Dear Editor,
Over the weekend, Acting Prime Minister Stuart Young warned the PNM that if the UNC were to return to power, they (the UNC) would decimate the social programmes for women and children. For context on how ridiculous this statement is, since their election to government in 2015, the PNM have destroyed:
1. The student’s laptop programme;
2. The newborn mother’s grant;
3. The Children’s Life Fund;
4. The school feeding programme; and
5. The national food card programme;
Not to mention that women’s shelters and children’s orphanages have been deprived of the funding that they used to enjoy, as well as the education system has been failing our students across the board when compared to the results of other countries in their regional examinations. And these are just the failures that I can list off the top of my head.
No government in history has destroyed more social development programmes than the current PNM government, and Stuart Young should feel ashamed for making these types of nonsensical pronouncements because, at this point, I have no clue what programmes there are left for any future government to destroy. And before you interject that some of these programmes might still be in existence, that might be true on paper, but the reality is that at best, they are simply there to be beneficial to the PNM and any of their members who can flash the right type of access card.
Of course, Stuart Young’s recent comments follow those of Vyash Nandlal, economic advisor to the Prime Minister, who seems not to understand how an economy works. In a letter to the editor written last week, Vyash seems to imply that in order for the UNC to make good on its promises as outlined in its early manifesto, then it would inflate the national debt because that’s the only way that the PNM knows how to raise money. And it’s true that the PNM has been borrowing insane amounts of money to simply keep the economy afloat and the public service running, but a responsible government understands why that isn’t a viable solution. Moreover, is that the other strategy that the PNM has is to simply raise taxes, but the UNC also understands that wringing out dry pockets cannot fill a bucket no matter how hard you try.
And it’s easy to see why the promises and concepts of the UNC manifesto might confuse the PNM government because they have always lacked the knowledge and experience to generate revenue for both the country and its citizens. While Vyash focuses on the projects that the UNC aims to implement, he ignores the numerous plans that the Kamla Persad Bissessar proposes to revitalize both industries and the economy. For nine years, the PNM has been closing down businesses and driving away investors and this is the reason that they are unable to acquire the revenue required to see to the needs of the nation. Under Kamla Persad Bissessar however, the UNC government intends to deliver these infrastructural and social development projects by first creating revenue-generating initiatives that will not only fund their term in office but hopefully, future generations further down the road.
The truth of the matter is that these solutions could have been implemented by the PNM had they truly cared about this country and its citizens, but the reality is that they do not. The PNM cares about itself and its leadership and nothing and nobody else matters to them, hence the reason that this country is in the state it is in today. Under the UNC, helmed by a leader who cares for her people, the promises laid out in their manifesto are not pipedreams but realistic objectives that they hope to achieve. And when they do, it is the entire nation and its people who will benefit from a real government and leadership.
Best regards,
Ravi Balgobin Maharaj