CHAMBER ON BUDGET

CCNTV6

Chairman of the Tobago arm of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Curtis Williams, is hopeful the longstanding issue of outstanding monies to contractors would finally be addressed, in the upcoming THA budget and in light of the change in Government. More in this Elizabeth Williams report.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Williams' comments comes as the Tobago House of Assembly is set to present its 2025-2026 budget estimates this month,

00:10presented historically this time around by Finance Secretary Petalan Roberts, the first female to do so in the 44 years of the Assembly.

00:19We'd like the THJ to prioritize from settlements of payments to service providers and suppliers.

00:25There are service providers that have long overdue bills and we'd like them to treat reduce because, you know, without a cash flow,

00:34the private sector is undermined business confidence and it really gains us pressure on your cash flow.

00:41Mr. Williams has said a list of the Chamber's projections was presented to the Division of Finance following two meetings last month.

00:49A commercial port, a cruise ship terminal and a marina, waste management program initiatives all submitted.

00:56The establishment of the Tobago Development Fund, we asked about that because it was something mentioned before

01:03and we wanted to know where they are with it and we want to get that going

01:06because there were folks who were trying to get onto the government loan assistance program

01:11and apparently the funds ran out for that program.

01:14So the bank approved them but there were no funds in the account.

01:18Mr. Williams said he expects the Assembly to receive a more favorable slice of the pie this time around,

01:26especially following a successful meeting between the Chief Secretary Fali Augustin

01:31and Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bissessa last month.

01:34It seemed like that meeting was successful and there was a bit of negotiation going on there

01:39and I'm looking forward to it.

01:41We're all excited to see what is there for the media review

01:43and let's see how the central government, now as we have a good relationship

01:48from the media release we've seen so far, let's see what the new government will be doing for Tobago.

01:54In June 2024, Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary Fali Augustin presented a $3.956 billion budget.

02:04Last September, Finance Minister Colm Inbert announced a $2.599 billion budget for Tobago.

02:12Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended