South business associations have described the $64.664 billion budget as a “good” fiscal package. However, they are urging the Government to exercise caution on its spending and ensure citizens get value for money so as not to have a repeat of the Life Sport fiasco and fire truck debacle. Penal/Debe Chamber of Commerce president Sahid Hosein, responding to the fiscal package yesterday, said: “It sounds good.” “However,” he said, “when you get down to the nitty-gritty, my concern is when you start to implement the budget, as in years gone by, are you getting value for money? Are the projects cost effective? Are the monies being spent in a way that is prudent and the answer has to be no.”
In a telephone interview, Hosein said: “All these proposals are good but they have to ensure that we get value for money and proper procedures are in place so that monies are spent properly and not stolen.” Hosein said while the budget is pegged at a US$80 a barrel oil price, the Government should be concentrating on building the nation’s savings since other countries were entering into oil exploration as well. San Fernando Business Association president Daphne Bartlett also agreed that the 2014/2015 fiscal package was good.
However, she is urging government to make URP and CEPEP programmes more productive for the country and give workers skills-training to help rid the dependency syndrome. “Government has to initiate training with these types of programmes and it must be mandatory or else you do not get the job,” she said. She said clearly the budget was an “election budget” with increases in the minimum wage and social safety net programmes. Bartlett welcomed the announcement of a tax amnesty, which, she said, would help Government earn revenue. She is also pleased to hear the construction of two new highways—San Fernando to Princes Town and Princes Town to Mayaro. “However,” she added, “we heard that promise years ago for the 14 or 15 years we have been hearing the promise of highway from San Fernando to Mayaro. We are hoping they would get started on that in this fiscal year.”