One thing I love about reading BC Pires, aka Y’Boy, is that his voice is authentic Trini, de conscious yout’ man limin’ on de block. His article “New Year’s dazed and confused”, published January 1, 2016, was lean in banality and fat in insightful prose. The movers and shakers in this country (at least those who are left after the dust of dismissals has settled) should take heed of his analogy of our vision being backward rather than forward. We developed a Vision 2020 at great cost and effort, then discarded it for the expediency of Seven Pillars and are back to square one.
Looking backward is a country suffering from Dutch Disease caused by oil and gas, addicted to an analogue paradigm (pronounced paradig-em if you are Trini to d bone), based on divide and rule, quick fixes and keeping partisans happy at any cost. The economic stimulus plan as laid out so far is therefore, unsurprisingly, for the short term. It focuses on the construction sector in a bid to create jobs and drive economic growth.
Are we planning to build our way out of recession or, Dr Keith Rowley, are there other measures under your government’s sleeve? Looking forward, what are the medium and long-term plans for economic diversification, seeing that we can’t depend on oil and gas to fund our addictions? The country is facing a wave of uncertainty going forward and so far we have not been handed a sturdy surf-board to confidently ride the wave out of recession.
Looking back to the future (the New Year’s Eve paradox) is a digital paradigm based on green policies, planning, entrepreneurship and integration. There are issues relevant to us, such as the development of renewable energy, on which we are silent.
China, the world leader in solar thermal production and hydropower development, and largest producer and exporter of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells, plans to transition from coal-fired power generation to renewable resources by 2030. They clearly have a plan! These plans are documented by the Global Energy Network Institute (GENI) and detail the expected impact on the reduction of emissions, the development of rural areas (where food production occurs and all men must eat) and the reduction of industry related health problems such as lung cancers and birth defects.
Apparently, the United States, another large energy consumer in the world, is moving in the same direction. The reason is simple really. The cost of energy production by renewable resources is significantly decreasing as improvements are being made in the machinery and software technology used to control the machinery.
As an energy-producing country, have we caught that wave and are we moving in the same direction? What are our plans to diversify, are we doing any deals to stimulate technology development on existing infrastructure such as the Tamana Intech Park? What are the products and services that entrepreneurs should be focusing on in the future so that we are not left behind in the wake of obsolescence? What are the implications for tertiary education and GATE, and so forth?
I personally would welcome answers to these questions, as well as fresh debate on how we should be repositioning ourselves and working together to survive and beat back the recession.
Soraya Aziz