- 2 years ago
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00:00:22 A very special good morning Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the world.
00:00:24 I'm Marlon Hopkins and as always, welcome to The Morning Edition.
00:00:27 It's Monday, June 10th and thank you very much for joining us.
00:00:30 I thought that we would start off the program this morning with some vibes.
00:00:34 It's a beautiful day in Trinidad and Tobago, yeah?
00:00:38 And I say that because of the weather that we have been receiving.
00:00:41 You've got the blessings, the showers of blessings this morning,
00:00:46 just after 4 o'clock and a short while ago we got some more blessings.
00:00:50 So we are blessed place, sometimes we forget.
00:00:53 But today is going to be a good day.
00:00:55 If you're coming down into Port of Spain today or you're just outside today,
00:00:59 maybe it's a good idea to walk with your parasols, yeah?
00:01:03 Yeah, I ain't talking about sol for
00:01:05 people who don't know what I'm speaking about.
00:01:07 Walk with your umbrellas then, right?
00:01:09 So a very special good morning to all of you.
00:01:11 Thank you very much for joining us this morning.
00:01:13 We do have a very interesting program for you, so stay tuned.
00:01:16 But let's take a look at the Daily Express.
00:01:18 On the front page today,
00:01:20 Charford Court Scholarship winner needs US $40,000 to finance
00:01:24 mechanical engineering degree at St. Mary's University in Texas.
00:01:28 He is Malachi Duncan.
00:01:31 Help me fund my studies.
00:01:33 And the picture on the page there, book launch, Professor Ken Julian signs
00:01:37 a poster of the biography of former Prime Minister Patrick Manning,
00:01:41 titled Manning, Faith and Vision.
00:01:44 During yesterday's launch of the Lord Kitchener Auditorium, National Academy for
00:01:48 the Performing Arts, Port of Spain, Manning, who passed away in 2016,
00:01:51 served as Prime Minister from 1991 to 1995 and 2001 to 2010.
00:02:00 All right, let me just tell you a little bit about Malachi now.
00:02:02 So Malachi pursues his dream.
00:02:04 Charford Court Youth wants help to finance US studies.
00:02:07 The winner of a scholarship to study mechanical engineering at St.
00:02:11 Mary's University in Texas is seeking the public's assistance in gathering US
00:02:15 $40,000 to fund his first year of studies.
00:02:19 His name is Malachi Duncan, and he's a resident of Charford Court
00:02:24 on Charlotte Street in Port of Spain.
00:02:26 He's 20 years old.
00:02:27 All right, so see what you can do to help Malachi there.
00:02:30 All right, so Wendy's demolition job, five star Hussein.
00:02:34 Our aim is to win every game, Akil Hussein says.
00:02:37 Westerners are taking no team for granted in the ongoing T20 World Cup,
00:02:41 following their emphatic demolition job of Uganda late Saturday in Providence.
00:02:46 And let's see what's happening with Jereme.
00:02:48 Jereme shines in New York.
00:02:50 Jereme shines for dream.
00:02:52 Warren hits 18 meter mark in New York, competing in front of his daughter
00:02:56 for the very first time.
00:02:58 Jereme, the dream, Richards, produced a scorching run,
00:03:02 clocking 44.82 seconds for fourth spot in the NYC Grand Prix Men's 400 Meters
00:03:08 event in New York, USA yesterday.
00:03:11 All right, some of the stories in the Daily Express today.
00:03:14 All right, so it's time to remind you about Trinbago, your nice feature.
00:03:17 Remember to participate.
00:03:18 What's up?
00:03:19 Your videos or images to 737-3778.
00:03:23 What do we have for our viewers this morning?
00:03:25 That's a beautiful view there.
00:03:26 Thank you very much to the person who would have sent that to us.
00:03:29 Remember, I knew it somewhere in Trinidad.
00:03:31 Yeah, studio?
00:03:33 Well, not studio.
00:03:34 Shala, I knew somewhere in Trinidad.
00:03:36 But it's nice.
00:03:38 It's nice, eh?
00:03:40 Icacas Wetlands.
00:03:42 So this is the scene there.
00:03:45 Yeah.
00:03:46 Yeah.
00:03:46 Yeah.
00:03:47 Them fellas in studio, apparently they are very--
00:03:52 it's familiar.
00:03:53 Yeah.
00:03:54 Yeah.
00:03:55 I wonder what they're doing down in Icacas.
00:03:58 I don't think we can tell our viewers what they're doing down in Icacas.
00:04:03 All right.
00:04:04 OK, so you have your coffee.
00:04:06 Your tea, get something to eat, and come back.
00:04:08 Yeah, it's beautiful weather out there.
00:04:11 Come back.
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00:04:33 In His Presence, 11, Tim Godfrey.
00:04:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:04:43 19th of June, Labor Day, Tim Godfrey.
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00:04:54 At Shore Park in Sweet, Sweet Tobago, Tim Godfrey.
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00:05:13 Get your general admission tickets, $250, Children $100, At The Door $300.
00:05:19 In His Presence, 11, awesome ministry for the entire family.
00:05:24 Come on, everybody.
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00:05:30 In His Presence, 11.
00:05:37 Hey, Toby, look, I got you your dog chow.
00:05:40 New mouthwatering recipes, sensational.
00:05:48 Dive into new tasty experiences.
00:05:53 Hello, variety.
00:05:55 Hey, Toby, ready to eat?
00:05:58 Improve your dog's quality of life with the satisfying nutritious flavors
00:06:03 of dog chow.
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00:08:14 It's not a thrill when your speed can't kill.
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00:08:24 So you have big plans for the year, eh?
00:08:26 A trip in July, birthday in November,
00:08:29 and fet after fet this carnival.
00:08:33 But you know what is stop plans?
00:08:35 A $22,500 fine.
00:08:40 You know what else could really stop your plans?
00:08:43 Five years imprisonment and suspension
00:08:46 on your license for three years.
00:08:48 Don't drink and drive.
00:08:50 What's up, you guys?
00:08:58 I am Ren.
00:08:59 And I'm Kim.
00:09:00 Welcome to Conversations with Ren and Kim.
00:09:03 On our show, we dive deep into the stories that matter.
00:09:06 From inspiring individuals making a difference--
00:09:09 --to experts sharing their insights on the latest trends
00:09:12 and topics.
00:09:13 We're here to spark conversations that challenge,
00:09:16 inspire, and entertain.
00:09:18 Whether it's about art, culture, technology, or everyday life,
00:09:21 we've got you covered.
00:09:23 So join us every Saturday for conversations
00:09:26 and unforgettable moments.
00:09:28 See you there.
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00:09:43 All right, so welcome back, everyone.
00:09:44 So this morning, we continue our discussion
00:09:46 on finance minister Colin M. Burt.
00:09:48 Mid-year review, which was presented last Friday.
00:09:51 With us this morning are four guests--
00:09:53 president of the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition
00:09:56 of Services Industries, Diane Joseph.
00:09:59 We also have economist Dr. Valmiki Arjun,
00:10:03 and president of the Petroleum Dealers Association, Mr. Robin
00:10:06 Narainsingh, and of course, chairman
00:10:08 of the Confederation of Regional Business Chambers,
00:10:10 Vivek Charan.
00:10:12 He'll join us a little later.
00:10:14 Good morning to all.
00:10:15 Thank you very much for coming.
00:10:17 Ms. Joseph, let's begin with you.
00:10:20 After hearing the finance minister's presentation
00:10:23 on Friday, what's your take?
00:10:27 Having heard the minister's presentation,
00:10:30 the TTCSI is happy about the comments made by the IMF.
00:10:37 However, we are somewhat disappointed
00:10:42 that sufficient emphasis was not placed on the subsectors
00:10:47 within services, such as ICT, the creative industries,
00:10:51 and so, because we believe that they
00:10:53 are the sectors that can bring foreign exchange
00:10:58 into our economy.
00:11:00 And we are feeling that more attention should
00:11:06 be placed to these sectors.
00:11:07 You have tourism.
00:11:09 You have fashion.
00:11:11 You have creative services.
00:11:14 And all of these, we have been asking over time
00:11:18 that more emphasis be placed on those
00:11:20 so that it can be an income earner for Trinidad and Tobago
00:11:25 and foreign exchange.
00:11:26 However, in doing all of that, when you talk about tourism,
00:11:30 for example, it cannot go without an environment that
00:11:34 allows for safety.
00:11:35 And then the issue of crime will come in here,
00:11:38 because tourists will not want to come to Trinidad and Tobago
00:11:43 if they feel unsafe when they get here.
00:11:45 So it has to be looked at in a holistic fashion
00:11:49 so that it can benefit the entire services sector.
00:11:54 We have yachting services.
00:11:55 We have marine.
00:11:58 It includes yachting.
00:12:00 And there are other service sector organizations
00:12:03 that we would like to see heavy emphasis placed upon.
00:12:07 We are also happy with the allocations
00:12:09 to the different sectors, such as health and utility.
00:12:14 And so utility, very pleased, indeed,
00:12:17 because we know that the utility situation is a challenge,
00:12:20 especially when it comes to WASA and an effective water
00:12:24 supply for people.
00:12:25 Health, and we are hearing a lot about the CIDA program
00:12:29 and maybe the inability to fund those going forward.
00:12:34 And those are the areas that we are looking at and hoping
00:12:39 that as the review takes place and government is preparing
00:12:43 for the next 2024-25 budget, that these things will
00:12:46 be taken into account to enhance what happens here
00:12:49 in Trinidad and Tobago.
00:12:50 Well, as we told you earlier, the mid-year budget review
00:12:55 happened on Friday as delivered by the finance minister.
00:13:00 So after the finance minister posted on Twitter,
00:13:08 which is now X, and he says, the media review
00:13:11 is just a report on the fiscal outturn
00:13:15 for the first half of the year with only 40
00:13:17 minutes of speaking time.
00:13:19 But the media pretends that it's a three-hour budget speech
00:13:22 with new fiscal measures just to confuse business groups
00:13:26 and solicit negative comments from them.
00:13:29 So that's a statement from the finance minister.
00:13:33 Dr. Arjun, good morning.
00:13:35 What do you make of the minister's statement?
00:13:38 So I think going to the past, there
00:13:43 were instances from the media review
00:13:45 where the minister actually did speak
00:13:47 about updates on various government initiatives that
00:13:52 would have affected certain economic sectors
00:13:54 within the country.
00:13:57 Of course, he did speak about what
00:14:00 was happening with the economy.
00:14:01 From a fiscal standpoint, a lot of emphasis
00:14:04 was placed on the IMF's recent report.
00:14:07 And it is very, very positive news
00:14:09 that we did experience positive growth of 1.48% in 2021--
00:14:14 2022, sorry, and 2.1% in 2023.
00:14:19 Now, I feel as though I have to emphasize and make
00:14:24 this clear yet again.
00:14:27 First of all, this is growth coming out
00:14:30 of a period of abnormally low economic performance.
00:14:34 One can even argue that we maybe hit rock bottom at that point
00:14:37 in time.
00:14:38 If we want to get a proper view of our economic performance,
00:14:41 it's important to consider where we were just
00:14:44 before this pandemic period.
00:14:48 So at the end of 2019, our GDP was $164.7 billion.
00:14:55 Now, this fell to $149.7 billion in 2020
00:15:01 because of the pandemic effects.
00:15:03 And then it fell even further to $148 billion in 2021,
00:15:09 again, because of the pandemic effects.
00:15:12 So one can argue that this $148 billion in GDP
00:15:17 was more or less our rock bottom in 2021.
00:15:21 But then in 2022, it went back to $150.3 billion,
00:15:26 which is this 1.48% growth that we would have seen in 2022.
00:15:32 And then in 2023, it increased a little bit further
00:15:36 to $150.3 billion, which reflects the 2.1% growth in 2023
00:15:42 that the IMF speaks about.
00:15:44 So yes, two consecutive periods of growth
00:15:48 after falling to--
00:15:49 [AUDIO PLAYBACK]
00:15:50 - --very low gains.
00:15:51 It remembers-- now, remember, this $150.3 billion in GDP
00:15:56 that we got in 2023.
00:15:59 Again, that is more than GDP in 2019 of $164.7 billion,
00:16:06 6.7% more.
00:16:08 It falls to $164 billion in 2020, $165 billion in 2020,
00:16:17 2017, $173 billion in 2016.
00:16:21 And remember, in 2016, we were at a negative growth
00:16:24 of about 7.5%, negative 7.5%, right?
00:16:28 So yes, while we are in a positive growth trajectory,
00:16:33 I think it's important to remember
00:16:35 that we are on this growth trajectory,
00:16:37 but we still have to hold on to where we were before the
00:16:41 pandemic and before those years in 2017, 2016, et cetera,
00:16:46 2018, 2019, those years before the pandemic,
00:16:51 even though we were experiencing negative growth
00:16:53 at that point in time, too.
00:16:55 Obviously, when we hit a very low point,
00:16:57 that's when we want to pace the growth to the next upward.
00:16:59 Yes.
00:17:00 The reason we're not experiencing this positive growth
00:17:02 is also because of the Indian manufacturing sector.
00:17:07 When we look at our fiscal side of things
00:17:10 in terms of derivatives, the last six years
00:17:13 was quite about $45 billion more than what
00:17:15 we were in derivatives, right?
00:17:16 So we can talk about that.
00:17:17 This is the last six years was about $45 billion.
00:17:20 We actually checked our account.
00:17:21 We have checked our account, the account for the investor.
00:17:24 If you can't remember, that's the account that the company
00:17:26 comes into to make that not dispensable and not
00:17:30 a trade obligation, right?
00:17:32 That's in an overdraft of about $50 billion.
00:17:36 That overdraft is $20 billion higher than the overdraft in 2016.
00:17:40 That account is $10 billion overdraft since 2003.
00:17:43 So that tells you the extent and gives you an idea of how long
00:17:47 we've been using these fiscal deficits,
00:17:50 prolonged fiscal deficits.
00:17:52 Yes.
00:17:52 And of course, even still, it's very much
00:17:55 been quite revolutionary about our deficit
00:17:57 reach over the year.
00:18:00 Right?
00:18:00 Our major revenue in the energy sector,
00:18:03 energy revenues, $25.3 billion, $25.6 billion,
00:18:06 $25.5 billion this year totaled over $5.1 billion.
00:18:11 That is $7 billion lower than the $25.5 billion
00:18:15 that we lost this year.
00:18:17 And that is contributing to production deficits.
00:18:20 And I see it as a more sort of risk-based--
00:18:25 And Dr. Arjun, I will allow you to finish your point.
00:18:27 But I just want to bring in the president of the Petroleum
00:18:30 Dealers Association, Mr. Robin Narayan Singh here.
00:18:32 Mr. Narayan Singh, of course, you
00:18:35 would have heard what the finance minister had to say
00:18:37 on Friday.
00:18:37 What's your view this morning?
00:18:39 As far as the financial groups, Mr. Bhankar,
00:18:46 as a monitor of the status of the rest of the human public,
00:18:55 this is a video review which the minister alluded to,
00:18:59 I think, earlier on Instagram.
00:19:03 And in his budget presentation, I
00:19:07 mean, there were four pillars that really, really
00:19:11 passed along to me.
00:19:12 When you look at the education, health care,
00:19:16 social security, and housing, you
00:19:19 know, you may be looking at what the minister has to do.
00:19:24 He is on the agenda for economic stability of the country.
00:19:30 And he is doing this at a very difficult time.
00:19:34 And now, Dr. Arjun has just alluded to the revenues
00:19:38 are down, productivity is down, our resources are low.
00:19:46 The problem that we are facing now
00:19:48 is how we grapple with this, this inopportunity.
00:19:52 How do we get this to the level where
00:19:56 we can expand the social services, the education,
00:20:00 the health care, and on the housing?
00:20:03 How can we do this?
00:20:05 [INAUDIBLE]
00:20:14 Diane Joseph.
00:20:17 [INAUDIBLE]
00:20:38 [INAUDIBLE]
00:20:48 [INAUDIBLE]
00:21:16 [INAUDIBLE]
00:21:26 [INAUDIBLE]
00:21:52 Yes.
00:21:53 [INAUDIBLE]
00:21:59 All right, let's take in now the chairman
00:22:01 of the Confederation of Regional Business Chambers, Mr. Vivek
00:22:04 Charan.
00:22:04 Mr. Charan, thank you very much for coming this morning
00:22:06 and braving the rains, just like Ms. Joseph.
00:22:11 What's your analysis of all of this?
00:22:12 You would have heard the minister on Friday.
00:22:14 Marlon, Diane, Val, and Robin, thanks for having me on.
00:22:20 The reality is the minister seems quite concerned.
00:22:23 And I understand that he seems quite concerned.
00:22:25 We've actually been tracking his interviews in the papers
00:22:28 and so on, even since the CDAP scenario.
00:22:32 And that went down badly, but the reality
00:22:35 is that he is right in saying that we need
00:22:37 to look for value for money.
00:22:39 That entire CDAP scenario, however,
00:22:41 that's a whole conversation by itself,
00:22:42 because there needs to be some discussion
00:22:46 with the pharmaceutical board and so on.
00:22:48 Because one of the issues is, I know from small and medium
00:22:52 pharmacies, is that for the longest while
00:22:54 they've been trying to bring in alternative drugs,
00:22:57 antibiotics, stuff like that.
00:22:59 Taking advice from a lot of the Indian doctors
00:23:03 down here that have the experience dealing with them.
00:23:06 I found it very, very difficult, the process for that.
00:23:09 But moving forward, one of the things that the minister said
00:23:13 is that it's going to be a challenging--
00:23:15 it's going to be a challenge in three years going forward.
00:23:18 And when you look at what he's saying
00:23:21 about that gap in taxation and so on,
00:23:24 what does that mean for us?
00:23:26 One is that you can't tax an economy into recovery.
00:23:29 But on the other hand, the government
00:23:31 needs these revenues because there's
00:23:33 a shortfall in revenues that are coming in from the energy
00:23:35 sector for the government, which would be inclusive of forex.
00:23:39 So where does that put us for the next three years?
00:23:41 So what does the minister mean when he says that?
00:23:44 Does he mean that we're going forward with the property tax?
00:23:48 So property tax is going to come on board.
00:23:49 What does it mean for things like T&T?
00:23:53 Is the government going to continue
00:23:55 to be able to subsidize T&T in a way?
00:23:58 Are those rates going to come on board?
00:24:00 Now, we've been told that 2026--
00:24:03 I mean, the dates keep dropping.
00:24:05 One minute is 2028, then it's 2027, then it's 2026.
00:24:08 And all of a sudden, it's being said
00:24:12 as though there's going to be a boom at this particular time.
00:24:17 From our discussions and some research that we have done,
00:24:23 it does appear that 2030, things are definitely
00:24:25 going to be better.
00:24:26 But that's an entire political timewave.
00:24:28 2028, there's some fields that are supposed to come online.
00:24:33 And that should alleviate the situation.
00:24:34 But let's look at it this way.
00:24:36 When you talk about growth, as they have been saying, growth,
00:24:40 if my income increases by 50%, but before my income increased,
00:24:47 I was unable to handle all my financial obligations,
00:24:51 my mortgages, my whatever.
00:24:52 And even after my mortgage has increased by 50%,
00:24:56 I am still unable to-- in other words,
00:24:57 I'm still in a deficit.
00:24:59 Then in a real sense, there has been growth.
00:25:02 Because on the books and mathematically
00:25:05 or accounting-wise, you can say, yes,
00:25:07 your income has increased.
00:25:10 Therefore, you have become richer in a sense.
00:25:13 But you have to look at that in terms of your costs.
00:25:16 So what are the costs to the government?
00:25:18 The cost to the government is actually
00:25:19 running the government.
00:25:20 There's recurrent expenditure, the social programs,
00:25:23 as people say, transfers and subsidies.
00:25:25 The second thing would be the level of the external debt
00:25:28 and so on.
00:25:29 So if we continue to be in a deficit going forward,
00:25:31 and the deficit is what it is, what
00:25:36 is the actual effect of that growth?
00:25:38 2% or 3%.
00:25:39 And maybe that's why we're not seeing it trickling down.
00:25:42 But going forward again, what is the situation
00:25:45 going to be with regard to these next challenging couple
00:25:48 of years with regard to forex?
00:25:50 Because we're already at a very low level in terms of reserves
00:25:53 of forex.
00:25:54 I think this is the lowest we've been in a while, 5-point
00:25:56 something billion or whatever.
00:25:58 Does it mean that the next thing we're going to see
00:26:00 is the commercial banks saying, we're
00:26:03 going to cut-- we're going to reduce credit card, US credit
00:26:08 card allowances again?
00:26:11 Does it mean that we're going to continue to see more
00:26:13 exacerbated shortages?
00:26:14 Notice that the forex fund that was supposed to come out
00:26:19 of the--
00:26:19 Ex-Im?
00:26:20 Right.
00:26:21 It didn't really happen.
00:26:22 And it didn't happen, obviously, perhaps
00:26:24 because there is no real--
00:26:26 There's a great demand, right?
00:26:28 Correct.
00:26:28 Well, no, the supply isn't there either.
00:26:31 Ms. Joseph, is it safe to say that you all are still
00:26:34 cautiously optimistic?
00:26:36 We are cautiously optimistic.
00:26:38 We believe that the economic challenges will
00:26:43 improve as time goes along.
00:26:45 But we also believe that there must be clear mechanisms
00:26:49 in place to curb the deficit.
00:26:52 We have been hearing about this for a number of years now.
00:26:55 And at what point and what is going
00:26:58 to be done to actually curb this deficit?
00:27:02 And how soon will we hear something more positive
00:27:07 with regard to our financial situation
00:27:10 here in Trinidad and Tobago?
00:27:12 Because while-- and I'm hearing from my colleagues
00:27:15 about the COVID pandemic and so.
00:27:19 And some of our members, many of them, as a matter of fact,
00:27:22 were affected by COVID.
00:27:23 And the challenges still continue,
00:27:26 despite the fact that there are opportunities in the ICT
00:27:28 sector.
00:27:30 So we have to analyze those that are affected, how badly,
00:27:36 and see how we can gradually bring them up so that they, too,
00:27:39 can survive in the harsh economic environment.
00:27:41 Or else, you'll have some continuing
00:27:44 to climb up while others continue to go down.
00:27:46 And that's what we will not want for our members.
00:27:49 Yeah.
00:27:50 Dr. Arjun, the media review, as we discussed last week--
00:27:57 not with you, but we were discussing last week--
00:28:00 that the media review comes at a time
00:28:02 where you have the IMF report and you also
00:28:04 have the affidavit.
00:28:06 And the information in the affidavit
00:28:11 looks to be a little bit different as to what
00:28:13 is in the IMF report.
00:28:15 There's also the view that the IMF is really
00:28:19 supposed to say what it has said in the IMF report.
00:28:22 And really, we didn't expect as a country--
00:28:25 how do I say?
00:28:31 Well, let me put it that way, that there
00:28:33 are persons in the industry who have said, well,
00:28:36 the IMF was supposed to say what it would have said.
00:28:41 What's your view concerning those both views?
00:28:44 Well, I think, with respect to the IMF report,
00:28:49 a lot of the emphasis is placed on the positive views
00:28:51 which was the fact that we are experiencing
00:28:53 some large market variables.
00:28:56 And the projections are that these growth numbers are
00:28:59 going to continue over the next few years
00:29:00 and some of the visibility of just the ones in the sense.
00:29:04 The Minnesota offer is very much current in its revenue.
00:29:08 And if we forget these projections,
00:29:10 the revenues are going to be sold off
00:29:13 for this particular fiscal year.
00:29:15 You see, as I pointed out to you earlier,
00:29:17 is that the energy revenue keeps going to the top.
00:29:21 And the projections as well as both the--
00:29:23 much lower than they were last year
00:29:25 because of the fact that our energy prices globally
00:29:28 have fallen.
00:29:29 Oil prices, of course, have fallen.
00:29:31 And you see recently, oil opened past that.
00:29:34 Those demands are expected to be some--
00:29:37 some expansion in production.
00:29:39 And it's important because voluntary cuts are
00:29:41 going to be used.
00:29:43 And they proved-- our country is hitting water this year.
00:29:47 So prices-- and as you know, that announcement was made.
00:29:51 The price-- the price is important for the market.
00:29:54 It's the new prices themselves.
00:29:55 So about $79 per barrel.
00:29:57 If you look at the current prices,
00:29:59 it's going to be a bit closer.
00:30:02 When you look at back-doors prices,
00:30:04 I'm just giving one of the markets we use.
00:30:08 The price of energy, which is not very long ago,
00:30:10 currently is about $11.97.
00:30:13 When you look at back-doors, it increased five months
00:30:15 from the last fiscal year.
00:30:17 And that, of course, dropped that high of about $18.20.
00:30:21 The British price of the US dropped that high of $45.95.
00:30:25 But right now, it's $19.19.
00:30:28 So it's substantially lower than where it was in the previous
00:30:31 year.
00:30:32 So I'll just give you an idea of why our energy revenue so far
00:30:37 increased five months from the $6, $7 billion
00:30:40 when it was last year.
00:30:42 It's really non-energy sectors.
00:30:45 And that would mean, what I should say,
00:30:48 contributing more than $10 billion
00:30:51 for the overall country.
00:30:54 So non-energy revenues are at about $12.8 billion
00:30:58 for the first half of this year.
00:31:01 And this is really largely due to the manufacturing sector.
00:31:05 The financial distribution was lower
00:31:07 under limited-export construction
00:31:10 because it's slightly higher-- more so for the manufacturing
00:31:12 sector.
00:31:13 It's slightly higher in terms of prices and shipping costs.
00:31:16 And of course, by the way, we're all
00:31:18 thinking of shipping from the Suez Canal, of course.
00:31:21 The import was up to $1 billion this year.
00:31:23 But the price will go up again as we move up the canal.
00:31:25 Another issue that came up was the big business
00:31:28 of $29.95 is open to us.
00:31:30 And it's not right for the beverage chargers
00:31:33 because of the poor US steel costs.
00:31:35 The cost of grain as well.
00:31:37 Despite this, many elements of the non-energy sector
00:31:41 still manage to hold up to the increased market share
00:31:44 internationally that we would have captured with proxy
00:31:48 and stores and forex trading.
00:31:50 So we're certainly able to sell better.
00:31:51 You look even able to draw back some of these forex
00:31:54 trading to get more operations.
00:31:56 And people have to rely as much as they
00:31:58 pay for the next month, this year, to be full.
00:32:00 When you look at the non-energy manufacturers,
00:32:03 they grew by about 20% during the autumn of 2020.
00:32:06 And import was lasting.
00:32:08 And that's largely because of the food processors
00:32:10 being grew by about 38% in that period.
00:32:13 But the problem, the issue, is that these sectors are not
00:32:17 big enough to make up for these shortfall in energy revenues
00:32:21 because they were as large as the energy sector.
00:32:24 Non-energy manufacturers, they account for 7% of the economy.
00:32:28 Food processors account for 5% of the economy.
00:32:31 I could go even more.
00:32:32 Construction, of course, also accounts for 5% of the economy.
00:32:36 Manufacture services is over 6.5% of the economy.
00:32:39 But energy is somewhere between 35% to 40% of the economy.
00:32:43 So to get off the energy position,
00:32:45 you've got much more GFC, not going
00:32:48 to outdo the right, of course.
00:32:49 But a market's need to have cost-benefit also
00:32:53 and ask the size of these sectors.
00:32:56 So not only can we still have a secure buffer for us
00:32:59 during the energy sector boundaries,
00:33:01 but also to expand the provision of the production
00:33:06 and production and exports of energy.
00:33:11 And I think we're in the first of all the times
00:33:16 in which there's still a lot of economic activity.
00:33:19 So for this to be done, we really have to consider seriously
00:33:22 what needs to be done to improve the medical supposed
00:33:25 to do business.
00:33:26 But you also touch upon, quickly again,
00:33:28 this issue of how much we spend on importing jobs.
00:33:34 So I think a more critical concern
00:33:36 needs to be how effective our spending is,
00:33:40 not just in the health sector, but in the entire public
00:33:43 service.
00:33:44 The border travel report recently exposed
00:33:47 numerous cases of improper entry of respected documentation.
00:33:52 And certainly, what you're talking about,
00:33:54 this is a case of the largest one.
00:33:56 This is not the first time that the border travel report
00:33:59 highlighted this.
00:34:00 If you go back to the 2016 report,
00:34:02 you will see also cases where they
00:34:05 have identified a lot of discrepancies as well.
00:34:07 And some of the examples from this recent report
00:34:10 were 5.4 million spent on medical intercourse
00:34:13 without proper documentation or contact
00:34:15 with the report's execs.
00:34:16 Yes.
00:34:17 You see, instances where you have things like payments
00:34:20 being made to contractors who follow the norm,
00:34:22 they have to be at a incomplete mark.
00:34:24 Payments to unregulated suppliers,
00:34:26 to non-regulated items, all of these
00:34:28 are not only limited efficiency and wastage of public funds.
00:34:32 It also creates a perception of fraud and corruption,
00:34:35 which in turn erodes the public trust.
00:34:38 And this leads right out to a barrage of wasteful spending
00:34:42 and wasteful costs.
00:34:43 And this leads us not only to budgetary supported deficits,
00:34:46 but also to the overall deficit we see.
00:34:49 And this also creates a problem when it comes to high taxes.
00:34:53 It also tends to put in waste money.
00:34:55 That means that same money could have been applied
00:34:58 to other more productive areas.
00:35:00 And even a more productive sector,
00:35:02 if you reallocate it far too far into other areas of that intent,
00:35:05 reduces all your public efficiency and risks
00:35:08 and then you miss opportunities to promote the development.
00:35:11 And all of these are the discrepancies of this nature.
00:35:14 I tell the world we have to face the international credit rating
00:35:17 agency to also face the deficits.
00:35:19 But instead of focusing on collecting all the deficiencies,
00:35:23 why should we need to focus on collecting those overdue taxes?
00:35:27 What is the sense of money getting these overdue taxes?
00:35:32 Are they going to spend them inefficiently as well?
00:35:35 Yes.
00:35:36 And how inefficiently can we see all of these discrepancies as well?
00:35:39 So it's not just the world's medical sector
00:35:41 that we see out of the public sector.
00:35:43 It's about the entire public service,
00:35:46 all these various initiatives that they spend.
00:35:48 To what extent are these government initiatives
00:35:51 going to be followed from now?
00:35:53 What can be the merits of this?
00:35:56 All right, Dr. Arjun, we need to take a very short break.
00:35:58 We are coming back.
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00:38:13 - Alright, so welcome back everyone.
00:38:14 So let's return with the president
00:38:18 of the Petroleum Dealers Association, Mr. Robin Narain Singh.
00:38:21 Mr. Narain Singh, are you still there with us?
00:38:24 - Yes, sir, yes.
00:38:27 - Alright, Mr. Narain Singh,
00:38:28 what remains some of the major challenges for your industry?
00:38:33 - Okay, you've addressed the part of the actual talk
00:38:39 about the perception of mismanagement
00:38:42 and the perception of ill-corruption and stuff like that.
00:38:47 The Petroleum Dealers Team
00:38:50 directly with the Ministry of Energy.
00:38:54 Since 2010, the Ministry of Energy
00:38:57 have not issued licenses,
00:39:00 retail marketing licenses to Petroleum Dealers.
00:39:04 Since this annual, new,
00:39:07 last decade internal, annual office,
00:39:10 they have not had a meeting
00:39:12 with the Petroleum Dealers Association.
00:39:16 Our own industry, the retail industry,
00:39:19 Petroleum retail industry,
00:39:21 is a very dynamic industry.
00:39:24 And it has technology changes
00:39:27 and needs of the citizen.
00:39:31 It's almost to a degree,
00:39:33 the most responsive industry
00:39:38 you could ever have in all of the retail industry.
00:39:43 It's just, it responds and re-counter
00:39:47 everything that goes on in the society.
00:39:50 Price change, price drops.
00:39:53 And when you have a regulator
00:39:57 just harder than their position,
00:40:01 and you have a regulator not investing,
00:40:04 the fastest speed sale in our industry
00:40:08 and creates a problem,
00:40:11 and creates a problem,
00:40:12 to the point that, you know,
00:40:15 everybody does things in a way
00:40:18 that's safe and safe.
00:40:20 And people take advantage,
00:40:23 the people who are in position
00:40:25 take advantage of this,
00:40:27 a lot of regulatory and currents.
00:40:30 And this is exactly what
00:40:33 Dr. Murphy was talking about,
00:40:37 the mismanagement, mis-spending of funds
00:40:41 in the public sector.
00:40:43 So it prevents all the other industries
00:40:47 because sometimes it's due to carelessness
00:40:50 and a lot of management and a lot of response.
00:40:53 Because public servants, whether they work or they don't work,
00:40:56 they get paid.
00:40:58 Whereas when the private sector,
00:41:00 if you don't work, you don't get paid.
00:41:02 And that is the discrepancy that arises
00:41:05 with respect to our industry.
00:41:08 The challenges, what are some of the issues
00:41:13 that still face some of your members?
00:41:16 Our issue is the foreign exchange challenges,
00:41:20 where the smaller organizations
00:41:23 are having lots of difficulty
00:41:26 to get the forex.
00:41:28 We understand what is going on in the country,
00:41:31 but we are hoping
00:41:33 that there will be some mechanism in place
00:41:35 where that can be made available
00:41:38 to our SMEs
00:41:41 so that they can boost their business,
00:41:44 their trade,
00:41:46 and they can be more profitable.
00:41:48 Because coming out of COVID, as I said before,
00:41:50 it is indeed a challenge for some of our SMEs.
00:41:54 And as my colleague here was saying from the chamber,
00:41:58 if you have a reduction or a further reduction
00:42:03 in your credit card limit,
00:42:05 then we will have further distress
00:42:07 being placed upon our members.
00:42:09 And as we talk so much about our corruption
00:42:13 and all the mismanagement, etc.,
00:42:15 we would like to see persons being held accountable.
00:42:18 Because if you are responsible for a portfolio
00:42:21 and there is mismanagement and corruption
00:42:24 and things cannot be accounted for,
00:42:26 then someone should be held accountable.
00:42:29 And if no one is held accountable
00:42:32 and it continues to be like that,
00:42:34 then it will be an open floor for all--
00:42:36 corruption, mismanagement,
00:42:38 and the control over the procurement process
00:42:43 is going to be weak.
00:42:45 And that is certainly going to not only affect our country
00:42:49 but our members as it filters down to the bottom.
00:42:52 So we understand what is going on in the country
00:42:54 with the economic challenges.
00:42:56 However, we still have to speak for our members
00:42:59 who depend on us as their voice to address concerns
00:43:03 that are outside there.
00:43:04 We represent 700,000 members.
00:43:06 Wow, that's a lot.
00:43:07 Yes, we have 50 associations
00:43:09 and 25 companies affiliated to the TTCSI.
00:43:14 That's no small number.
00:43:16 But Mr. Charon, how do business organizations
00:43:20 remain positive in what could be termed
00:43:23 as a volatile environment?
00:43:25 We have no choice because to not be positive
00:43:28 or to not continue to be a growing concern
00:43:33 means failure,
00:43:34 and failure carries with it great consequences.
00:43:37 And the environment is not a great environment.
00:43:40 I mean, I've been having conversations
00:43:42 with different people,
00:43:44 different presidents from different chambers,
00:43:46 off the record, on the record,
00:43:48 and the general consensus out there
00:43:51 is that retail is not doing well in Trinidad and Tobago at all.
00:43:54 Retail is becoming something of an indulgence.
00:43:56 So what can we do?
00:43:58 I mean, when you look at the manufacturing sector
00:44:00 and everyone says the manufacturing sector
00:44:02 is doing very well, well, that's good.
00:44:03 And we need that.
00:44:05 But how wide is that?
00:44:10 How wide and how deep?
00:44:11 Now, we have been saying that small and medium business
00:44:14 should try to diversify,
00:44:16 diversify into other aspects,
00:44:18 whether it is small manufacturing,
00:44:20 whether it is agri-processing or something like that.
00:44:22 I've kept saying that one of the major issues with that
00:44:25 is the barrier to entry,
00:44:27 which is the cost rental of finding a space,
00:44:31 a warehouse or whatever.
00:44:32 E-tech parks were a very good policy.
00:44:38 The E-tech parks are full.
00:44:39 If the government wants to really help and create some,
00:44:41 they need to create capacity.
00:44:43 If they create capacity,
00:44:44 make sure that the capacity is not for larger companies
00:44:48 to get the space,
00:44:49 but for small or new entrants into the manufacturing sector
00:44:53 to come, so you can assist them that way.
00:44:57 The second thing is the banks need to also be part of the solution
00:45:01 because they need to create a neutral environment
00:45:03 for certain types of business.
00:45:04 For example, if the government says,
00:45:07 the pushes and the concessions are towards becoming an earner of forex,
00:45:11 then one of the issues we have is,
00:45:13 okay, so you can't become a manufacturer
00:45:15 and you can't become an agri-processor because you're doing retail.
00:45:18 So, why not go online?
00:45:20 So, if you go online, which many people are going online,
00:45:22 when they go online, they realise that there are all these additional charges
00:45:25 to being online.
00:45:26 It's not an inexpensive thing.
00:45:29 These charges are set by the banks
00:45:31 and these charges are set by one or two external bodies.
00:45:36 But one of the greater issues is,
00:45:40 you can sell to the Caribbean and you can sell outside of Trinidad,
00:45:43 but you cannot earn money in US dollars.
00:45:48 If there was a way that by selling up the islands
00:45:51 or selling within the diaspora, as it were,
00:45:55 that you can earn forex,
00:45:57 I think that would help a lot of people.
00:45:59 Or that would at least be a trickle or an additional income coming in forex,
00:46:03 which could be of assistance to everybody.
00:46:06 But the only way to do that is if you actually register your online business
00:46:11 in a foreign territory that allows that to happen.
00:46:13 In which case, the money doesn't come to Trinidad anyway.
00:46:16 So, maybe some things need to change
00:46:20 or there needs to be a way to find things going through.
00:46:24 One of the issues that I'm sure has been raised before
00:46:27 is that what is the situation going forward with VAT payments, VAT repayments?
00:46:32 We saw the issue with the pileup of VAT returns
00:46:36 leading to a situation in the energy sector
00:46:40 where we didn't get all the US wasn't sold to the banks as they should have been,
00:46:47 because all the monies that were paid to them were utilized.
00:46:52 So, going forward for the next couple of years,
00:46:54 what is going to be the situation with VAT payments,
00:46:56 both the large companies and small companies,
00:46:58 seeing that the government is struggling a bit with their revenues?
00:47:01 Yeah.
00:47:02 Dr. Arjun, and I don't mean to be dramatic,
00:47:05 but how do we ride this ship?
00:47:07 Of course, we continue to have problems concerning forex.
00:47:10 Of course, we do have a situation where the resources as relates to oil and gas,
00:47:15 we would have liked a little more, but we don't have it at this time.
00:47:19 You said earlier, and we did speak about the development in the non-energy sector,
00:47:24 but you also said that things are not going to happen overnight.
00:47:29 So, again, to my question, how do we ride this ship?
00:47:35 Right. So, you know, I was speaking as well about the problems we face in the US.
00:47:41 Yes.
00:47:42 [inaudible]
00:47:49 You see, when there are these levels of discrepancies of expending,
00:47:56 what we need to do is try to advance more in the control systems,
00:48:00 ensure compliance with the legislative and regulatory frameworks
00:48:05 and government public expenditure, making sure we stick to the appropriate public policies.
00:48:09 Now, as I told you guys before, there will be the Politburo Journal's report,
00:48:15 it was the first one to come out in 2016, and that report highlighted instances.
00:48:20 And instances of fraud, of human trafficking, et cetera.
00:48:25 And since then, we've been doing this every year,
00:48:28 and the Ministry of Finance was supposed to be involved.
00:48:31 So, it was an integrated financial management information system.
00:48:35 That is a very strong system that is supposed to automate the financial operations of the ministry.
00:48:42 And integrate it, not just the ministry in general, but integrate with the financial functions,
00:48:48 like the reports, the budgeting, the reporting, the auditing, the accounting,
00:48:54 even the tracking, most importantly to me, the tracking of expenditure at different levels,
00:49:00 all of that is plugged into this particular system.
00:49:05 That is supposed to be part of the report, or the training, or transactions.
00:49:09 You can have up to 35 spending, depending on your regular registration.
00:49:13 So, I'm not sure if they have been implemented, because they have been implemented,
00:49:18 but the next question is why are these discrepancies happening?
00:49:22 And if they have not been implemented, then what do we do to actually implement it?
00:49:27 We see also the difference between the success of the extra bank money fund,
00:49:32 the foreign reserve, even the money fund, which is nice.
00:49:35 But especially the modern energy money fund, which has a small mass sector,
00:49:40 who has a pension by about 20%, from the big bottle of 2023,
00:49:45 which is the bottle of 2020, so the big bottle of 2023.
00:49:49 And last year, the ministers talked about the USD for example.
00:49:54 The new number is supposed to be implemented within six months,
00:49:57 but we unfortunately have not seen it yet.
00:49:59 I am still confident that we are going to see it, hopefully, before the end of this fiscal year.
00:50:06 We find this, it continues to happen, it is very chronic.
00:50:10 Many of the cities, not just us, even the businesses,
00:50:13 they have difficulties to pay their suppliers, the shipping costs are gone up.
00:50:18 We see this situation where people bought prices, to buy food or supplies,
00:50:22 and it is starting to go up again, because so many people do not actually travel
00:50:27 or supply support in Europe, but in the United States.
00:50:30 They are paying higher prices, they are paying a higher cost,
00:50:33 and they are not in fact traveling.
00:50:35 They are the world's shipments, because when they are not shipping,
00:50:40 remember, their shipments are being rerouted from Suez Canal.
00:50:44 So it is not a frequent thing to get to the US and to Europe,
00:50:47 it is costing them a lot more.
00:50:49 People are shipping, people are shipping, people are shipping,
00:50:52 people are shipping, people are shipping, people are shipping,
00:50:54 prices are going to go up from $1,600 each, $1,000 last year,
00:50:58 to last year, which I think was $4,760.
00:51:01 So, costs are going up, and that is actually going to be possible to us when we import.
00:51:09 It is several years of a great prevalence of utilising the black market,
00:51:14 to get foreign currency into the private sector, so we are thinking import these
00:51:19 in a credit card as well, but the credit card is not the right country to import these
00:51:23 in the US as well.
00:51:25 This is basically a foreign facility, however, depending on how well it is capitalised,
00:51:30 it does have good potential to at least assist.
00:51:34 If only a few type of individual buyers are going to assist,
00:51:38 it is going to be compensated on healthier levels of foreign exchange,
00:51:42 sooner or sooner.
00:51:44 Some of the people have to rely so much on the black market,
00:51:47 and it also impacts the potential.
00:51:50 It only affects the black market operation as well,
00:51:54 on other side notes, tax incentives, income tax incentives,
00:51:57 the S&S property registry, also tax compliance,
00:52:00 so it encourages even more taxation compliance.
00:52:04 It is something that you do not have at the government level,
00:52:08 but it is something that we are looking at.
00:52:11 This is not only a very critical thing,
00:52:14 but I am very sure that we are going to see a result in the government
00:52:19 that will alleviate the difficulties that we have in the private sector.
00:52:23 If we have better access to foreign exchange,
00:52:26 we are going to be able to overcome the problems of the crisis in the black market,
00:52:32 and contribute to helping them reduce their costs,
00:52:35 especially in a environment where the prices of supplies are going up,
00:52:40 and the black market is going to go up even further.
00:52:43 But without that, we are going to struggle to pay the black market rates.
00:52:47 It means that this whole issue of the area of exchange
00:52:51 is going to potentially go up, which will assist the people to pay,
00:52:56 and to meet their needs as well,
00:52:58 and also to help the Asian people to pay their wages, etc.
00:53:01 All right, Dr. Arjun, thank you very much.
00:53:03 I just have about two minutes.
00:53:08 Mr. Narain Singh, we have 30 seconds for your final comments.
00:53:14 Okay.
00:53:16 I would like to see some kind of equitable distribution of opportunities
00:53:22 for the US and the community that we serve.
00:53:27 For instance, in Vancouver, there are no gas stations operating in Vancouver.
00:53:33 I have come to know for a very long time that the Ministry of Energy
00:53:38 has not addressed this situation.
00:53:41 There are three gas stations close to the Vancouver area.
00:53:44 I would like to have some resolution to something like this.
00:53:49 You know, governance should really move for some dialogue,
00:53:53 and some renewal of the residents of the area.
00:53:57 Ms. Joseph.
00:53:59 My final comment, the TTCSI supports the government of the day,
00:54:05 and we would like to be a part of the policy setting for SMEs
00:54:13 and for the subsectors of the services sector to ensure that the programs
00:54:19 and those facilities that are being offered for them are relevant
00:54:24 and appropriate to the sector.
00:54:26 Mr. Charan.
00:54:27 The banks and the government should get together and discuss ways in which SMEs
00:54:33 and going online you can actually earn forex by selling to the region,
00:54:39 and the government should try and create some capacity in which way they can
00:54:44 allow SMEs to diversify in the short term to also get into small-scale manufacturing,
00:54:49 both for export and for the local market.
00:54:51 All right.
00:54:52 To Diane Joseph, President of the Trinidad and Tobago Coalition of Services Industries,
00:54:56 Vivek Charan, Chairman of the Confederation of Regional Business Chambers,
00:54:59 Dr. Valmiki Arjun, and Mr. Robin Narayan Singh, thank you very much this morning.
00:55:04 Thank you very much for the discussion that we've been having.
00:55:06 All right, so we are going to a very short break.
00:55:08 We're coming back, everybody.
00:55:09 [Music]
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00:57:19 Good morning. I'm Nicole M. Romany with your news to the hour.
00:57:31 The funeral for 21-year-old Jaden Reyes takes place today at the St. Paul's Church in Gonzales.
00:57:38 The medical student was one of three persons gunned down
00:57:42 while liming after a football match in Gonzales last Sunday.
00:57:46 A few other people were injured in the incident.
00:57:49 Another man was killed at the Port of Spain General Hospital
00:57:53 after assailants followed the injured parties to the facility and opened fire.
00:57:59 A $100,000 reward has been offered by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service
00:58:05 to anyone who can provide useful information on the suspects.
00:58:09 And now for a look at the weather.
00:58:16 Variably cloudy conditions with occasional showers will persist over varying areas.
00:58:21 There is a medium chance of showers becoming heavy or thundery at times.
00:58:25 Both sides are reminded that gusty winds and street flash flooding Canucoo
00:58:30 in the event of heavy showers or thunderstorms.
00:58:33 The maximum temperature for today is 30 degrees Celsius for both islands.
00:58:38 And that there is your news to the hour.
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01:01:47 [MUSIC]
01:02:16 All right, so welcome back, everyone.
01:02:18 So we are continuing our discussion on the Finance Minister's Mid-Year Review.
01:02:21 We do have on the line this morning Ricardo Mohamed,
01:02:24 President of the Eastern Business Merchants Association,
01:02:27 and he's also President of the Pharmacy Board.
01:02:30 Mr. Mohamed, always good to speak with you.
01:02:32 Thank you very much for joining us this morning.
01:02:34 All right.
01:02:39 Mr. Mohamed, is there anything that jumps out to you from the Mid-Year Review?
01:02:45 Well, Marlon, we have to look at the Mid-Year Review not being received by the population with Google Apps so far.
01:02:53 There are a lot of questions to be asked.
01:02:56 I think members of society want to see some real change,
01:03:00 something that can be tangible and do us a benefit for future growth.
01:03:07 As it is right now, we are having severe financial challenges,
01:03:12 especially in the SME sector, and businesses are performing a bit lower than the pre-pandemic era.
01:03:21 So these are of course of a great concern for us within the Eastern region,
01:03:26 especially within these small to medium enterprises,
01:03:30 because we are wondering, you know, with the significant decline in release sales,
01:03:36 we are very, very concerned.
01:03:39 Has the forex situation improved for you and your members?
01:03:43 Sorry, Marlon.
01:03:46 Has the forex situation improved for your members?
01:03:49 Marlon, the answer to that question is no.
01:03:55 It's quite simple.
01:03:56 Many of us within the SME sector are in need of forex that is well-reserved.
01:04:02 Our first job is to operate and manage our businesses effectively.
01:04:06 We have to bear in mind that the energy sector has been in a decline in this country.
01:04:12 We have a short-term benefit.
01:04:14 The energy sector is usually responsible for approximately, I think it's just over 80% of our forex ships that is built within this country.
01:04:24 Now when we have a decline in the energy sector and then we have global threats of international exchanges,
01:04:31 we have global tensions that really exert significant powers on us in this sector.
01:04:40 I mean, we need to now actually refocus on renewable energies
01:04:47 to attempt to hold on to the foreign exchange assets that we currently have,
01:04:53 but it is not easy out here in accessing forex in the SME sector.
01:05:00 You know, over the past few days, Mr. Mohamed, there has been much talk about CDAP
01:05:07 and there has been much concern if government will continue to fund that initiative.
01:05:14 You being president of the pharmacy board, is there anything that you can tell us about if it is that government has taken any position?
01:05:24 Have they been in contact with you all?
01:05:26 What is the state of CDAP?
01:05:30 Currently we have no official correspondence regarding CDAP.
01:05:36 However, I can tell you that CDAP is a program that was initially designed to help businesses
01:05:43 how they have access to pharmaceuticals in a more open healthcare system.
01:05:49 Now, we want to add more money to CDAP and nothing is wrong with that,
01:05:53 but we also have to bear in mind what are the reasons for doing so.
01:05:58 We currently have a CDAP system whereby it is, in my personal opinion, not managed effectively.
01:06:08 We have significant wastage within the CDAP sector.
01:06:12 There is a lot of mismanagement with regards to distribution of CDAP pharmaceuticals.
01:06:21 We also have to look at the procurement of CDAP.
01:06:25 So in other words, if we are going to inject $500 million more into the sector,
01:06:30 what have we done to change the management systems?
01:06:35 What have we done to address wastage?
01:06:37 Rather than putting more money into a system where we are not addressing the issue of coming,
01:06:42 we will just have the same thing being repeated, but being repeated with more money.
01:06:46 So we really need to focus on what needs to be on the CDAP formulary.
01:06:53 I mean, we have drugs.
01:06:54 There's approximately 49 pharmaceuticals on the CDAP list,
01:07:01 and they are normally designed to address the chronic diseases,
01:07:07 because as it says, CDAP, Chronic Diseases Assessment Assistance Program.
01:07:12 Now we also have to look at it in two ways.
01:07:16 One pharmacist in Toronto, they go to a pharmacy about their facilities.
01:07:21 They work very hard at ensuring optimal patient care,
01:07:25 that patients receive exactly what is needed.
01:07:28 Are they right quantities? Are they right amounts?
01:07:31 Yes, there is a need.
01:07:34 There's a lot of rules and regulations for dispensing of CDAP.
01:07:37 We can only dispense one month at a time for patients.
01:07:40 And then we also have to look at patients who are travelling,
01:07:45 we need more than one month to play, so we have provisions for that.
01:07:49 But then at the end of the day, we are misleading our orders on time.
01:07:53 We do put in orders on time, maybe it's on a cycle for delivery.
01:07:57 Many times, those orders come up short.
01:08:02 So for example, based on a pharmacist's view on best consumption rate on a certain product,
01:08:09 if you place an order, let's say for example, for 10 boxes,
01:08:14 and then CDAP will send you 5, and then you also come to the pharmacy and say,
01:08:19 "I'm able to get my product and it's going to be served."
01:08:22 We will now stop because we then receive it full.
01:08:25 So there are a lot of things to do with the management, storage,
01:08:28 and I think there is a need, a role, a plea with ensuring the success of CDAP
01:08:35 and how it is distributed and sent out to what's in the pharmacy.
01:08:39 Let's talk a little bit about wastage because you mentioned that earlier.
01:08:44 How is this happening?
01:08:47 Well, we have to look at, for example, pharmaceuticals carrying expiry dates
01:08:52 and some of the stuff when they are pre-cured.
01:08:56 We have to look at the dates at which these drugs arrive in the country.
01:09:00 Now, most of them do arrive with good dates, but you may have one to two-year plus shelf life.
01:09:06 There are instances where things may come in very short.
01:09:09 Just recently we received insulin with a very short expiry date,
01:09:14 and we have to monitor these things.
01:09:17 And then now when stuff is sent out, let's say for example, C40,
01:09:22 how is that stored in the warehouse? How is it packed?
01:09:25 Is it procedure? First thing, who is going to be first in the process?
01:09:29 Is it the staff who is going to come in? Is it the staff who is going to move back home?
01:09:32 We have instances where we may receive goods with a short expiry date.
01:09:38 Let's say for example I receive goods today with an expiry date of 2025,
01:09:43 and the next month I receive goods with an expiry date of 2024.
01:09:48 So you see, we pick up on these little things when we see goods come in
01:09:52 and wonder if it's being rotated properly.
01:09:55 And then there are high incidences of pharmaceuticals having an expiry, being expired,
01:10:03 and therefore you are unable to use it.
01:10:06 So we have to really monitor what's happening at that level.
01:10:09 Yeah, and you did speak about monitoring and greater management.
01:10:15 But you know, Mr. Mohammed, there has been some level of, how do I say,
01:10:25 pharmacies are also being given some responsibility as it relates to monitoring
01:10:35 and really putting systems in place to make the CDAP program better managed.
01:10:45 Because, I mean, Mr. Mohammed, I don't have to really go into some of the allegations
01:10:51 made against some pharmacies when it comes to CDAP.
01:10:57 I suspect pharmacies do also have a responsibility when it comes to the management of the program.
01:11:05 Right, right, right, Harlan.
01:11:07 The pharmacies, I can see that the majority of pharmacies,
01:11:12 and a significant majority of pharmacies, do what is right.
01:11:16 Yes, we have been more often to have somebody being in between things, right.
01:11:20 We are in the pharmacy world is looking into those good practice.
01:11:26 Some pharmacies, wrongly, when they should have helped, we are working together with them
01:11:30 to enhance any other systems that they have in monitoring CDAP.
01:11:34 But we have to bear in mind, it's not just simply that management aspect.
01:11:39 Pharmacists do their best to ensure that CDAP is managed as effectively as it can
01:11:44 because there is a lot of accountability when it comes to CDAP.
01:11:48 One of the concerns that a lot of pharmacies would have is that,
01:11:51 apart from who is doing a lot of the procedures,
01:11:55 pharmacists also need to have remunerations for the time spent.
01:12:00 We have to spend funds on other aspects of CDAP that is not clear to us.
01:12:06 So when the population thinks that we get paid for everything, that we do for CDAP, that's not correct.
01:12:12 For example, yes, we may get paid for items and they have reduced the fees that we would normally get.
01:12:18 And yet we still have to use time, labor, staff, little plastic bags that we have to put the items in
01:12:28 because we don't have a lot of CDAP.
01:12:30 And so they provide you with the drugs, yes.
01:12:32 They provide you with the cell master system, which is a computerized system, which works very well.
01:12:38 Occasionally, yes, we do have some issues with cell phone and then they fix it and we walk up and run it.
01:12:43 But I think it's the whole concept of everyone being able to do their part to ensure that the entire system runs like a well-greased machine.
01:12:53 If everyone puts in their effort and energies in every single aspect of it, it will run properly.
01:12:58 But we also have issues of duplications.
01:13:01 For example, a patient may go to one health center and ask for drugs from a doctor, and they may give him a one-month supply.
01:13:08 He gets that filled, he goes to another health center, which is not me, because he's not feeling well,
01:13:12 he goes to a different doctor, gets another prescription, goes to another pharmacy.
01:13:16 And so we tend to monitor all these things.
01:13:19 So sometimes in the CDAP system, there's a lot of monitoring that has to be done to make sure that there's no duplication
01:13:27 of patients with multiple doctors, multiple pharmacies, etc.
01:13:31 Now, the service is designed in such a way that if, for example, you decide to come to my pharmacy in Saudi Arabia,
01:13:38 and you fill your drugs, and you decide to go to some important hospital and fill it one week after,
01:13:43 the pharmacist in the hospital will be able to pick up that you had your stuff filled already
01:13:47 and then make the necessary decision on what needs to be filled.
01:13:50 For example, if there was an additional drug added or not.
01:13:53 The whole point of the CDAP is we need to reduce the wastage, one.
01:13:59 Two, we have to look at new pharmaceuticals that can give you better therapeutic outcomes.
01:14:04 So reducing the time that patients come back to the facility because of some optimal treatments.
01:14:10 We have to look at procurement practice and the type of drugs that we procure on CDAP.
01:14:18 Talk to the issue as we're on that topic. Talk to the issue of generic drugs for me.
01:14:24 Because there is the perception out there that generic drugs are not as good as other drugs.
01:14:31 Talk to that to me because I know that people who do use generic drugs would be very interested in this issue.
01:14:39 So there's a very huge misconception in Trinidad about what is a generic drug, what is a feed drug, what is a counterfeit drug.
01:14:47 So let's take it for generic drugs.
01:14:50 Generic drugs are drugs that are usually produced at a standard where it directly matches the original brand.
01:14:58 But the original brand usually has a higher significant cost because of the research and design
01:15:03 that went into the development of the pharmaceutical to make it available to the public, with stringent testing, etc.
01:15:10 Now a generic drug is usually put through a variety of testing to ensure that it is the same active pharmaceutical ingredient
01:15:20 manufactured by a different company and when put together, and put together into a tablet form.
01:15:26 When you take that, you are supposed to get a bioequivalent effect which means that the drug will be absorbed in the same way,
01:15:35 metabolized in the same way, distributed and excreted at the same rates.
01:15:40 So by doing that, we ensure that the drug follows the actual endemic effect of the original drug.
01:15:46 So that a generic is really a substitute, as we would say for the original, with stricter practices
01:15:54 that show that it is almost identical.
01:15:57 Now a fake drug is someone who would probably, in some flight at night under the shade somewhere in a backyard,
01:16:05 trying to put together something that resembles a drug.
01:16:08 It may look identical in shape, it may look identical in color, but what is in fact inside of that
01:16:15 is something that is moving close to what any pharmaceutical ingredient might be.
01:16:20 And we know that for example, the white bodily substances that you would see inside of fluorescent light bulbs for example,
01:16:28 they use stuff like that to put into a compact in a tablet that is totally fake and that can cause serious harm.
01:16:36 So yes, that is one of the reasons we may have stringent regulatory practices that we may struggle to ensure that these things don't happen.
01:16:45 So that is the major difference between a generic and original and a fake alternative drug as the case may be.
01:16:52 Thank you for that explanation Mr. Mohamed.
01:16:54 Well Mr. Mohamed, the media review was on Friday, we're just a few months away from the budget.
01:17:00 What are some of the challenges that your industry still face and that you would like to be addressed in the upcoming budget?
01:17:10 Thank you, Dr. Mahmoud.
01:17:12 Now on the eastern seaboard of the United States, we have two major sectors that I think should be addressed.
01:17:20 One is the agriculture sector because the San Bernardino district and the fire transportation sector rely heavily on agriculture.
01:17:30 We need to face a lot of adversities and develop new ways of doing agriculture to understand and support the economy here in San Bernardino and the fire industry.
01:17:42 Now the eastern seaboard, whether it's from Togo to Mayaro, we have to also look at infrastructure, roadways.
01:17:50 If you take a train from San Bernardino to Togo to Mayaro, after you clear this newly paved man-slim area and you go out to pass Togo to Mayaro,
01:17:59 the road is in a horrible condition. It's not attractive to anybody who wants to go there.
01:18:04 We have to develop new road infrastructure, significantly and significantly faster in this area because it is affecting the economy on the eastern seaboard as well.
01:18:14 Two, we have to look at diversifying our revenue streams.
01:18:19 On this side of the island, with tourism, you cannot have the largest seafront in Trianon, Tamegu, Pondanibala, and then you want to talk tourism about Trianon, Tamegu.
01:18:30 When the tourists come, they go to Portersfield and that's all they get to see.
01:18:34 We don't have effective shuffling services.
01:18:38 So for example, if a cruise line had a dock set in Portersfield, let's say for 12 hours,
01:18:43 we should not have an effective system that can take tourists to the eastern side and bring them back on time to catch a cruise line.
01:18:50 With a properly operated system, where they can come to the eastern side and have an experience of arts and crafts, food, culture, music.
01:19:01 So these are some of the things we have to do to help resolve the economic change that will benefit our community here on the eastern side.
01:19:09 We have to refocus our energies into the east.
01:19:14 We have to use whatever resources we have that Trinidad can offer.
01:19:18 We have the river swamp on the thing, which is underutilized.
01:19:21 We need to develop intermediate tourist attraction.
01:19:24 And year after year, politicians make false promises and the people are still waiting and suffering.
01:19:30 And we really need to, as our school teachers would say, "Clear the slums up" and really get the job done.
01:19:38 We would love to see more investments in the tourism sector, implementation and improvement of the re-release of the infrastructure,
01:19:48 and significant contributions into the agri-sector.
01:19:52 Yeah, Mr. Mohamed, it's always a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you very much.
01:19:57 I'm not hearing you.
01:19:58 I'm just saying thank you very much. Thank you very much for speaking with us this morning.
01:20:02 It's always appreciated. Bye for now.
01:20:05 Thank you very much.
01:20:06 All right, so we are going to have a very short break, everybody. We're coming back.
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01:21:33 [music]
01:22:02 Did you know that vaping with nicotine can permanently affect brain development in people under the age of 25?
01:22:08 Did you know that e-cigarettes are associated with increased risk of stroke, heart attack, and heart disease?
01:22:18 Did you know that for some people, vaping with or without nicotine disrupts the normal lung function in otherwise healthy people?
01:22:32 Consider the consequences and don't vape.
01:22:36 Don't vape.
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01:22:40 [music]
01:22:43 [music]
01:22:45 [music]
01:23:14 [music]
01:23:19 So we're talking man to man.
01:23:21 But what is the measure of a man?
01:23:23 Is it about strength and power and all that macho business?
01:23:28 Or is it about honor, dignity, courage, and the conviction to do what is right no matter the consequences?
01:23:36 And respect, yes, respect in all its forms, including respect for women.
01:23:42 And not just the women we know and love and care for, but all women everywhere.
01:23:49 For they are our equals, working hand in hand, stride for stride, to build a better home, a better community, a better country, a better world.
01:24:01 So let's end this culture of abuse and humiliation and senseless violence towards women and girls.
01:24:09 Man to man, let's learn to become real men.
01:24:13 [music]
01:24:38 >> Studio, who is this DJ here this morning?
01:24:41 [laughter]
01:24:44 You talk about energy in studio this morning, yeah?
01:24:48 All right, thank you for the music.
01:24:50 I must say that on this rainy Monday morning in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:24:53 So we do appreciate it, all right?
01:24:55 So we are talking about now the Accelerate Her Summer Mentorship Program.
01:25:00 And we do have in studio this morning Girls of Impact TT founder and executive director, Renee Atwell.
01:25:07 Renee, thank you very much for coming this morning and braving the rains, eh?
01:25:10 >> Thank you so much for having me this morning.
01:25:12 >> Let's talk a little bit, before we get into the mentorship program, let's speak a little bit about the Girls of Impact TT.
01:25:18 Tell us a little bit about the organization.
01:25:21 >> So Girls of Impact TNT is a non-profit organization, and it's really geared towards the empowerment of young women.
01:25:27 It aims basically to prepare young women with the tools and resources that they need to succeed in education, career, and entrepreneurship.
01:25:34 And that's why a large part of what we do is about mentorship, providing, of course, young women with access to more experienced professionals and entrepreneurs,
01:25:42 where they have that guidance and advice that they need to navigate whatever professional or entrepreneurial journey that they choose to go on.
01:25:49 >> Yeah. So is it heavily an organization that deals with entrepreneurship?
01:25:57 >> Well, we deal with both traditional careers as well as entrepreneurship, because we understand and appreciate that for young women,
01:26:03 not everybody might want to pursue a traditional career.
01:26:06 Some persons might want to start their own business, or they might want to get into industries that might not be pushed mainstream.
01:26:12 So, for example, you have things like creative arts, fashion, and beauty.
01:26:16 So we want to provide them with guidance in whatever path that they choose to take.
01:26:20 We want to make sure that we can give them access to experienced persons who work in those fields so that they can help them to navigate how to get into and how to excel when they get into those fields.
01:26:29 >> So is it that the programs of Girls of Impact, is it that these programs are really for ladies who have completed their secondary education
01:26:44 and are really looking to go into certain avenues and that Girls of Impact TT will provide sort of a roadmap for them?
01:26:58 >> Yes. Our programs are targeted towards young women between the ages of 15 and 30.
01:27:04 So it's a pretty large-ish age group.
01:27:06 We're looking at young women who are probably in Form 4 or 5, also tertiary students and young professionals as well.
01:27:14 >> That early, Form 5?
01:27:15 >> Yes, because it's so important for them because, remember, they are now entering into a field where they have to go and pursue tertiary studies.
01:27:22 For example, you might have a young woman who wants to pursue accounting, and she may not even know, "Okay, should I do ACCA? Should I do a degree in accounting?"
01:27:29 And so that's where the mentorship program seeks to do it.
01:27:31 It seeks to provide her with a roadmap as to, "Okay, maybe you should do a degree first, then you should do ACCA, etc., etc."
01:27:38 as the case might be because, of course, these professions, they have certain intricacies that can only be understood by persons who work in them.
01:27:44 And so that's what the programs that we offer are really about.
01:27:48 >> Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about the expertise of the mentors.
01:27:52 >> Yes. So we basically reach out to a wide network of professionals, usually on the LinkedIn platform, but also within the personal connections of the board of directors of the organization.
01:28:04 We generally look for persons with about seven years' experience in their field so that they can properly guide and steer these young women.
01:28:11 Basically, we have a shortlisting process for mentors.
01:28:15 That is, of course, we ask them to provide a character reference just to make sure because, of course, you're dealing with some women who are possibly minors as well.
01:28:23 And, of course, they have been working in their industries for some time.
01:28:26 They have gathered the experience, and they want to now pour back into the lives of young women.
01:28:30 >> Is it a wide array of programs?
01:28:33 >> In terms of what the organization offers?
01:28:35 >> Yes.
01:28:36 >> So right now, we have two targeted -- two signature programs, which is the accelerated program, and we also have a program for young women in rural communities.
01:28:44 So we try to keep our signature programs done every year.
01:28:48 However, throughout the year, as the need arises, we might have different events and pop-ups, as the case might be, to cater for the needs of specific young women.
01:28:55 >> Yeah. Let's talk about the accelerate program.
01:28:57 >> Yes. So the accelerated summer mentorship program is, of course, one of our signature programs, and it really aims to provide young women with the tools that they need to excel in professional careers, as well as there are some young women who have indicated their desire to get into business and entrepreneurship.
01:29:12 So we will also have mentors to match them.
01:29:15 So basically, it's a small group mentorship program where you will have about, let's say, three to four mentees per mentor.
01:29:21 The commonality in the mentees is that they all want to get into a specific field.
01:29:25 So, for example, mentees can apply, and they would indicate what is their priority industry.
01:29:29 If you have, for example, four young women who say they want to get into law, we will match them with an experienced attorney who will be able to guide them into, okay, maybe you need to do a degree, you need to go to this firm, you need to go to that place if you want to get experience in a particular area of law.
01:29:42 So that's essentially how the program will work in terms of the mentorship component.
01:29:46 But in addition to providing them with mentorship, we also have group sessions for the entire cohort.
01:29:52 So we are aiming to attract 50 mentees in this program, and the group sessions will provide them with guidance and advice in areas like how to apply for jobs in terms of writing their CV, interview skills, how to network, personal branding.
01:30:04 So it really aims to provide them with personal and professional development to navigate them in their career paths.
01:30:10 Yeah. How long is the mentorship period for?
01:30:13 So the program is a 10-week program.
01:30:15 It runs from the 6th of July to the 7th of September, and all of our sessions will be held either on Saturdays or evenings.
01:30:22 So we really are catering for young women who might be in school or working so that they can actually benefit from the program in its entirety.
01:30:30 Is it online or face-to-face?
01:30:32 The program is a hybrid program.
01:30:34 So some of our sessions will be held in person, and some of our sessions will be held online.
01:30:38 Our in-person sessions will be reserved for Saturdays just so that young women who want to take part, they will be able to come to our workshop venue to be able to access that capacity development workshops.
01:30:48 And is there a cost to this?
01:30:50 Yes. So once accepted into the program, the cost is $100.
01:30:54 We make it as affordable as possible, and we will also be offering some scholarships for young women who may not be able to afford the price of the program.
01:31:02 So wait, wait, Renny. So you're telling me that a young lady can pay $100 and get all of this training until September?
01:31:11 Yes.
01:31:12 Renny, you sure?
01:31:13 Yes.
01:31:14 All right, go ahead.
01:31:15 Because we really, you see, these programs are really needed for young women who lack that support sometimes at home,
01:31:20 because you might have persons who are first-generation college students, first-generation professionals who don't have the guidance at home,
01:31:26 and many times they are in homes where they don't have the necessary resources.
01:31:30 So we want to make this as affordable as possible to make sure that as much young women that need to benefit from these mentorship programs can access our programs.
01:31:38 Wow, that's amazing, Renny. Here's what. Tell us a little bit about people who want to register. How can they do that?
01:31:45 Yes. So they can connect with us on social media. We are on Instagram, girlsofimpact868.
01:31:51 Or they can go to our website, which is girlsofimpact.org, and our registration form is available there.
01:31:57 They can apply. Of course, we cannot accept everyone into the program because we are capped at 50 persons.
01:32:03 But of course, we are looking at the strength of the applications of persons to make sure that those who need to benefit will benefit from the program.
01:32:09 Yeah. Is there a particular criteria you're looking for?
01:32:12 Yes. So we are generally looking for young women who have not been able to benefit from programs like this in the past.
01:32:18 Of course, we are looking at a wide age range.
01:32:20 So we are trying to do in terms of a ratio, in terms of like, let's say like a 15 to 20 and then like a 21 to 30 to make sure we have both persons at the younger end of the spectrum as well as the older end of the spectrum.
01:32:32 And as well, we are looking for persons who are really interested in becoming leaders and harnessing their leadership skills,
01:32:37 because a large part of what we do is equipping young women with leadership skills to prepare them for leadership capacities wherever they choose to see, whether it's in school, in society, in the workplace, etc.
01:32:46 Yeah. Now, you mentioned earlier about a rural program.
01:32:50 Yes. Talk a little bit about that for us.
01:32:52 Yes. So our organization also has an Empower Her program, which is a program for young women in rural communities.
01:32:58 It's usually held in October each year because in October, it's International Day of the Girl Child.
01:33:04 For our first cohort, we did the community of Mearo.
01:33:08 Of course, we were able to access the BPTT Mearo Resource Center and we catered for young women to learn about digital literacy.
01:33:15 And we also provided them with the same mentorship because all of our programs have a mentorship component where young women can get that guidance from them.
01:33:22 So, of course, young women in rural communities can expect that program to roll out in the later part of the year where they will be able to benefit and engage.
01:33:28 We will usually choose a community. We haven't yet chosen the community for this year.
01:33:32 But we are also open to engaging with different community groups in rural communities and engaging in partnerships with them to see how best we can save the needs of the young women in their community.
01:33:42 Yeah. But I think, is it safe to say that your organization, it has not adopted a cookie-cutter approach to things and that if, as you said earlier, there's a group of young women who want to approach your organization and they're saying,
01:33:59 "Look, here's what. We want to pursue this course of study. We want some level of mentorship in this particular area." You can organize that for them?
01:34:13 Well, yes and no. Yes, in the sense that, okay, so our accelerated program is very wide in that we allow mentorship in a wide array of areas, but the program is only once per year.
01:34:24 However, what we also do is we do community outreach initiatives and we go into schools where we educate them on our programs and also offer opportunities for a partnership if they want, for example, assistance in setting up a similar mentorship program for their particular school.
01:34:39 So, for example, this week we're heading to a school in Chagonas, Chagonas North Secondary, and we're going to inform the young women there about our programs and, of course, talk with administration about how they can possibly implement mentorship programs within that school for their young women in that school.
01:34:53 So, schools can also approach you all?
01:34:56 Yes, we work with schools. We have worked with schools in the past and we do have opportunities to work with schools coming up in the near future as well.
01:35:02 All right. Renny, give us your contact information again because I'm sure that a lot of people out there would be very interested in this program.
01:35:09 Yes, so our email address is info@galesofimpact.org and our website, galesofimpact.org. Of course, persons are free to use the contact form on the website.
01:35:18 We are asking persons who want to be mentors as well as mentees to fill out the forms on our website as well as, of course, if there are any small businesses or organizations who want to partner with us, who want to sponsor, who want to support in any way, they can also reach out to us as well on our website.
01:35:33 Yes, and it's all for $100. Yes, Renny, it was a pleasure speaking with you this morning.
01:35:38 Thank you so much for having me.
01:35:39 Of course. All right, so we are going to a very short break. We're coming back, everybody.
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01:37:15 What's up, you guys? I'm Ren.
01:37:16 And I'm Kim.
01:37:17 Welcome to Conversations with Ren and Kim.
01:37:20 And now shall we dive deep into the stories that matter.
01:37:26 From inspiring individuals making a difference to experts sharing their insights on the latest trends and topics.
01:37:30 We're here to spark conversations that challenge, inspire, and entertain.
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01:37:48 [Music]
01:38:06 All right. So welcome back, everyone.
01:38:08 So you're calling us now on 623-1711, the extension.
01:38:11 It's 1995.
01:38:12 We'd love to hear your views this morning as you call us.
01:38:16 It's a beautiful Monday morning in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:38:19 Some people may be saying, "What is he speaking about? It's raining."
01:38:22 But I love the rain, eh?
01:38:23 Not the flooding and so on and the high wind that comes with it.
01:38:26 But, you know, I think that we -- and think about this way.
01:38:30 It means that the reservoirs are going to be filled once again.
01:38:34 So look at it in that way.
01:38:35 You're calling us on 623-1711, the extension.
01:38:38 It's 1995.
01:38:39 Just incidentally, you're talking about a system and a country that has really failed a young man.
01:38:46 You remember Osmond Baboulal? Yeah?
01:38:49 Osmond is a member of the Baboulal family, the family that was killed by members of Dolce and Gabbana's gang so many years ago.
01:38:59 And Osmond and his sister, Hamity, they were the only survivors of that tragedy.
01:39:07 I'm going to give you some more information about this.
01:39:09 Tabakit is on the line.
01:39:10 Tabakit, good Monday morning to you.
01:39:13 A pleasant morning to you, Mr. Austin Hunt.
01:39:16 Good morning to you.
01:39:17 And God bless you to the staff.
01:39:19 Thank you. Thank you.
01:39:21 Look, let's get this.
01:39:23 We had a midterm budget for the year.
01:39:27 But the big question I want to ask you, what are we going to do for the poor and vulnerable and the common man?
01:39:37 And this is a big question.
01:39:39 Because we will need all the financial amulets, all the business chambers.
01:39:46 But the question, how does it impact, that's it, the poor and vulnerable?
01:39:54 If you can help us with this tonight, how can we stand tall? God bless you.
01:39:59 Tabakit, it's always good to hear from you.
01:40:00 But let me put it in this context.
01:40:02 And this is a post that was placed on X, formerly Twitter.
01:40:07 So the finance minister has put this up.
01:40:09 The media review is just a report on the fiscal outturn for the first half of the year with only 40 minutes of speaking time.
01:40:17 But the media pretends that it's a three-hour budget speech with new financial or fiscal measures.
01:40:23 It's a way to confuse business groups and solicit negative comments from them.
01:40:27 At the end of the day, Minister, it doesn't, whether, what I want to say is that it doesn't change the state of the economy.
01:40:37 Right. So whether you get positive comments, whether you get bad comments, it doesn't change what the economy is and the state of the economy.
01:40:49 Business people continue to complain about about forex.
01:40:53 They continue to complain about the difficulty of doing business in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:40:59 It doesn't change the fact that we do have oil and gas reserves are not where we should be.
01:41:06 It doesn't change the fact that we do have a shortage and it doesn't change the fact shortage in forex and so on and so on and so on.
01:41:14 Yeah. So we understand it's a difficult time.
01:41:17 It does not change our difficulties.
01:41:19 I don't know where the perception is that we only interviewing people for negative comments and so on.
01:41:26 In fact, when we call people, we don't say, well, you have negative comments.
01:41:29 We want you to come and speak about it. It's to give a neutral view.
01:41:34 And we do have a responsibility to our viewers.
01:41:36 We do have a responsibility to the general public to break this thing down, because we always understand in Trinidad and Tobago, there is always a political spin to things.
01:41:46 So we always want the neutral view, because again, at the end of the day, it's for everyone to understand what is happening.
01:41:54 You know. Yeah. So if it is the IMF has given you some positive results, well, then we break down that.
01:42:01 If another group is saying something negatively, then let's discuss that, too.
01:42:05 Yeah. But it has to be a holistic discussion. Right.
01:42:09 And not a skewed discussion. All right.
01:42:12 So you're calling us on six to three, 17, 11. The extension is 1995.
01:42:16 So Osmond Babula, who was 13 years old when he witnessed the Dolce Gang kill his family, is now 43.
01:42:23 He has been in prison for 14 of those years, waiting to go on trial for his own alleged crimes, two attempts at murder.
01:42:30 Let's take another call. Good morning, caller. Good morning.
01:42:39 Caller, caller, you need to turn down the volume on your television set.
01:42:43 We're not hearing you at all. And we want to hear you.
01:42:49 All right. We're waiting. Right.
01:42:58 Caller, we're not hearing you. We do apologize, but we're not hearing you.
01:43:02 And it would be a disservice to you if you can't give your views and a disservice to our viewers if they can't hear you.
01:43:10 All right. So as I was saying about the situation with Osmond Babula, it's a really sad situation because, you know,
01:43:20 we do have the we do like to beat our chests in this country and say, well, we have the structures in place and we will provide counseling to the victims and so on.
01:43:31 But how long does the counseling go on for? All right. So we do have Trinity in the house.
01:43:36 Good morning, Trinity. Yes. Good morning. Morning.
01:43:41 Yes. I note your comments with regards to the balance reporting.
01:43:49 Go ahead. In the morning. Some weeks ago, I called about a concern that I had on your program.
01:43:57 Yeah. Regarding a report by a regional authority official complaining about our water situation.
01:44:08 And I noted that a balance or a counter to the argument was not preferred on the show.
01:44:18 And you indicated that you will contact or your show will contact officials of the ministry to get their side of the program.
01:44:29 What was the problem? Remind me. Remind us. Yeah.
01:44:33 What I was concerned I was concerned about is that in the reporting, the balance didn't appear to be there.
01:44:44 Right. And I so I could understand aspects of what the minister is saying.
01:44:51 You know, you're absolutely right. There are issues with the economy.
01:44:56 But as a viewer. Right. I turn to this program to get a balance viewed.
01:45:04 And sometimes the bad news leads, which is which is important. But the balance doesn't come after.
01:45:14 And this is this is not the first time I'm noticing it.
01:45:18 Now, one of your your predecessors, when he would be interviewing people, he would always be a devil's advocate.
01:45:28 So if the government came on, he would be the best advocate. If the opposition came on, he would be the devil's advocate.
01:45:36 So you've got that kind of a balance almost immediately.
01:45:40 I am not saying that you have to imitate that because you are a different individual.
01:45:48 Right. But from a journalist, journalistic point, point of view, to assure that as much of the truth comes,
01:45:57 you all have to do work. All right. I hear you. Let me just tell you.
01:46:04 When it comes to us being balanced, you would be shocked to know at what lengths we go to make that happen.
01:46:16 And you do have a situation in Trinidad and Tobago where people have a lot of views,
01:46:25 but people are not prepared to give those views publicly.
01:46:32 And that is what happens in a lot of cases. I wouldn't I wouldn't go into some of the cases that where we have tried to.
01:46:43 We have gone all the way to get certain comments from people and what they decide to do.
01:46:50 Well, here's what and it has nothing to do with the program or the personality or anything like that.
01:46:55 It is just that some people just don't want to talk. There is a level of fear.
01:47:00 There's a level of victimization. There's a level of discrimination.
01:47:04 So sometimes what you you do have is that sometimes you do have and see the same person speaking about issues all of the time.
01:47:14 And it is not because we have not tried. It is because some people just decided they don't want they just don't have a responsibility to speak.
01:47:23 I can tell you a situation where there's a top official. That official said to us, well, here's what.
01:47:30 I am not going to get up in the morning because I have to do certain tasks in the morning.
01:47:35 And when I get home in the evening, I have to do certain tasks, too.
01:47:40 And because of that, I just don't have time to speak to anyone.
01:47:44 And that is the kind of thinking we do have from some people who are in prominent positions in this country because they feel they just don't have to talk to you.
01:47:53 Let's take another call. I remain. Morning. Morning.
01:47:58 Yes. Yeah.
01:48:04 I mean, now I mean, there are two reports of leaks.
01:48:10 Yeah. I don't know. Well, what are you going to do?
01:48:15 I am a county MC, CO, NNI, Street, Laramie, the last hope before the call numerical. Uh-huh. Water, we can afford plenty, plenty water. But I exercise the morning I see it.
01:48:34 Secondly, there's a leak on the south front roads. Right. The water, we can get off the edge of the highway. Yeah.
01:48:44 Opposite low price to supermarket.
01:48:50 And you know that's right. All right. Water is about three times the pressure.
01:48:56 So yeah. Caller, my producer is going to take your number and we are going to pass it on to the relevant authorities at Wassa.
01:49:06 Yeah. So so that's the situation in Trinidad and Tobago, because some people just like to rah rah rah rah rah rah behind the scenes.
01:49:15 But when it comes to saying things publicly, they just don't want to do that.
01:49:20 And as I said, there are people who just feel they don't want to talk to you and they don't have to account to people.
01:49:26 They don't have to say anything because they are comfortable in the positions that they hold.
01:49:32 So when we speak about when we speak about about members of the media not being balanced and so on, it is it is not because that we have not tried.
01:49:43 You know, it is just, as I said, some people believe they just don't have to talk to all.
01:49:48 That's just what it boils down to. However, we are not going to hold back our story because we feel that this person who does not want to speak with us,
01:49:58 we need to hold it back for them. We are going to go with our story without them.
01:50:02 And then whatever happens after happens, you know, you're calling us on six to three, 17, 11, the extension.
01:50:09 It's 1995. Yeah. Sometimes something happens now and an official believes, well, we don't have to say anything about it.
01:50:16 Now we'll wait. Two weeks after and say something which makes absolutely no sense,
01:50:22 but that's the backward way that some of us we do have in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:50:28 You're calling us on six to three, 17, 11, the extension. It's 1995.
01:50:31 You see, all are getting hot and sweaty this morning in this cool, cold morning in Trinidad and Tobago.
01:50:38 But I hope that you understand what I'm saying. You're calling us on six to three, 17, 11, the extension. It's 1995.
01:50:44 So, yeah, getting back to Osmond, we need to do more in Trinidad and Tobago when it comes to the victims of crimes and the victims of other incidents.
01:50:56 You have to do more. One week of counseling is not enough. You know, Barakpur. Good morning.
01:51:02 All right. How are you doing, man? I'm good, sir. I'm not able to speak with some people in this thing.
01:51:12 Go ahead. Pick your bone. -Many, many years ago, there was a war believer.
01:51:20 Crime was committed in my village because of the fact that something was done that you, who was involved with more than eight crime fighters,
01:51:28 those who were in TV programs. I remember that the criminal perpetrators have been formerly criminals,
01:51:37 sons and children, but were seen with high-powered rifles. They were young children, not supposed to have those high-powered rifles.
01:51:48 All the investigations took place. All the evidence was there. The picture was there. But nothing had taken place.
01:51:55 And the man who used the building in the program was one of the men who, if you only talk hard, he brings in such a...
01:52:05 I remember he called a man yesterday in a convo and he said he apologized to Uncle Gary and they didn't have no proof.
01:52:13 But how come they didn't have all the proof now and they still can't have a case after eight or nine years finished?
01:52:21 And yet we want to say we should come forward and give things. Are we biased or are we neutral?
01:52:27 What is going on in this country? Why did you tell me, Mala, why did that police car investigate who have been participating?
01:52:35 That's a young child with high-powered rifles and nothing was done about it just because his father was being poised or their father was there.
01:52:43 Thank you, Mala.
01:52:45 All right. Well, I'm not sure that that investigation has been closed, but that's a good issue for the police commissioner of Trinidad and Tobago to respond to.
01:52:53 Yeah, that's going to do it for our comments from you today.
01:52:57 But thank you to all of our viewers who called in. We do appreciate it.
01:53:01 And, you know, we don't have to always agree on everything, but we do appreciate your views.
01:53:07 All right. So we're going to a quick break. We're coming back, everybody.
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01:53:54 I'm going to start with a little bit of a story.
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01:54:41 I grew up in the United States.
01:54:43 I grew up in the United States.
01:54:45 I grew up in the United States.
01:54:47 I grew up in the United States.
01:54:49 I grew up in the United States.
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01:55:41 I grew up in the United States.
01:55:43 I grew up in the United States.
01:55:45 I grew up in the United States.
01:55:47 I grew up in the United States.
01:55:49 I grew up in the United States.
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