00:00I dedicate this response to Budget Statement 2025 to the 99% of persons who have been abandoned by this PNM government.
00:12The Opposition Leader responds to Com Imbud's 2025 Marathon Fiscal Package.
00:18Minister Imbud spoke for 5 hours and 13 minutes to announce a $2 per hour minimum wage increase to some workers
00:27and a 5% new offer to public servants.
00:31The Minister joked about doubling his time to 10 hours.
00:35I would have preferred had the Minister doubled the minimum wage increase to $4
00:45and the offer to public servants to 10% instead.
00:48Her assessment of the plan, to be steadfast and resolute, forging pathways to prosperity,
00:54was that it was devoid of any plan to lower food prices, attend to the needs of senior citizens,
01:01generate more revenue, fight crime or create jobs.
01:05The Honourable Minister spent over 5 hours reading the PNM's eulogy,
01:12fighting to convince the population,
01:17but failing to convince them of anything worthwhile.
01:20Drilling down on the figures, Bassad Bassasa says the revenue was miscalculated.
01:25Imbud said revenue was $54.224 billion, but when one adds the oil revenue, non-oil revenue and capital revenue,
01:36these figures add up to $53.224 billion in revenue, not $54.224 billion.
01:43That will also mean, she says, that the deficit for 2025 will move up by $1 billion.
01:51It will in fact be, according to the opposition leader, $6.5 billion and not $5.5 billion.
01:59She accuses the government of leading the country into a debt trap,
02:03borrowing $107 billion in 9 years, forcing future generations to spend most of their lives to repay.
02:11When we add a further $12.8 billion the minister intends to borrow in 2025,
02:18this government would have borrowed $119.8 billion in 10 years from 2015 to end of fiscal 25.
02:27If we were to add the approximately $17 billion drawn down from the HSF,
02:32we would see that this government has access financing of about $136.8 billion to finance spending.
02:41At this point, Bassad Bassasa took a swing at what the national population was spending their time discussing.
02:48Instead it was the same old story of glibness, intellectual laziness, shallow commentary,
02:55and in some cases shameless pandering from some sections of the business community.
03:03At the same time, they continue waiting with begging bowls for contracts.
03:07They say greed has no shame.
03:09Even as government hinted at the sale or lease of the refinery as a revenue generating measure,
03:15the opposition leader cautions the population to not be misled.
03:19None of these companies are known to have any track record in the refinery industry.
03:24I think we are going on a run.
03:27Before every election we are going to find someone to lease or buy the petrochemical refinery.
03:34Elections come, elections go, and nothing happens.
03:37There are serious questions and allegations about improper practices by at least two of these preferred bidders.
03:45And while painting a story of doom and gloom,
03:48she notes the $29.7 million increase in the entertainment allocation
03:54at the office of the Prime Minister for this fiscal year.
03:58She says even after half a trillion dollar expenditure by this administration over 10 years,
04:04there has been nothing to show.
04:06In her three-hour and 40-minute delivery, Prasad Basasa shared her intentions if elected into office.
04:13Among her plans are to expand the ambulance services to rural areas,
04:17establish a national cardiac center, finish the oncology center,
04:22review the CDAP listing, introduce a continuous assessment component of the SEA exam,
04:28establish a full-fledged technical vocational university,
04:32and legislation for corporate manslaughter.
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