Moderator: 3ne2nr Mods
sMASH wrote:Unless money passing, not a share will change hands.
Unitiization at those levels is their terminology for a co-o on lower levels of business.
Everybody entitled to their proportion, but just looked at as one singular trading unit from the outside.
Kinda like a holding company
zoom rader wrote:I fed up see Redman get beat up on tuner.
I sure at school he used to get tap up
Meanwhile Faris collects his rent for an empty buildingrandolphinshan wrote:zoom rader wrote:I fed up see Redman get beat up on tuner.
I sure at school he used to get tap up
Your hero is Adolphus Daniel from Life Sport who got 34 million and who recently passed away, you support corruption and getting paid for not doing anything. Go cry for him
The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) has threatened to take legal action against Cabinet over its recent move to revamp the Government’s policy for awarding scholarships for tertiary education.
In a pre-action protocol letter sent to Cabinet’s Secretariat on Monday, the religious body, whose school board manages 43 primary and five secondary schools as well as 20 early childhood centres, claimed that the new policy is “mired with ambiguity, internal inconsistency and patent absurdity”.
“It is systematically unfair and wreaks of maladministration,” the SDMS’s lawyer Rhea Khan claimed, as she contended that it frustrated the legitimate expectation of students, who chose their courses of study without knowledge of the new policy.
According to the SDMS, it became concerned when the policy was first proposed by Cabinet in November, last year, and then modified without consultation before it was published by the Ministry of Education, earlier this month.
Under Cabinet’s proposal, the number of scholarships awarded to students based on academic performance was reduced from 400 to 100, with 500 new bursaries being introduced.
At the time, the criteria for such bursaries included the alignment of a student’s course of study with priority areas of national development; extracurricular activities and community service; academic performance, a purpose statement and a financial means test.
While Cabinet’s proposal gave per cent points for each category, the notice published by the ministry allegedly did not feature such a grading system.
“Perhaps as a symptom of the arbitrary and capricious nature of this new scholarship award system, the ministry has now, by this new document, inter alia removed the respective weighting of the assessment criteria thereby leaving a potential applicant in the dark as to what criteria he/she should focus on or place more emphasis,” Khan said.
It also noted that while the Cabinet proposal stated that academic performance would count for 30 per cent, it was totally excluded from the ministry’s notice.
“It is clear from the published policy document of the Ministry of Education that while ostensibly there may have been some rationalization of expenditure on these scholarships, the Cabinet of T&T has sought to severely curtail the merit-based, transparent and objective criteria for the award of scholarships and replace same with a conspicuously vague, irrational and arbitrary methodology of selection for scholarship,” she said.
Khan claimed that the previous solely academic-based system was better as students seeking to query whether they had been bypassed were allowed to request the grades earned by scholarship recipients and compare their scores.
She was careful to note that if her client was required to pursue the lawsuit, it would do so in the interest of all affected students and not just those enrolled in its schools.
“Our client would take this step on behalf of all students and sectors of the national community that believe in a society predicated upon principles of meritocracy and transparency,” she said.
Khan gave Cabinet until the end of the week to disclose further details of its new policy and agree to revert to the previous before her client’s file and pursue the proposed lawsuit.
“Respectfully, the recklessly imprecise manner of this policy directly undermines the academic potential of a vast number of students destined for tertiary level excellence thereby depriving our country of valuable human resource capital,” she said.
The SDMS is also being represented by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally, Kiel Taklalsingh and Stefan Ramkissoon.
zoom rader wrote:The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) has threatened to take legal action against Cabinet over its recent move to revamp the Government’s policy for awarding scholarships for tertiary education.
In a pre-action protocol letter sent to Cabinet’s Secretariat on Monday, the religious body, whose school board manages 43 primary and five secondary schools as well as 20 early childhood centres, claimed that the new policy is “mired with ambiguity, internal inconsistency and patent absurdity”.
“It is systematically unfair and wreaks of maladministration,” the SDMS’s lawyer Rhea Khan claimed, as she contended that it frustrated the legitimate expectation of students, who chose their courses of study without knowledge of the new policy.
According to the SDMS, it became concerned when the policy was first proposed by Cabinet in November, last year, and then modified without consultation before it was published by the Ministry of Education, earlier this month.
Under Cabinet’s proposal, the number of scholarships awarded to students based on academic performance was reduced from 400 to 100, with 500 new bursaries being introduced.
At the time, the criteria for such bursaries included the alignment of a student’s course of study with priority areas of national development; extracurricular activities and community service; academic performance, a purpose statement and a financial means test.
While Cabinet’s proposal gave per cent points for each category, the notice published by the ministry allegedly did not feature such a grading system.
“Perhaps as a symptom of the arbitrary and capricious nature of this new scholarship award system, the ministry has now, by this new document, inter alia removed the respective weighting of the assessment criteria thereby leaving a potential applicant in the dark as to what criteria he/she should focus on or place more emphasis,” Khan said.
It also noted that while the Cabinet proposal stated that academic performance would count for 30 per cent, it was totally excluded from the ministry’s notice.
“It is clear from the published policy document of the Ministry of Education that while ostensibly there may have been some rationalization of expenditure on these scholarships, the Cabinet of T&T has sought to severely curtail the merit-based, transparent and objective criteria for the award of scholarships and replace same with a conspicuously vague, irrational and arbitrary methodology of selection for scholarship,” she said.
Khan claimed that the previous solely academic-based system was better as students seeking to query whether they had been bypassed were allowed to request the grades earned by scholarship recipients and compare their scores.
She was careful to note that if her client was required to pursue the lawsuit, it would do so in the interest of all affected students and not just those enrolled in its schools.
“Our client would take this step on behalf of all students and sectors of the national community that believe in a society predicated upon principles of meritocracy and transparency,” she said.
Khan gave Cabinet until the end of the week to disclose further details of its new policy and agree to revert to the previous before her client’s file and pursue the proposed lawsuit.
“Respectfully, the recklessly imprecise manner of this policy directly undermines the academic potential of a vast number of students destined for tertiary level excellence thereby depriving our country of valuable human resource capital,” she said.
The SDMS is also being represented by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally, Kiel Taklalsingh and Stefan Ramkissoon.
https://guardian.co.tt/news/maha-sabha- ... 60d4f44cfe
Red government is creating water down education
The Red Goverment is set to loose another case from the Maha Sabha.
sMASH wrote:Only two issues.
Theo first is the timing, so that students could choose their subjects differently if they knew the path of the schols
Snrv5ge second is, why de fq we giving schols fir carnival studies?
Jess put them to watch gayelle who day and they gt. No need to sponsor dat.zoom rader wrote:The Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) has threatened to take legal action against Cabinet over its recent move to revamp the Government’s policy for awarding scholarships for tertiary education.
In a pre-action protocol letter sent to Cabinet’s Secretariat on Monday, the religious body, whose school board manages 43 primary and five secondary schools as well as 20 early childhood centres, claimed that the new policy is “mired with ambiguity, internal inconsistency and patent absurdity”.
“It is systematically unfair and wreaks of maladministration,” the SDMS’s lawyer Rhea Khan claimed, as she contended that it frustrated the legitimate expectation of students, who chose their courses of study without knowledge of the new policy.
According to the SDMS, it became concerned when the policy was first proposed by Cabinet in November, last year, and then modified without consultation before it was published by the Ministry of Education, earlier this month.
Under Cabinet’s proposal, the number of scholarships awarded to students based on academic performance was reduced from 400 to 100, with 500 new bursaries being introduced.
At the time, the criteria for such bursaries included the alignment of a student’s course of study with priority areas of national development; extracurricular activities and community service; academic performance, a purpose statement and a financial means test.
While Cabinet’s proposal gave per cent points for each category, the notice published by the ministry allegedly did not feature such a grading system.
“Perhaps as a symptom of the arbitrary and capricious nature of this new scholarship award system, the ministry has now, by this new document, inter alia removed the respective weighting of the assessment criteria thereby leaving a potential applicant in the dark as to what criteria he/she should focus on or place more emphasis,” Khan said.
It also noted that while the Cabinet proposal stated that academic performance would count for 30 per cent, it was totally excluded from the ministry’s notice.
“It is clear from the published policy document of the Ministry of Education that while ostensibly there may have been some rationalization of expenditure on these scholarships, the Cabinet of T&T has sought to severely curtail the merit-based, transparent and objective criteria for the award of scholarships and replace same with a conspicuously vague, irrational and arbitrary methodology of selection for scholarship,” she said.
Khan claimed that the previous solely academic-based system was better as students seeking to query whether they had been bypassed were allowed to request the grades earned by scholarship recipients and compare their scores.
She was careful to note that if her client was required to pursue the lawsuit, it would do so in the interest of all affected students and not just those enrolled in its schools.
“Our client would take this step on behalf of all students and sectors of the national community that believe in a society predicated upon principles of meritocracy and transparency,” she said.
Khan gave Cabinet until the end of the week to disclose further details of its new policy and agree to revert to the previous before her client’s file and pursue the proposed lawsuit.
“Respectfully, the recklessly imprecise manner of this policy directly undermines the academic potential of a vast number of students destined for tertiary level excellence thereby depriving our country of valuable human resource capital,” she said.
The SDMS is also being represented by Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally, Kiel Taklalsingh and Stefan Ramkissoon.
https://guardian.co.tt/news/maha-sabha- ... 60d4f44cfe
Red government is creating water down education
The Red Goverment is set to loose another case from the Maha Sabha.
randolphinshan wrote:zoom rader wrote:I fed up see Redman get beat up on tuner.
I sure at school he used to get tap up
Your hero is Adolphus Daniel from Life Sport who got 34 million and who recently passed away, you support corruption and getting paid for not doing anything. Go cry for him
Redman wrote:@ Dragon-Youve posted nothing that is material to the position going forward.Especially since it has been already established that the whole NG/LNG industry has to be restructured-from Well Head to End user.
Train 1 is off of contract why would BP allocate gas?? You think that in a time of shortages- and given their habits of shorting Train 1 to the benefit of 2,3 and 4 that they would allocate anything ???
You think its a negotiating/pressure point ??
When do the supply contracts for Trains 2,3 and 4 expire???... 2024/early 25
What do we do with the entire complex then?.......Mothball? -what do we do with the gas then ?or Keep it in operation and generating rev?
Should GORTT wait until 2025 expiration to deal with the entire re org?
Or having dealt to some extent with the transfer pricing issue continue to treat LNG(as an 4 train entity) as a going concern???
Currently we have a decent outlook for LNG demand/prices globally- great for new investment proposals in the sector.
All four plants (like most plants in PTL) are fully amortised and paid for on the MNCs books.
The shareholders have committed to the re org and more equitable arrangements.
We will have gas-less than before but still have gas to monetize to the nations benefit.
With these arrangements our take(Netback) will increase ,well so Poten says...
https://www.energy.gov.tt/wp-content/up ... n-2015.pdf
Screen Shot 2021-03-24 at 11.26.27 AM.png
Im inclined to take Potens,and Farrells work (especially the stuff after the executive summary) as a decent rationale for action any time.
They also recommend that we need to OPTIMIZE supplies to PTL AND LNG.
Seems to me that the GORTT has a short/mid and long term strategy and this whole thing is a work in progress.
timelapse wrote:Carnival studies is to crush Traditional ethnic cultures and to promote'Trini ' culture.Yet another method of brainwashing the masses.Afros have had most of their traditional values and cultures erased only to be replaced with wine and jam culture.Is only for emancipation day they does jump out.
Go back to your roots my brothers and sisters, make your people whole again
Runners and visitors to the Bamboo Cathedral and the tracking station in Tucker Valley, Chaguaramas, will soon be required to park near Macqueripe before going about their business.
Heavy machinery is clearing bamboo to make way for paving.
Newsday understands that people will no longer be allowed to park alongside the road in Tucker Valley near the barrier across the road to the Bamboo Cathedral, and will risk being towed and/or fined for not using the new carpark.
It will be adjacent to the barrier at the entrance to the Macqueripe carpark, a considerable distance from the Bamboo Cathedral itself.
It is not yet clear how long the project will take, its cost or the rationale behind it.
De Dragon wrote:Redman wrote:@ Dragon-Youve posted nothing that is material to the position going forward.Especially since it has been already established that the whole NG/LNG industry has to be restructured-from Well Head to End user.
Train 1 is off of contract why would BP allocate gas?? You think that in a time of shortages- and given their habits of shorting Train 1 to the benefit of 2,3 and 4 that they would allocate anything ???
You think its a negotiating/pressure point ??
When do the supply contracts for Trains 2,3 and 4 expire???... 2024/early 25
What do we do with the entire complex then?.......Mothball? -what do we do with the gas then ?or Keep it in operation and generating rev?
Should GORTT wait until 2025 expiration to deal with the entire re org?
Or having dealt to some extent with the transfer pricing issue continue to treat LNG(as an 4 train entity) as a going concern???
Currently we have a decent outlook for LNG demand/prices globally- great for new investment proposals in the sector.
All four plants (like most plants in PTL) are fully amortised and paid for on the MNCs books.
The shareholders have committed to the re org and more equitable arrangements.
We will have gas-less than before but still have gas to monetize to the nations benefit.
With these arrangements our take(Netback) will increase ,well so Poten says...
https://www.energy.gov.tt/wp-content/up ... n-2015.pdf
Screen Shot 2021-03-24 at 11.26.27 AM.png
Im inclined to take Potens,and Farrells work (especially the stuff after the executive summary) as a decent rationale for action any time.
They also recommend that we need to OPTIMIZE supplies to PTL AND LNG.
Seems to me that the GORTT has a short/mid and long term strategy and this whole thing is a work in progress.
Arse, according to BP themselves, Train 1 was NEVER in their gas allocation plan.
Then lo and behold, they got a couple of world class kants in JUHN Scarfy and Goebbels to pay $300 M for a TAR for the oldest plant in the complex, still with no gas, mind you, just to show that they're economic wizardsYou also completely leave out where Poten says we have absolutely no leverage to rationalize anything, so basically, BP/Shell in control again, and now with higher prices for gas further killing Pt. Lisas and T&T.
Optimizing seems to mean something different to you LFD RFD PNM people.
He revealed that Shell agreed to pay government $2.5 billion by the end of 2019, the money to be paid in US to the sum of US $397 million.
Like the BPTT payment last year to government of $1 billion, Shell is making its payment but not admitting to cheating the country of large sums of revenue in transfer pricing.
“The outcome of these phase 1 negotiations, with Shell, resulted in an agreement to pay the government approximately, US$397m to the end of 2019 and the parties are moving into phase 2 of the negotiations which surround the restructuring of Atlantic LNG,” Khan told the Parliament.......
In a detailed speech on the agreement signed in The Hague, Netherlands, Khan told the Parliament that over the next nine years the country will receive improved revenue of $6.4 billion from Atlantic’s Trains 2,3 and 4 and should Train 1 continue to operate, could earn $800 million in additional revenue annually.
The Energy Minister said it was agreed to use the new Train 1 formula for further investment which will provide increased revenue to Government. In addition, the government team negotiated that subject to projected available facility capacity, it will be entitled to utilise up to 50 per cent of the North Coast Marine Area (NCMA) infrastructure capacity, with no liability for any historic capital costs. There will also be an equitable sharing of operational costs and any new capital cost.
Ask eliteauto, he has red government contracts for road pavingtimelapse wrote:Can someone tell me why Carenage main road getting paved again, and the road already in good condition?
Redman wrote:De Dragon wrote:Redman wrote:@ Dragon-Youve posted nothing that is material to the position going forward.Especially since it has been already established that the whole NG/LNG industry has to be restructured-from Well Head to End user.
Train 1 is off of contract why would BP allocate gas?? You think that in a time of shortages- and given their habits of shorting Train 1 to the benefit of 2,3 and 4 that they would allocate anything ???
You think its a negotiating/pressure point ??
When do the supply contracts for Trains 2,3 and 4 expire???... 2024/early 25
What do we do with the entire complex then?.......Mothball? -what do we do with the gas then ?or Keep it in operation and generating rev?
Should GORTT wait until 2025 expiration to deal with the entire re org?
Or having dealt to some extent with the transfer pricing issue continue to treat LNG(as an 4 train entity) as a going concern???
Currently we have a decent outlook for LNG demand/prices globally- great for new investment proposals in the sector.
All four plants (like most plants in PTL) are fully amortised and paid for on the MNCs books.
The shareholders have committed to the re org and more equitable arrangements.
We will have gas-less than before but still have gas to monetize to the nations benefit.
With these arrangements our take(Netback) will increase ,well so Poten says...
https://www.energy.gov.tt/wp-content/up ... n-2015.pdf
Screen Shot 2021-03-24 at 11.26.27 AM.png
Im inclined to take Potens,and Farrells work (especially the stuff after the executive summary) as a decent rationale for action any time.
They also recommend that we need to OPTIMIZE supplies to PTL AND LNG.
Seems to me that the GORTT has a short/mid and long term strategy and this whole thing is a work in progress.
Arse, according to BP themselves, Train 1 was NEVER in their gas allocation plan.
Then lo and behold, they got a couple of world class kants in JUHN Scarfy and Goebbels to pay $300 M for a TAR for the oldest plant in the complex, still with no gas, mind you, just to show that they're economic wizardsYou also completely leave out where Poten says we have absolutely no leverage to rationalize anything, so basically, BP/Shell in control again, and now with higher prices for gas further killing Pt. Lisas and T&T.
Optimizing seems to mean something different to you LFD RFD PNM people.
Never?
It is off contract Since 2019/2020-BP and they were shorting it in the contract period in preference to 2,3 and 4 because they made more money on every molecule sent through 2,3 and 4.
No secret and a known evantuality since negotiations began in 2017/18..based on ALL the published articles since 2018.
Also-what about the NEW supply structure that BP,Shell et al have committed to since 2019...whats the allocation there-do you know??
Nope- you dont.
keep whining about the old contract and structure,while the new ones are being dealt with.
Again with the issue solved in 2019..,the 300M was paid after BP and Shell paid exponentially more that in 2019, in the first parts of the negotiations.
The minister indicated that IF it continues to operate we would see an ADDITIONAL $800M PER year.(see below)...whats the ROI on that $300M?
2019 Article.![]()
https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/shell-a ... c2b5f35d81He revealed that Shell agreed to pay government $2.5 billion by the end of 2019, the money to be paid in US to the sum of US $397 million.
Like the BPTT payment last year to government of $1 billion, Shell is making its payment but not admitting to cheating the country of large sums of revenue in transfer pricing.
“The outcome of these phase 1 negotiations, with Shell, resulted in an agreement to pay the government approximately, US$397m to the end of 2019 and the parties are moving into phase 2 of the negotiations which surround the restructuring of Atlantic LNG,” Khan told the Parliament.......
In a detailed speech on the agreement signed in The Hague, Netherlands, Khan told the Parliament that over the next nine years the country will receive improved revenue of $6.4 billion from Atlantic’s Trains 2,3 and 4 and should Train 1 continue to operate, could earn $800 million in additional revenue annually.
The Energy Minister said it was agreed to use the new Train 1 formula for further investment which will provide increased revenue to Government. In addition, the government team negotiated that subject to projected available facility capacity, it will be entitled to utilise up to 50 per cent of the North Coast Marine Area (NCMA) infrastructure capacity, with no liability for any historic capital costs. There will also be an equitable sharing of operational costs and any new capital cost.
Regarding the lack of leverage concern from Poten.... Seems BP and Shell didnt get that memo.
Also Poten and Partners were on TnT s negotiation team across the table from Shell and BP etc.
So again whatever your concern is-it seems to have been dealt with since 2018/19.
And yet here you are...the blather is real.
n State enterprises costing T&T $8 billion a year
n Government contingent liability now $30 billion
n Harder for state enterprises to borrow
T&T is spending more than $8 billion a year to support state enterprises. Of the more than 50 State enterprises in T&T, how economically viable are they? And should we expect the public utilities to make a profit?
These are some questions that economists say we must consider when looking at State enterprises and in particular, public utilities.
Prof Winston Suite believes Government must ask itself how relevant are these entities.
In an interview, the Business Guardian Suite explained that State enterprises cover both statutory authorities and State companies, noting that authorities like WASA have a mandate to ensure that those who are not well equipped, have access to an equal share of the goods and service.
“At this point the Government must recoup some of the financing of these statutory authorities, WASA in particular, by raising rates and selling whatever products they have that could be sold on the market.
“But still they are not State enterprises. They are not intended or designed to make a profit,” Suite advised.
He said all State enterprises and statutory authorities are run by boards and therefore appointed by the Government.
Suite who served in numerous advisory capacities, said over the years he observed that too often, people are appointed both as chairmen or board members who ought not to be appointed.
“And that is a generous way to put it,” Suite said, adding that such people were not appointed for their knowledge or expertise but their commitment to making the State agency efficient.
And conflict of interest often leads to corruption at the height of the organisation, Suite said.
He also advised consultation with the public must play an important role in the smooth operations of the State enterprises as these entities also belong to the public.
Suite added that privatisation is not the answer but rather making more efficient appointments and regularly revising the vision and mission of these entities.
New approach
to investment
Economist Dr Vanus James noted that State enterprises like WASA, TTEC and the port of Port-of-Spain are all public utilities and their contribution to value-creation is tied closely to the economic value of the industries to which they are linked.
According to James there are two sets of applicable standards.
One is the extent to which (in addition to hiring labour, arranging finance and importing inputs) the utilities, like WASA, purchase intermediate inputs from other local industries—even if they do not operate on a profit basis, i.e., do not pay dividends to Government.
“It is this demand for domestic intermediate inputs from other industries that would make the utilities a demand driver of the economic development process, which underlies the concept of “economic value to the country,” James said.
He added the demand could be stimulated if the other domestic industries are coming up with innovative solutions to the production efforts of the public utilities themselves.
The other standard, James explained, is the extent to which (in addition to supplies to households, new investment, and Government) the utilities supply a significant amount of their output as intermediate inputs to other industries to support their profitable production and exporting efforts.
Here too, it is this supply of intermediates to other industries that could make the utilities a major driver of development, especially through their successful development of new technical solutions to the production efforts of the other industries, James said.
This, he noted, is the old issue of backward and forward linkages.
“Public utilities are more valuable the more they are linked creatively to high-performing industries—a matter which brings us back to the older problem of investment to drive economic diversification and the supporting policies to drive it, including the policies followed and implemented by the utilities,” James said.
He said to grow economic value to the country, policies must incorporate the utilities in a push to a new approach to investment that would drive diversification to high-performing industries.
In particular, the policies must promote investment in new or transforming industries that achieve grow productivity and hence profitability in the use of labour, finance and imported inputs to expand the flow of validating savings, grow exports relative to imports to eliminate recurrent current account problems and grow competitiveness in local and foreign markets through a suitably changing composition of the investment which ensures that the industries and economy approach an optimal ratio of increasing knowledge, skills and creativity to the investment in physical plant and public infrastructure.
James advised that in the light of our economic structure and conditions—including the size of the overall economy and to keep prices affordable to households, the utilities are currently publicly-owned and funded by the budget.
• Continues on Page BG7
James said this approach still makes sense however, optimal results then turn heavily on how they are governed.
He said since independence, utilities have been governed by boards appointed by a Cabinet that is substantively a law unto themselves.
Essentially, the constitution makes detailed provisions for executive (Cabinet) operations but completely inadequate provisions for the oversight of Cabinet by the representatives of the people and the public at large.
In turn, Cabinet’s own appointment and oversight of the boards of the utilities have been very deficient and unrepresentative of the collective wishes of the people of the country.
“WASA and other public utilities operate the way they do because of the country’s inadequate governance model. The outcomes we get from them reflect the fact that the political and governance system is not designed to work under the supervision of all the people of the country,” James said.
In the case of Tobago, he added, the malaise is even worse.
James said the law makes provisions for the THA to make policies to control the operation of the utilities in Tobago, noting that no such policies have been made to date, after 40 years.
He said if utilities are ever privatised, a robust regulatory regime is going to be needed for them to yield optimal results while keeping the utilities affordable to households.
However, such a regulatory regime is unlikely to be forthcoming under the existing governance model of T&T, he added.
State enterprises
and transfers
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) have developed an unhealthy dependence on transfers, subventions and bailouts from the State, said Economist Dr Vaalmikki Arjoon.
He noted that over the last five years, the State spent over $44 billion in transfers to State enterprises and statutory boards.
This financial dependence, Arjoon said, fosters a “moral hazard” where SOEs behave with much fiscal indiscipline, taking risky financial decisions with high-cost operations, overstaffing, poor procurement practices, and at times, fraudulent and illicit activities.
“This is because they know in the event that they incur losses, cannot meet liabilities or are in a financial bind, they are likely to receive a bailout from the state. Indeed, there are many instances where this financially irresponsible behaviour of SOEs mean that they receive more subventions from the state than what was initially budgeted,” Arjoon said.
He added that these funds could have instead been allocated to financing other productive and developmental areas in the national budget especially capital expenditure activities noting that what also compounds SOE financial indiscipline are contingent liabilities—in the event that they are unable to repay their debts and default, at least a portion of this debt is covered by the state.
Contingent liabilities have averaged over $30 billion each year in the last five years Arjoon said, adding that because of Government guarantees, SOEs may be given preferential treatment for loans over many firms in the private sector—firms that may use these funds for more productive purposes compared to the SOEs.
Contingent liabilities of the T&T government increased from TT$ 22.3bn in 2010 to TT$ 30.8bn in 2015 and although it dipped marginally to TT$ 29.2bn in 2017 by 2020 it increased again to TT$32.8bn. Same notable borrowings by SOEs that led to the increase in SOE contingent liabilities include the debt contracted by the Trinidad Petroleum Holding Limited TT$1.3bn, the Urban Development Corporation TT$1bn, and the National Infrastructure Company (TT$ 0.9bn).
“Many times, these loans given to SOEs are also below market rates. Indeed, given the mediocre performance of SOEs for many years, it is imperative to limit their preferential access to finance by banks and other financial institutions, which will help to “level the playing field”, making the distribution of financing more equitable for both SOEs and the private sector, preventing financial market distortions where funds are provided to less productive SOEs instead of more productive private entities,” Arjoon added.
He suggested that the State also lower the extent of Government guarantees or contingent liabilities.
“Instead, they should monitor and limit the debt accumulated by the SOEs, where each application for a loan must be approved by an independent fiscal council or a Treasury board. Another option is to establish a tier system for SOEs according to financial performance, where those SOEs in the higher tiers can have greater autonomy in raising debt, while those lower tier financial performers would require cabinet approval. Indeed, making it more difficult to attain financial bailouts from the State should encourage these SOEs to become more financially disciplined,” Arjoon added.
He said it is imperative for proper transparency during any privatization exercise, noting that the State should consider a public private partnership rather than an all-out sale of the port, and once this is done, minimize involvement in its operations apart from being a regulator.
“All stakeholders especially the public should be informed of who the private operator will be - is it a local or foreign entity? All efforts ought to be made to allow a local entity first preference so that monies do not need to be remitted abroad - when they make profits, it stays here T&T,” Arjoon advised.
He added that details of the investment must also be provided so that the country knows whether it is getting full value for money when privatizing the port and nothing below its true market value.
“They must also be careful when dealing with the workforce. While it may be overstaffed, now is not the time to compound our economic woes by retrenching workers further. An attractive voluntary separation package should be offered to those closer to retirement,” Arjoon advised.
ON FRIDAY, the Court of Appeal is expected to deliver a ruling on the status of Trinidad and Tobago's sedition laws.
In January last year, Justice Frank Seepersad held that parts of the law were unconstitutional.
A month later, the Appeal Court temporarily suspended Seepersad’s orders, which left the sedition laws in effect and enforceable until it heard the appeal of the Attorney General.
The Office of the Attorney general filed that appeal after Seepersad refused to grant the State's application for its suspension immediately after his ruling on January 13.
Seepersad had ruled that sections 3 and 4 of the Sedition Act, which came into effect in 1920, were not in conformity with the Constitution, as they imposed disproportionate and unjustified restrictions on citizens’ free speech, expression and thought. The judge also held that the act infringed on the right to freedom of the press.
After the ruling, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said it was “dangerous” and would be appealed all the way to the Privy Council in England.
A week after Seepersad’s ruling, the State filed 29 grounds of appeal.
An additional five grounds were relied on relating to a substitution order in which the judge allowed Vijay Maharaj, the son of the late Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) secretary general Sat Maharaj, to replace his father as a claimant in the proceedings that ended in Seepersad’s judgment striking down the sedition laws.
In his ruling, Seepersad found sections 3 and 4 of the Sedition Act patently inconsistent and at odds with Section 1 of the Constitution.
The ruling meant that people could no longer be charged with sedition.
The ruling brought a halt to a preliminary inquiry against Watson Duke, who was charged with sedition over statements he made during a protest at TSTT in 2018. Duke was successful in having a charge of sedition against him discontinued by Chief Magistrate Maria Busby-Earle Caddle in the Port of Spain Court.
Sat Maharaj and his media company, Central Broadcasting Services Ltd, filed the constitutional claim after Maharaj made certain statements on his Maha Sabha Strikes Back programme on TV Jaagriti on April 15, 2019. He said citizens living in Tobago were lazy and the men were rapists.
Maharaj’s attorneys, led by Senior Counsel Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, are expected to hold a virtual media conference after the Court of Appeal's decision on Friday.
In a release issued ahead of the ruling, Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj said the court’s decision will affect human and fundamental rights in Trinidad and Tobago, regardless of how it rules. He also said the ruling can be appealed at the Privy Council.
Arse, being off contract doesn't mean that your gas is cut offNitro 2000 were recently off contract and were getting month to month gas supplies. You really should try to learn about these things before you attempt to speak about them like a condescending moron.
You continued dotish, "de Ministah dis, de Ministah dat" nonsense also belies your naivety about politicians and their motives
Y. You also continually leave out that these talks are still ongoing, and these are not overnight deals, especially when BP/Shell hold most of the cards.
zoom rader wrote:Red Government and Arse Awari set to loose another case from Sat.
Sat dead and gone but still beating dem
Appeal Court overturns judge's ruling – Sedition still law
JADA LOUTOO 12 MINUTES AGO
On Friday, Justices of Appeal Mark Mohammed, Charmaine Pemberton and Maria Wilson allowed the Attorney General’s appeal of a judge’s ruling which found that parts of that law were unconstitutional, as it infringed on the rights of citizens to freedom of expression, thought and freedom of the press.
The AG was not successful in one minor aspect of the appeal. In his decision in January, last year, Seepersad found sections 3 and 4 of the Sedition Act “patently inconsistent and at odds with Section 1 of the Constitution, which guarantees that TT is a sovereign, democratic State.
https://newsday.co.tt/2021/03/26/appeal ... still-law/
Like you forget Sat does win his case in the Privy Council.Habit7 wrote:zoom rader wrote:Red Government and Arse Awari set to loose another case from Sat.
Sat dead and gone but still beating dem
You goat mouth your pplAppeal Court overturns judge's ruling – Sedition still law
JADA LOUTOO 12 MINUTES AGO
On Friday, Justices of Appeal Mark Mohammed, Charmaine Pemberton and Maria Wilson allowed the Attorney General’s appeal of a judge’s ruling which found that parts of that law were unconstitutional, as it infringed on the rights of citizens to freedom of expression, thought and freedom of the press.
The AG was not successful in one minor aspect of the appeal. In his decision in January, last year, Seepersad found sections 3 and 4 of the Sedition Act “patently inconsistent and at odds with Section 1 of the Constitution, which guarantees that TT is a sovereign, democratic State.
https://newsday.co.tt/2021/03/26/appeal ... still-law/
There are still some areas to be challenged so on to the PC
Yep he's dead but he's still beating the red government from the grave sonny.Habit7 wrote:Sat is dead ZR.
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