we should be “sailing with the boat…”

Every year, without fail, there is a clamour that T&T is about crumble. These doomsday prophets are sometimes likened to “Chicken Little”, who was sure that the sky was falling.

Well, we haven’t sunk yet and the only thing that is falling is our GDP per capita (and apparently our birth rate). Even the World Bank pegs us as ‘high-income’.

This is not to say that our beautiful nation does not have its unique and protracted challenges –?most of which we should have resolved by 2024. As a matter of fact, T&T is a case study for the duality of nations which can boast a relatively high standard of living, and yet many citizens are living below, on, or just above the poverty line –?resulting in expansion of the ‘working poor’ and a reduction of the middle class.

Such a paradox is directly related to our inability to effectively diversify and expand the economy, so that dependence on Oil & Gas (and the related knock-on effects of global shocks) can be minimised. For various reasons (which I will explore in another edition of the series), inflation and unemployment have remained constant (on average). To serve our national needs, there have been successive deficit National Budgets that require borrowing, increased taxes, reduced services, and deferral of key national projects.?

It is time that the Private and Public sectors collaborate more effectively. To put it boldly, the State must remove itself from industry and be an 'enabler' of greater entrepreneurship, with a focus on sustainable micro/small businesses.

We must stem our wastage and learn to implement effectively. Our people must force themselves to stop being partisan and be able to openly critique their own!

Unfortunately, the advent of ever-increasing crime –?including illegal arms and kidnapping – has threatened Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) levels and resulted in social regression. Also, there has been effective weakening of public institutions, which correlates to the low confidence levels in them by our citizens.

If these problems were not by themselves daunting, the nation has not fully developed its export markets, while there is excessive dependence on public resources and ineffective prioritisation of state projects. As with other similar nations, our ‘brain drain’ is increasing every year, yet we have poorly managed migration and productivity are levels lower than optimum.

Altogether, the above, along with other intersectional issues (e.g., high incidences of gender-based violence, gang expansion, poor leadership etc.), has allowed the ship to take on water.

So, what would we need to do to keep afloat, repair the leak, and improve our speed?

Easy:

A.??? A LONG-TERM VISION THAT IS OF, FOR & BY THE PEOPLE

Define a shared vision for T&T at 100 years that is owned by the people –?and not politicised –?that would foster a philosophy of considering today’s actions in the framework of their future impacts

B.??? COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Revise the national manpower & talent plan, and invest accordingly in upskilling all citizens (across their respective occupations –?using existing local institutions), and incentivise the return of our well-trained and experienced diaspora

C.???? INDEPENDENT AND FUNCTIONING PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

Strengthen public sector institutions –?making them truly independent and future-focused (through legislative reform, adequate resourcing and inclusion of the broadest coalition of civil society), and include the Opposition in specialist committees

D.??? AN ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR ALL

Re-engineer the economy so that three (3) non-energy sectors (1 must be the Creative Sector) are prioritised to assist with export expansion, foreign exchange earnings, and sustainable job creation – and reinstate an upgraded Economic & Sustainable Social Development Advisory Board that is empowered to influence Government expenditure and assess its performance

E.???? SECURE OUR PEOPLE

Secure the nation (in terms of physical safety, food & energy security) through public-supported, draconian interventions with sunset clauses –?overseen by multinational partners (e.g., FBI, Scotland Yard, CARIB IMPACS, FAO) and replacement of the Privy Council with the CCJ as the final criminal appeal court

F.???? GENUINE PPPs

Develop and execute wide scale infrastructure and development projects through genuine Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) –?not what passes for PPPs today – and remove the state from activity that should be private-sector run

G.??? REGIONAL AND GLOBAL INFLUENCE

Rekindle our capacity to positively influence and contribute to regionalism and global solutions by rebuilding the ethnohistorical connections of the Caribbean through leading on projects like a Caribbean Central Bank Digital Currency; homogenising regulations and legislation; fully operationalising CSME; and re-capitalising CARICOM and refreshing its mandate

H.??? DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION (DEI)

All policies and programmes must be developed on a DEI-foundation: taking full advantage of our existing diversity, but hardwiring into them equity and inclusion

I.??? TRUE LEADERSHIP

The vain and hollow, straw actors who are veiled in ‘leadership costumes’ must be exposed and replaced with genuine, intelligent, self-aware, secure, ethical and industrious persons who have the EQ, zeal, focus, values and charisma to move the people forward in a unified way

See - very easy! Right?

In subsequent articles, I will treat with each of these.?

The above is doable, but it requires the best and brightest of our people to step up and forward and commit to the next 30 years of focused aspiration and achievement.

This means that some of us will have to get involved directly in the political process – and thereafter, offer ourselves for national service in the ~4,000 appointments that are required across state agencies and bodies.

All you need to do is complete your Integrity Commission compliance process and have ethics, passion, good sense and love for T&T!

I believe that the majority of the nation would accept an honest, benevolent dictator who is disciplined, productive and tolerant. Or, a few of them!

MAYDAY MAYDAY! The oil pressure reading low!

WE SAILING STILL! Through hurricane and storm let us push!

– RH

[ Rudolph Hanamji holds a Dip. in Public Innovation & Governance from UWI & CAF, as well certification in Innovative Investment Promotion ]