Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah has recommended an immediate cut in advertising budgets and a review of major construction projects to align with the impact falling oil prices is having on T&T.
Speaking at a press conference held at MSJ’s headquarters, St Joseph Village, San Fernando, on Thursday, Abdulah said the economy could be on shaky grounds if the Government did not revise the 2015 fiscal budget and cut its exorbitant expenditure to create economic stability. Abdulah said construction project, including the Solomon Hochoy Highway extension to Point Fortin, should be reviewed, and review all state contracts to weed out possible corrupt payments.
Saying recurrent expenditure is being used to build the highway, Abdulah said if the Mon Desir to Debe segment is halted, monies could be saved. “The supply of gas is lower than the demand so many companies are cutting back,” Abdulah said. He said Government had not spoken about the implications of falling oil prices on the foreign exchange market.
“We need a full account on the energy and petrochemical sector. We need to look at worse case scenarios and address the need for diversification,” Abdulah said. Lamenting that Government had not followed through on diversification proposals, Abdulah warned that T&T would continue to be on a downward economic spiral if that was not addressed. He boasted that the MSJ had predicted long ago that gas prices would fall once oil prices declined.
“To the naysayers who accused us of spreading doom and gloom, we want to say that we will continue to monitor this situation and speak out about it,” Abdulah said. He added that the MSJ had been meeting with the various chambers of commerce, credit unions, business organisations and trade unions to discuss the situation.