"Building Capacity for Diversification and Growth"

Budget 2024 Contribution of Honourable Esmond Forde, MP Tunapuna

Madame Speaker, as I stand in this honorable house to make my contribution to the Appropriations Bill 2024, I must give thanks to the Almighty.

Madame Speaker, congratulations are also due to the honorable Minister, Colm Imbert, his team from the Ministry of Finance, and others involved in the research, preparation, and documentation of this budget statement for 2024.

Madame Speaker, the theme of the statement, "Building Capacity for Diversity and Growth," aptly describes our nation's current positioning on our developmental journey towards VISION 2030.

Reflecting on the journey of my TUNAPUNA Constituency in particular, I recall that in my contribution to the 2017 debate, I spoke of transformation. We, the constituents of Tunapuna, were willing to embrace innovation, new products and production, import replacement, and export generation. I, therefore, extend congratulations to the Greater TUNAPUNA Chamber of Industry and Commerce for their continued support and services in our TUNAPUNA area. Thank you, President Ramon Gregorio, and Executive Members and Chamber Members for your contribution to nation-building.

We were being prepared to undertake the race to the new realm of promise. Madame Speaker, when I heard the minister's statement regarding the performance of the non-oil sector, I knew we had made significant strides in our developmental and innovative journey.

Madame Speaker, we, the constituency of Tunapuna, are like Joshua and Caleb on this journey. We have heard, we trust our leader, Dr. Keith Christopher Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, and we are confident that the vision is achievable.

Madame Speaker, there was a time in the recent past when every Monday morning brought a hue and cry for water, especially in the Maracas Valley area, a net generator of water for surrounding environs and communities.

Madame Speaker, the plans, programs, and policy implementation of the Public Utilities Ministry under Minister Marvin Gonzales, with respect to water generation and distribution, have had a tremendous impact within my TUNAPUNA constituency and many others, especially:

The Community Water Improvement Project (CWIP) at Wharf Trace, Maracas, and Maingot Village, TUNAPUNA; benefiting over 7,000 households.

The Utilities Assistance Programme (UAP) for both social and economic intervention for both water (WASA) and electricity (T&TEC) in homes and families facing basic needs.

The domestic Water Tank distribution assistance program, among others.

Tunapuna has benefited and continues to benefit from these programs, as have many other areas of our nation. Madame Speaker, while addressing the areas of water and its related benefits, I wish to bring to the notice of this house and the nation as a whole the recent disturbing trend of wanton damage and sabotage of waterworks and equipment. Madame Speaker, are we willing to descend into such levels of self-hate? Where we will destroy the very basic amenities that allow for the sustainability of life? I say no more, Madame Speaker.

Madame Speaker, as I continue to examine and assess the 2024 budget statement in terms of my constituents, particularly in the areas of housing and settlements, you are well aware that Tunapuna is primarily residential and relatively old, having served as the residential area for the sugar estates of the Orange Grove and Caroni plains south and southwest of the northern range.

Therefore, the housing stock in the area is diverse, ranging from individual housing units of varied types and styles, old to new ultra-modern gated housing developments and communities. This range necessitates a broad, wide-ranging, yet focused approach to meeting the housing and settlement needs of my community.

The 2024 statement addresses all these needs and focuses on high finance areas, including mortgage and refinancing, housing units, improvement grants, as well as the newly proposed HDC high-rise flats in the Caura Royal Road area in 2024. Madame Speaker, housing is critical to human existence and survival. The budget provides for a myriad of avenues supported by this administration for the receipt, maintenance, and continuous improvement of the quality of housing accessed and utilized by the constituents of Tunapuna and other citizens of this nation.

Madame Speaker, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Camille Robinson-Regis, must be commended, along with her team, for the tremendous strides made in this Ministry for housing and urban development.

Tunapuna constituents have benefited in numerous ways under this Ministry over the years and in 2023:

Home Improvement Grants for critical repairs and home upgrades.

The Housing and Village Improvement Programme (HVIP) under the Land Settlement Agency (LSA) for basic house construction for needy families.

Home improvement subsidies for home construction and home improvement grants to citizens of low-income households.

Disbursements of over 1,500 home improvement subsidies and over 400 home construction subsidies.

Trinidad and Tobago Mortgage Bank in 2024 to provide improved mortgage market, strengthen resource mobilization, and allocations to benefit low and middle-income constituents.

The establishment of microenterprise gardens, greenhouses, and green markets in communities under the Housing and Village Improvement Programme in 2024.

Six hundred (600) housing units to be constructed in 2024; Caura Royal Road, TUNAPUNA to be included for new houses.

Madame Speaker, in terms of education, Tunapuna stands as the apex of education in Trinidad and Tobago, if not the Caribbean. Our educational institutions span from preschool to tertiary, post-tertiary, and professional in significant numbers.

Madame Speaker, the Ministry of Education, under Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, as in previous PNM administrations, continues to develop and expand the capacity of our nation by supporting, maintaining, and expanding educational opportunities. This is further reinforced by the strong support of the digitization thrust, not only in terms of education but also in the day-to-day operations of our lives.

Furthermore, Madame Speaker, this budget emphasizes and provides support for the incubation, support, development, operationalization, and monetization of ideas generated over time in our capacity-building facilities. Madame Speaker, over the years, Tunapuna has become the center of the new paradigm of knowledge-based industry in our nation. We possess the right mix of the old and the new. When one examines the physical locale of Tunapuna/Curepe/St. Augustine and St. Joseph, the University City is visualized and still stands as the education hub of our nation.

Madame Speaker, the incentives are available, and I am confident that this administration is willing to increase these provisions to ensure the diversity necessary for today and the future needs of our nation. Outstanding is the $1,000.00 school supplies grant for needy children/students for the 2024 academic year. This budgetary allocation is enthusiastically welcomed by our TUNAPUNA constituents.

There is a saying: "one full basket." In terms of Culture and Tourism, we see our position as that of the basket, waiting to be filled. In our constituency, we have well-organized Steel Orchestras, alongside the recent declaration of World Steel Pan Day on August 11th, 2023, by the United Nations. We also have a group of research professors on the steel pan at the Engineering Faculty UWI, St. Augustine. In recent times, even during COVID-19, we had one of our Steel Orchestras (EXODUS) of TUNAPUNA successfully organizing a World Steel Pan Competition in Trinidad and Tobago, ensuring that Tourism remains on the map in Trinidad and Tobago.

Madame Speaker, one of our sons from TUNAPUNA, Economist Lloyd Best, has always emphasized the need to connect our creativity to our daily lives, if not existence. This is an area of diversification of the Oil-Energy industry that we are now pushing to develop—the Creative Arts Industry in Trinidad and Tobago. The conditions are favorable, with worldwide acceptance and grant funding available. We are now looking to develop small sustainable manufacturing industries to benefit our population.

Madame Speaker, it would be remiss of me not to address the area of youth, youth affairs, development, and the concerns of our youth. Youth engagement has been of increasing concern in recent times, especially in terms of their involvement in deviant behavior. This administration and the nation as a whole, including Tunapuna, anxiously await the continued rollout and implementation of the numerous youth programs and TEC-VOC training programs outlined in the 2024 Appropriations Bill.

Madame Speaker, the implementation of the redevelopment of the El Dorado Youth Training Centre at College Road, TUNAPUNA, among others, would go a long way in reducing deviant behavior among the youth in the Tunapuna area and its environs.

Madame Speaker, "action still speaks louder than words." Under our Ministry of Youth Development and National Service, Minister Foster Cummings has outlined not just one, two, or three, but numerous programs, courses, projects, skills training and development, talent sharing, and many other initiatives for the youths of our nation. Over the last eight years, there has been something for every youth throughout the length and breadth of our country because "no stone has been left unturned" in dealing with the youths of Trinidad and Tobago. Tunapuna youths have been provided with opportunities to participate in all of these programs.

Youth Camps construction, refurbishment, and reinstatement throughout our country are eagerly awaited by our youth population, Madame Speaker. TUNAPUNA youth constituents will benefit from these camps as they are rolled out in 2024 and beyond.

Madame Speaker, as I conclude my contribution to this debate on the 2024 Appropriations Bill, I, along with every constituency representative in this honorable house, have benefited from the budgetary allocations of the state of Trinidad and Tobago over the last sixty-one (61) years through capacity building and opportunities provided for all forty-one (41) constituencies in Trinidad and Tobago.

Madame Speaker, many in my TUNAPUNA constituency and other constituencies possess the capacity to invest in organizations and entities for growth and business development, but for unknown reasons, they refuse to do so. Madame Speaker, this PNM administration under Dr. Keith Rowley has put on the table over the last eight years many incentives and support mechanisms to encourage these investments. The ideas are there, but some are hesitant to venture beyond their comfort zones and reap the rewards available to us in Trinidad and Tobago. In 2024, we are now "Building Capacity for Diversification and Growth" toward the future. Let's come together and make it happen, not just for us but for our children, grandchildren, and beyond.

ESMOND FORDE, M.P. TUNAPUNA, October 9th, 2023

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