During a TV6 panel discussion on the budget, hosted by Fazeer Mohammed, economist Dr Ronald Ramkissoon suggested governments start telling people there is nothing like 'a free lunch.' This means, briefly, that people, especially young people, must develop the attitude and training to work for a living and not remain dependent on government.

Public Administration Minister Allyson West quickly referred to Youth Minister Foster Cummings' numerous skill-training programmes, saying, 'Results will not happen overnight.' Faris Al-Rawi's eyebrows rose.

Given the need for tackling youth employment and crime, Mr Cummings' programmes should be independently audited, just as Nedco's were. Productive work for all - youth, adult, even ministers - is now a national imperative.

In 1981, PM George Chambers said, 'Fete over, work start.' He lost in 1986.

Finance Minister Colm Imbert's budget is bravely entitled Building Capacity for Diversification and Growth.

Diversification? Dr Eric Williams promised 'diversification' in his 1957 budget speech and government's 1969-73 development plan. Almost every budget speech since 1957 has promised 'diversification,' especially with agriculture. Noting the structural and institutional restraints then, Dr Williams said above all, restraints were 'the psychological attitudes of our people.'

Now, this 'free lunch' factor is a very old concern which the PM himself raised some months ago. He said there are many people getting paid and not doing the work.

Of course, it would be uncharitable to attach this 'free lunch' factor to the homeless or destitute, except, maybe, to find out how they eventually reached there. While Imbert's $59.2 billion budget shows the 'economic fundamentals' - eg GDP growth, debt ratio, unemployment rate, import-export balance - are fairly sound, burning questions arise: Why then are escalating murders, home invasions, serious crimes, infrastructure, etc so troubling? More so, why do the related institutions - police, courts, prisons - face continuous complaints for being deficient in operations?

The answer is simple. That is, spending money on such things is clearly not enough. The 2022-23 budget gave $5.8 billion to the Ministry of National Security, and now $6.9 billion. Similarly, the Judiciary, which, in addition, got a large increase in judges.

That is why people are so sceptical about the additional 700 police recruits, even with the justification of 'filling the gap.'

In pushing his local-government reform forward, Dr Rowley blamed the municipal corporations' repeated failures on 'the system and management.'

Or is it a lot of people 'getting paid' and not doing the work? The 'free lunch' factor? Is it management? The system? It doesn't look like money.

National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds explained: 'If we can improve our workforce as a nation, we could have done a whole lot better.'

How? While government needs opposition help to reduce crime, it really needs citizens' co-operation even more for crime reduction. Cut out th