Environment lobby must not get the upper hand, says PM
By Ian Gooding
Trinidad Guardian
Saturday 16th June, 2007
PM Patrick Manning flanked by Professor Ken Julien (left) and Khalid Hassanali, president of eTECK at the second eTeck Alignment Seminar held at the ballroom of the Hilton Hotel yesterday Photo: Ian Gooding
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Prime Minister Patrick Manning yesterday sounded a warning that if the country made the error of allowing the environmental lobby to get the upper hand over the development of the nation, then all development would grind to a halt.
But he gave the assurance that the Government was not going to allow that to happen and that it would stand its ground that the decisions it has taken will take the nation to developed nation status by 2020.
Manning was the feature speaker at the second eTeck Alignment Seminar held at the ballroom of the Hilton Trinidad yesterday.
Speaking without a prepared speech, Manning recounted to the audience how he learned from the defeat the PNM suffered at the hands of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) in 1986 which led to him becoming opposition leader, for which he said he was unprepared.
His experience as opposition leader caused him to predict the collapse of the NAR and prepared himself to resume office, Manning told the conference.
Reflecting on the economic policies of the NAR, Manning said when oil prices fell to US$9 a barrel in 1986, the Government took away COLA from public servants and then further cut their salaries by ten per cent.
Given the circumstances of the collapse of oil prices, Manning said his solution would have been to devalue the TT dollar and spread the burden across the nation.
Manning said a leader must have a vision which the country can buy into, and eTeck (Evolving Technologies and Enterprise Development Co Ltd) was one of the pillars on which that vision to diversify the country away from oil and gas into a “modern industrial state” was based.
The future, he said, would see an economy based around the production of steel sheets, aluminium, ethylene, polypropylene, modern ports and the development of the Port-of-Spain waterfront, which would involve the “relocation of the National Flour Mills.”
He also spoke about the redevelopment of the Laventille area, a new fishing port in Moruga, and new port at Sea Lots.
Also on the cards for the local economy would be a completely new highway system which would take drivers from one place to the furthest point in two hours for the most; joint ventures with businesses in Caricom, a completely new drainage system throughout the country in ten years; an air, land and sea attack on drug traffickers with the help of fast, armed boats and helicopters.
Professor Kenneth Julien, chairman of eTeck, identified a number of major challenges citizens will have to overcome if the country was to achieve developed country status by 2020.
Among the challenges Julien identified were the failure to share information, the deep-seated fear of looking for different ways of doing things and not seeing the large number of opportunites that were opening up.
He said that while many positive things were being done in health and education, the image of the country in the media and on the Internet did not reflect these things. He also called for a one-stop shop for education so that people could get information all all aspects of the country from one location.
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