Trinidad and Tobago seems to have developed a dangerous political habit: what one administration does, the next administration finds a way to do even better.
We remember the games played with procurement under former Finance Minister Colm Imbert. Now the proposed procurement changes would raise the threshold from $1 million to $2 million and give the Minister greater authority to grant exemptions.
The ordinary citizen must ask: why are we continually making it easier to spend taxpayers’ money outside the strongest procurement safeguards?
And here is the bigger question.
If you have been out of office for ten years, your supporters, contractors and suppliers have had ten years to wait. When you return to office, what does anyone expect will happen to those relationships?
This is not an accusation against anyone. It is a question about human nature and why strong safeguards are necessary when political power changes hands.
We have already seen controversy surrounding political decisions on property taxation. So why create a procurement system that gives even greater discretion?
A layman looking at this could reasonably say: MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO.
But Trinidad and Tobago is not that naive.
The taxpayers deserve procurement rules that protect their money regardless of which party occupies Whitehall.
Ministers come and go. Governments change. The safeguards must remain
Gordon Laughlin.
Westmoorings
