Trinidad and Tobago will not settle into becoming a “permanent welfare state” once the COVID-19 storm dissipates. This is according to Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, who says to do so would be to take the “easy way out”.

Delivering opening remarks as he chaired the first meeting of the team appointed to develop the Road Map to Recovery for Trinidad and Tobago, the Prime Minister rejected any suggestion that government should increase existing welfare, which he said has already cost the State almost $4 billion a year. He also lamented that the NIS is already in a deficit and “heading for insolvency”.

Dr. Rowley cautioned that the overarching goal cannot be to return to our previous state of affairs- instead he believes  the focus must be shifted to creating a new normal. That, he said, must be inclusive of reassessing how we handle public threats. “How relevant is the National Development Strategy in the  Vision 2030 document, with the advent of the COVID-19 disruption?” he asked.

With the energy sector historically serving as the country’s main revenue generator, Dr. Rowley   said the current circumstances have exposed the need to explore new sectors and industries that can fuel a diversification thrust. For one, he proposed that the issue of  food security  be revisited, questioning, “As a small island economy facing external vulnerabilities, can we continue having such high dependence on imports- particularly, imported food?”.

The success or failure of our recovery efforts, he said, will rely on all parties involved-from government, to the private sector, civil society and even at the individual level. “The role of the labour and tripartite cooperation must be fully explored” he added.

At the end of the day, the 22 member team was told that actions must trump words, as Dr. Rowley said “It is not sufficient or desired to hear eloquent presentations on how bad the problem is, without any solutions.”