2015/2016 Budget - Trinidad & Tobago

[York]

more likely they will increase the MVT on diesel vehicles for private users. managing different prices for private and commercial at gas stations will be hell...

[Allergic2BunnyEars]

York trying to spread that Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt I see.

[16 cycles]

Let us not forget the local oil service companies that fill up their large boats with subsidized diesel and do survey/ seismic and RIG POSITIONING etc for oil companies in Trinidad / Venezuela/ Caribbean and pocket big time.

These companies also do a lot of marine work e.g sunk ship recovery etc @ tax payers expense.

grade of fuel for vessel not the same as in the gas station iirc
think there is a different pricing strategy for vessels etc...

[York]

York trying to spread that Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt I see.

no, just making a prediction. it's logical for them to collect a lumpsum upfront from ppl who will benefit from a fuel subsidy (diesel) down d road.

let's see if there will be any murders by ppl waiting in line for fuel. i met a guy in a freeport gas station last night, said he came from Mayaro looking for gas and there was none in south.

[rickker]

I did my engineering degree at UTT and then did my masters at UWI in engineering, which is accredited by IMECHE and I am qualified by BOETT and honestly I think both degrees and teaching quality are almost similar.

Trinispougla & EFFECTIC DESIGNS

Thanks for the good contributions. However, there are some points I disagree on.

Firstly, UWI is in no way a world class institute. I myself used to hold this false image of UWI being just as good as top Universities in US/UK. For the record, I did Engineering at UWI, then an MSc in Manchester, then enrolled in a PhD, dropped due to a good job offer.......this was years ago. Any UK Engineering program is far more rigorous, up to date, challenging and most actually force the students to think on their own as opposed to cramming and using drafts.

Now UWI isn't as bad as I just made it seem (hence why UWI graduates are accepted in top tier institutions for post grad). However, when starting my MSc in Manchester, the level of 'catch up' I needed to do compared to my peers (not only from the UK, but all over the world) was astounding. Especially in regard to math and programming. Only the African students seemed to be in my boat. This is echoed by many others I know from who did MScs in top institutions.

I believe one of the biggest downfalls of UWI is their quality of research. Looking at the output from entire departments in UWI, I see sometimes a handful of publications in journals/conferences per year with most being simple and what I term 'filler' research. At Manchester, my 31 year old Thesis supervisor had more publications per year that an entire department in UWI.

However, you can't attribute this to people at UWI, many do in fact try. However, for many reasons our local environment isn't very condusive to research. Why? Our lecturers are not employed to research but to teach, then to consult in the local industry. Another reason I've noticed (and it's not just UWI lectures but with most 'educated' trinis) is their delusions of grandeur, made 'read' by simply being the big fish in a small pond. This leads to stagnation of real development, as there's little competition and incentive to do good work.

Onto UTT which is a double edged sword. Firstly, it was needed in our local industry. HOWEVER, they took decent technician qualifications offered by JohnD and the like, and made it into a watered down associate degree.

Many UTT grads do not know what they are, they call themselves engineers, but lack even basic year 1 engineering skills and knowledge. Is is a mistake to have UTT compete with UWI in engineering, they fill different roles and should explicitly say this upfront, rather than appearing to be as gimmicky as all those fly-by-night Business Administration degrees. UTT as an engineering institution is an utter failure and should not attempt to replicate what UWI offers. I've seen UTT 'Mphil' theses (plu. thesis) that looked like it was put together by a CXC student, done in Microsoft word and replete with spelling and grammatical errors (note these were theses that scored over 60/100). Our resources would have been better spent by strengthening UWI's existing facilities and research.

Also note, those arguing that A-Levels is not needed for engineering clearly has no idea about the rigors involved in real engineering, however this isn't your fault. It is our local work environment. What we call 'engineers' in Trinidad are mere over qualified technician jobs with very little true engineering ever done locally.

Our local job market is now flooded with persons who appear over qualified on paper, which is made even confusing by HR personnel who see no difference between an MSc from a Russel Group University an one from UTT.


In conclusion, I firmly believe GATE should be cut and reverted to dollar-for-dollar at UWI/UTT.

The money saved needs to then be invested into proper research at UWI and also for a post graduate fund where suitably qualified candidates will be offered limited to full scholarships to foreign universities for Masters and PhD degrees.

[Redman]

more likely they will increase the MVT on diesel vehicles for private users. managing different prices for private and commercial at gas stations will be hell...

I think this should be the way to go......cant fudge that.
Doing it at the pump is impossible

We need to stop the export of subsidized fuel.....Also it is EASY to mark our diesel so that when intercepted offshore it is easy to ID as it NOT for EXPORT subsidized fuel.

We can have TTCG/TTPS test vessels and deal with it accordingly

[Lance]

Forgive me if this has been asked or posted before but is there a link for a live feed of the presentation?

[EFFECTIC DESIGNS]

I did my engineering degree at UTT and then did my masters at UWI in engineering, which is accredited by IMECHE and I am qualified by BOETT and honestly I think both degrees and teaching quality are almost similar.

But BOETT does not recognize Degrees from UTT.

For example T&TEC don't recognize the electrical engineering degrees from UTT. T&TEC only recognize degrees from UWI.

[EFFECTIC DESIGNS]

Trinidad needs another phone company, lets hope the PNM can deliver this. I am looking at a major phone company with cellphone and land line broadband aswell.

[Dizzy28]

Trinidad needs another phone company, lets hope the PNM can deliver this. I am looking at a major phone company with cellphone and land line broadband aswell.

Why?
For 1.3m people you have -
Bmobile and Digicel for cell (TATT is in the process of sourcing a 3rd licensee for cellular service)
TSTT and Flow for landline
TSTT, Flow, Digicel, Green Dot, Massy Technologies, Lisa Communications, Air Link and Open Telecom for broadband

Based on the numerous complaints on those local customer service complaint sites for both TSTT and Digicel it doesn't appear that completion has lit up the cellular market.

[1UZFE]

TnT needs a Consumer Affairs division.

[Twin Isle Cars n' Parts]

I use a diesel vehicle for person/private use and I fully support a raise in diesel price for non-commercial entities.

I use a diesel vehicle for person/private use and I fully support a raise in diesel price for non-commercial entities.

Seconded

Totally agree...!!!

Navara, Vigo, Ranger, BT50 owners etc, if your diesel vehicle does not add value to the nation, you should pay an unsubsidized rate for fuel...

Said this many years ago, when the SUV craze took over & private individuals benefitted from an allowance that's supposed to somehow work its way back down to everyday consumers...

Though it would be very difficult to monitor at the pump, this cost should be included up front in their MVT upon purchase...
This will also diminish the "look at me, big n badd, driving an SUV" mentality on our roadways...

[bluesclues]

Seeing hints of rapid rail on the newspapers.

You serious? this is great news. As little as they may be able to do I hope they still do it and not scrap the rail idea at all.

What significance will a rapid rail be to such a small country? Where are they gonna lay down the railway? Seeing a next 300 day hunger strike from Kubs if it'll ever be.

waste of money

[rickker]

BOETT will recognize your degree as long as you possess further learning in the field and that the further learning is accredited in addition to work experience. I am not sure for the other engineering field in UTT, but Process/Chemical engineering is accredited by the icheme, which is the same institution that accredits UWI degrees. I've been to both institutions and 50% of the courses are almost the same. UWI is there longer, hence they're more recognized in the field of studies

I did my engineering degree at UTT and then did my masters at UWI in engineering, which is accredited by IMECHE and I am qualified by BOETT and honestly I think both degrees and teaching quality are almost similar.

But BOETT does not recognize Degrees from UTT.

For example T&TEC don't recognize the electrical engineering degrees from UTT. T&TEC only recognize degrees from UWI.

[j.o.e]

Oh gosh Colm overview of the economy over the last 5 years making me feel sick. PP really was reckless in their fiscal policy.

[Redman]

UNC left a deficit of 11b.

Cash went into overdraft..
And 5 b of unpaid but settled wage negotiations

[SimSimmer69]

Oh gosh Colm overview of the economy over the last 5 years making me feel sick. PP really was reckless in their fiscal policy.

The treasury was their personal piggy bank. A lot of them and their friends/financiers got not rich but WEALTHY overnight.

[BRZ]

Hope all you who running SUPER gasoline filled up!

[SimSimmer69]

Hope all you who running SUPER gasoline filled up!

How much would you save by NOT filling up? Wouldn't the gas finish and you'd have to buy at the new price in about one week anyway?

[shotta 20]

^^ent..

[Redman]

We get credit from Damen


We hire purchase the boats?

[pugboy]

Not to mention ngc was turned into a slush fund like nlcb

Oh gosh Colm overview of the economy over the last 5 years making me feel sick. PP really was reckless in their fiscal policy.

The treasury was their personal piggy bank. A lot of them and their friends/financiers got not rich but WEALTHY overnight.

[Toyopet]

I use a diesel vehicle for person/private use and I fully support a raise in diesel price for non-commercial entities.

I use a diesel vehicle for person/private use and I fully support a raise in diesel price for non-commercial entities.

Seconded

Totally agree...!!!

Navara, Vigo, Ranger, BT50 owners etc, if your diesel vehicle does not add value to the nation, you should pay an unsubsidized rate for fuel...

Said this many years ago, when the SUV craze took over & private individuals benefitted from an allowance that's supposed to somehow work its way back down to everyday consumers...

Though it would be very difficult to monitor at the pump, this cost should be included up front in their MVT upon purchase...
This will also diminish the "look at me, big n badd, driving an SUV" mentality on our roadways...

I own an L200 personally, but as a Project Manager I am constantly driving throughout the country. I live in south and within the last year worked on projects in Toco, Guanapo, Morvant and Cascade and I average 200-250kms a day, six days a week While I support a diesel price increase, I hope they have concessions in place for people in my similar situation.

[rollingstock]

New vat at 12.5%
Personal income $72,000

Great is the PNM

[wagonrunner]

TnT needs a Consumer Affairs division.

we had one. it worked well up until 2010.
was useless for the last five years (ALL the email addresses not accepting email.), and I hope starts back functioning.

[EFFECTIC DESIGNS]

TnT needs a Consumer Affairs division.

we had one. it worked well up until 2010.
was useless for the last five years (ALL the email addresses not accepting email.), and I hope starts back functioning.

To be honest from personal experience it has always been useless even before 2010.

[pete]

15% Increase in super and diesel eh so bad.

[Crackpot]

Wey d shortman say bout pension....i eh hear it good

[TriniAutoMart]

15% Increase in super and diesel eh so bad.

Increase in diesel prices for commercial use will cause a ripple effect.
Food prices will go up, transportation prices will go up, and it will ripple across the economy.

[ingalook]

Free license for persons over 60

Super price $3.11
Diesel price $1.72

Wished there was a reduction in Premium price at the same time to get persons to switch to the less heavily subsidized fuel

He did however mention that super was subsidized 100% at $2.70.... This puts the COST of super at $5.40 at the current oil price... way more than the unsubsidized price paid by citizens of the US