TRINIDAD and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar will attend her first Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government summit this weekend as the new leader of the twin-island state, and will sit as the lone female around the table of male-dominated prime ministers and presidents of the region.
Fresh out of winning a major electoral victory in the southern republic just over a month ago, the summit in Jamaica’s tourist region of Montego Bay will provide an opportunity for Mrs. Persad-Bissessar to espouse her government’s relationship with the Community, and how involved it plans to be in its affairs.
During political campaigning for the elections, Mrs. Persad-Bissessar rarely spoke on the issue of CARICOM or what relations are expected to be with the Community or with individual countries.
Following a meeting with Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo, the first CARICOM leader to visit her, she said that there were several areas of economic and technical cooperation to be explored between Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana.
President Jagdeo said Georgetown was looking forward to engaging the new government in Port of Spain on possible areas of collaboration.
What so far has been the signals coming from the new People’s Partnership government? In its election’s manifesto, the People’s Partnership made its intentions clear that it will re-engage fully with the regional integration process and contribute towards the strengthening of the overall CARICOM framework, including the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
Very notably, it firmly rejected the “divisive” initiative of the previous prime minister, Patrick Manning, who was seeking to establish economic and political union between Trinidad and Tobago and several states of the Eastern Caribbean.
Under Mr. Manning’s proposal, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Lucia will seek to achieve economic integration by 2011, and political integration two years later – despite the wider CARICOM grouping which set a 2015 deadline for the formation of a single economy.
According to the People’s Partnership, Trinidad and Tobago will also promote, as much as possible, a common and proactive policy stand among the CARICOM members regarding critical issues such as the “forced returnees” from the United States and the UK, the reconstruction of Haiti, the ‘Bolivarian Alternative (ALBA), climate change and sustainable development.
In order to strengthen and deepen relations with CARICOM and its various institutions, Trinidad and Tobago will appoint a special envoy/ambassador to CARICOM.
Quite recently, the government announced that freedom fighter, Makandal Daaga was appointed CARICOM Cultural Ambassador Extraordinaire to bridge relations between Trinidad and Tobago and other regional countries.
From a foreign policy perspective, the new government planned to work in concentric circles, beginning with CARICOM, and was also seeking to implement existing trade agreements in collaboration with its CARICOM partners.
No doubt, Caribbean leaders will also be looking toward Mrs. Persad-Bissessar to see what role Trinidad and Tobago intends to play in the Community.
Historically, Trinidad and Tobago has played an important role in the Community as a political and economic leader, mainly because of its abundant resources of oil and natural gas.
Going back to the seventies, Trinidad and Tobago assisted the Caribbean with an oil facility; with loans and grants; and has written off hundreds of millions of dollars in debt owed by Guyana to the twin-island state.
Currently, Trinidad and Tobago contributes to the CARICOM Regional Development Fund designed to assist countries, particularly those in the Eastern Caribbean, to develop their capacity to benefit from intra and extra-regional trade among others – and the Petroleum Fund which seeks to give CARICOM trading partners financial assistance.
Earlier this year, the then government made an initial contribution of US$1 million from the CARICOM Petroleum Fund towards relief and recovery efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, and again contributed an additional US$5 million to the Haiti Earthquake Relief and Reconstruction Account established in the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.
The then government also agreed to make a further US$5 million available to the account on the basis of a further needs assessment.
Trinidad and Tobago also committed US$50 million from the Petroleum Fund into a special facility, to assist countries that were affected by the indebted British American Insurance Company (BAICO).
All these have been taking place as Trinidad and Tobago faced the brunt of the impact of the international economic crisis and plunging oil and gas prices which heavily impact on the country’s revenues.
In 2009, economic output in Trinidad and Tobago declined by some 3 per cent. Central Bank Governor, Ewart Williams says the economy is expected to grow to around 2 per cent at the end of this year, but new Finance Minister, Winston Dookeran reports that the economy was more likely to be flat.
Mr.Dookeran also paints a gloomy picture of the economy, saying there’s need for fiscal consolidation to bring expenditure in line with the sharply declining revenues – which could only mean cuts in expenditure or raising taxes.
Before doing any of these, the new government, which came into office on an overwhelmingly popular support from the electorate, would surely find difficulties in bringing any burden on the population – and may have to look at other areas that would not impact the pockets of its citizens.
Last year, in the face of falling gas and oil revenues and deficit in the budget, the previous Manning administration raised the possibility of cutting or stopping its contribution altogether to the Regional Development Fund, but never took any action on it.
Instead, it created the very unpopular Property Tax, which would have seen homeowners paying much more money towards the government. The then government was also moving towards creating a single Revenue Authority to ensure compliance with tax laws, minimize leakage in collection, and increase efficiency across the board in revenue collection. But to achieve this, it meant about 2,000 government workers losing their jobs.
The new government has already rejected the Property Tax and the Revenue Authority, shutting off new sources of revenues.
Given the financial challenges it faces, it’s going to be interesting in the coming months to see how the new Trinidad and Tobago government intends to balance the upcoming 2010 budget, and what cuts it intends to make, and whether its financial commitment towards CARICOM remains untouched.