MOVEMENT for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah wants Government to say how it will improve the quality of life of people in Trinidad and Tobago. He posed this question specifically to Finance Minister Colm Imbert ahead of the presentation of the mid-year review in the House of Representatives on Monday.
The Standing Finance Committee of the House of Representatives approved a sum of $3,081,703,900 in supplementary allocations for fiscal 2022, when it sat on May 13.
The allocations cover 80 heads of expenditure, some of which are government ministries.
This approval took place ahead of a 1.30 pm sitting of the House of Representatives on Monday when Finance Minister Colm Imbert will move a motion to adopt the committee's report on these approved expenditures. After passing this motion, Imbert will open debate on the Finance (Supplementation and Variation of Appropriation) (Financial Year 2022) Bill.
The presentation of this bill is known as the mid-year review. The bill will deal with matters contained in the committee's report.
During a virtual news conference, Abdulah objected to a comment made by Energy Minister Stuart Young during a recent interview with CNN, about people in TT having a good life.
Abdulah countered this may be the case for government members and the elites. "The majority of the people in this country do not have a good life because they are struggling to survive."
Abdulah reiterated that many workers have not received an increase in salaries for eight years, food prices continue to increase and people have been negatively impacted by the increase in fuel prices on April 19.
Despite the covid19 pandemic, Abdulah observed many large companies made profits in 2021. He cited Ansa McAl and Massy, with respective after tax profits of $595 million and $178 million respectively.
He wondered if TT benefited from this in any way. Abdulah challenged Imbert to say how Government will tackle the plethora of socio-economic issues facing TT when he presents the mid-year review.
Should that not happen on Monday, Abdulah said the MSJ challenged Imbert to debate the matters outside of Parliament.
The Senate sits on Tuesday from 1.30 pm to continue debate on the Cannabis Control Bill 2020.
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