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  • 1 year ago
The Opposition Leader slams the Finance Minister's Budget figures for being inaccurate and claims THAT two of the bidders for the refinery have "serious allegations of impropriety" surrounding them. Here's is a summary of her three hour and forty minute contribution.
Transcript
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.
04:36For more UN videos visit www.un.org
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