Budget in 5 mins.

This week was Budget week with the Minister of Finance presenting his Government's fiscal policy for the coming financial year. It is something I guess all countries do, how they present their budgets, I am sure, varies from country to country. We have adopted the old established boring as hell, convoluted, to be understood only by technocrats, Ernst and Young and PWC.  99% of the speech not to be taken on and 1% of it taking up all the news and discussion. Our Minister went on for 3 painful hours and at the end, the only takehome was that he raised the price of super gasoline by $1.00. Ouch! Three hours of Colm?

So, I figured I would make my comments in less than five minutes. You can time it, it will be exact.

• Change the format of the Budget speech making it make sense to all.
• Account for last years spending.
• Issue a one-pager of the vital statistics - monies in/monies out/ Ministries budget and Ministries spend for the previous fiscal year/deficit/positive cash flow/ % of performance.
• Establish new Government policy with the major changes in how we intend to conduct business with Government institutions.
• The Single Electronic Window (SEW) will be adopted for ALL public office transactions. No more going to any office, everything is now online, including payment for services.
• Major work will be done to alleviate the horrendous traffic jams. The traveling public will finally have an efficient, on time Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system where the transit time from Arima to PoS, Chaguanas to PoS and Diego Martin to PoS will be within 30 mins. The service will be operated by private companies regulated by the PTSC, who will act as the Regulator.
• ALL public vehicles, including PM1, will be 'green' utilizing clean fuel or electric motors.
• The two new ferries will be operated using LNG.
• All Ministries are mandated to reduce their expenditure by 20% which will account for savings of $10 billion. This will be done by creating the required efficiencies and not necessarily a reduction of services. With the SEW, as above, this alone will help achieve the reduction required.
• All approvals from whichever Ministry will be dealt with in a stated time period. 
• All local services will be accessed and managed through online services. Garbage, bush truck, WASA, T&TEC, road repairs etc. 
• Request for tenders will be on every public institution's website. All results of all tenders will be accessed through the website and the award of the tender, including the costs.
• The completion or non-completion of all public works will be made public.
• The proposed fiscal package will be made public the following day and will be in simple language so all can understand.  
• The State Company owned sector will be systematically dismantled and privatized. There is no plausible reason for the State to own and operate a commercial bank, airline, quarry, refinery, asphalt refining, port, postal services, airport, carparks, telephone company, industrial parks, etc. The public will be able to invest in all of the entities to be divested through share ownership.

I guess it is easier to present a complicated confusing Budget, as it is then easier to refute any disagreement. Hiding facts and figures in a 3 hr presentation, where the citizen has to either just take the fact that you raised fuel by a dollar and not even question the rest of the expenditure, taxation and the deficit. That is playing smart with foolishness. You are taking people for fools. The Minister was able to 'confuffel' the majority of people by the '$1.00' fuel price increase and the Petrotrin issue. Nothing about the $25 billion he borrowed from all and sundry. Nothing about the expenditure of the various Ministries in the previous year, who was efficient and who was not, absolutely nothing about the purchase of $1 billion in ferries that was not budgeted for in the last fiscal, and no one questions?

It could take maybe more than 5 minutes, just maybe!

When I look at other countries I realize that we are not alone in what I call 'stupid government'. It is endemic! The world seems to have lost its moorings. A Supreme Court Judge is about to be appointed yet he cannot control his feelings nor hide his bias. I guess I should not be worried because I will not be appearing before him, ever. The whole charade of Brexit is happening in March of next year, the Chinese are colonizing Africa, Australia changes it's government every couple of months, Aung San Suu Kyi has been proven to be a fraud, Kim Jong Un is a happy man, the Venezuelan Bolivar is worthless - a dozen eggs is worth a months salary,  and we are all tied up with a $1.00 increase in the price of fuel.

The Rock lives to see another day!

Good night and good luck!