We all have come too far to turn back

November 28, 2001

When you listen to the apologists and spin-doctors of the present regime, you are given the impression that Trinidad and Tobago existed in the "Stone Age" before they came on the scene. And again as this 2001 election fever heats up we will hear this constant deliberately-dishonest hogwash about "they did nothing in 30 years".

You sometimes even get the impression that only one section of this population struggled for social development.

You hear the maximum leader ranting constantly about "his people having struggled for 150 years and have come too far to turn back now."

What does he really mean when uttering such ahistoric prattle? What is his view of the people who have struggled here for well over 400 years? Should the latter be forced to turn back?

Listen, we all, this entire population, came here as labour, we all began in the cane, whether in the late 1500s or 1845, and we all have fought every single obstacle to our social development placed in our path. We all paid the price in sweat and blood. Nobody will succeed in forcing any social group to turn back. That is an historical impossibility.

The point is that we have to grasp the process of social development to make sense of the interlinking stages through which we have gone as a young civilisation. Every single past regime contributed and all that is required is a sense of history to make the connections between the fundamental landmarks of each past regime.

But the negative criticisms from those with political agendas seeking to mobilise support have been so overwhelming that no sense of our movement as a people is ever reflected in our activities and our analyses. The end result is a kind of collective myopia.

We said elsewhere that "... the past regimes built up the capital and infrastructural stock, ie roads, communications, social amenities and services, industrial installations, etc, which in fact make us today the pride of the Caribbean.

When the Prime Minister of St Lucia, Kenny Anthony, visited recently, he commented on the fact that the Point Lisas Industrial Estate was the best kept secret in the Caribbean, and he opined that T&T will have to assume the mantle of leadership in terms of Caribbean industrialisation.

Not surprisingly, our Prime Minister confessed his inability to comprehend what Mr Anthony meant. How could he when all his politics is premised on the willful disregard and the pretended non-existence of hi-tech modern industrial infrastructure situated plumb centre of his Couva constituency?

The reality though is that after Independence, the past regimes, faced with increased unemployment as foreign investors sought to relinquish and abandon primary production activity, took up the option to buy out run-down plants and equipment in order to save jobs.

Millions were expended by the State to acquire, refurbish and/or modernise plant and equipment. The State became the biggest employers of labour and the civil service had to be expanded to facilitate the State's additional role and function as a major player in the economy, participating in 62 companies during the period 1974-1983.

Fifty-four per cent of total State expenditure in the '70s and '80s went to cover wages and emoluments of public servants. In addition, State expenditure had to be increased to maintain the new levels in the standard of living throughout the society, and to expand educational facilities and other social amenities.

Caroni, BWIA, etc had to be subsidised heavily to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Annual subsidies to the agricultural sector also ran into the tens of millions.

The question is, in whose hands went that portion of State expenditure that accrued to the domestic situation? It went into the hands of every Tom, Dick and Harrylal.

The level of dishonesty that attends such discussions today is really amazing. It may be "good" politics to do so in order to score points, but if the truth is not told we become a lesser society on account of it.

No one points out that in that very period subsidies to farmers and fisherfolk totalled some $80 million; that public utilities consumed some $3.1 billion; that grants to school children for books, uniforms, etc totalled $162 million and that income tax rebates in that period added up to a whopping $83 million.

Assistance from T&T to Caricom was also astronomical, amounting to some $1.6 billion, of which $181 million went into the Caricom oil facility to offset increased costs of petroleum products, fertilizers and asphalt.

This was deemed important because of the significance of the regional market to T&T manufacturers and exporters. Guyana alone got loan assistance from T&T to the tune of some $177.2 million.

But most significantly though, citizens of T&T expended in that period almost $3 billion on foreign travel for purposes of vacation, business, medical reasons and education. The banks raked in huge profits, streamlining their lending portfolio to facilitate the consumer madness.

Local savings were moved via the very banks into US dollar accounts abroad rather than being deployed here into heavy productive investment. Citizens well placed became millionaires overnight, if only through speculation.

Does all this suggest that "nothing" was done here until the present regime came? The point is that we all must share the responsibility for both the positives and the negatives that prevailed over time.

To suggest that "nothing" was done here before 1995 is to be dishonest in the vilest way. That attitude makes one feel to vomit. It is like "sitting down on river stone and talking the river bad".