PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC- Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr, Keith Rowley, says his administration is greeting 2024 “with a renewed sense of optimism” as it moves to strengthen the energy sector and enhance the country’s infrastructure, improve the conditions for investment, and continue the attempts to improve and make the daily lives of citizens safer.
“On reflection, 2023, the first full year of normalcy after the COVID-19 pandemic, was one of challenges in almost every area of our socio-economic lives, but we can say to ourselves that collectively we have been able to get back on our feet,” Rowley said in a New Year’s message to the country.
“We can anticipate that the new year will be one full of risks, even as it holds considerable promise,” he said, noting that globally, forecasters predict that 2024 will be a year of “volatility,” “uncertainty,” “complexity,” and “ambiguity.”
“In short, they say that wherever one is placed in the world, one may not be untouched by world events. The immediate dangers for us are the ongoing wars between Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas, both with no endgame in sight, and hold the potential for wider regional conflicts.”
Rowley said Trinidadians must understand that while they may be distant, those arenas have severe implications for their daily lives.
“In addition, the world is shifting from a once unipolar power structure to multi-polar, with hardening rhetoric among the superpowers, predictions of a new world order, and the possibility of a return to a cold war period. Nonetheless, we in the Caribbean must still hold fast to keep our region as a Zone of Peace.”
But he said there are “hopeful signs here at home,” recalling that during the COVID-19 pandemic, “our resilience was demonstrated in most economic measures.”
Rowley said that the Central Statistical Office (CSO) has “noted a return to growth of three percent in the first quarter of 2023, followed by signs of further growth in the second quarter”.
He said this was led by good performance in the non-energy sector, which also showed an uptick in employment as businesses resumed operations fully after the profound destruction of the pandemic.
“After heightened inflation, the CSO indicated that the rate stood at 1.3 percent in October. To our credit, food price inflation fell from roughly 10 percent in May to 1.9 percent in October.
“We can anticipate that the increases in the minimum wage and other government policies will further ease the cost-of-living burden on the most vulnerable. Additionally, the unemployment rate recorded a decline of 3.7 percent in the second quarter, indicating that thousands of persons gained employment, compared to previous years.”
Rowley said that despite years of production challenges in the energy sector, Trinidad and Tobago have realized the fruits of years of careful negotiations, adding, “This success will significantly impact the lives and fortunes of every citizen of this country.
“We continue to benefit from the successful recovery efforts that stemmed from the satisfactory conclusion of the CLICO bailout.”
But he acknowledged that “in the face of all these achievements, the security of citizens continues to be of grave concern to my government.
“The Ministry of National Security faces this challenge daily, confronting it with a broad strategy that relies on our protective forces’ presence, quick response, dedication, agility, and resilience.
“We recognize that this country is a stopover point along the drug and human trafficking route, which also involves the supply of small and light weapons. Like all Caribbean states, we are geographically vulnerable, but we continue to provide training and professional development to the security services. Also, we have increased and improved the recruitment intake of officers and continue to draw on the services of retired senior personnel.”
Rowley said he was again appealing to citizens, including parents, “to guide our children’s development and behavior, to accept some personal responsibility and to ensure that we provide no nursery or safe harbors for the criminal element amongst us.”
He told the nation that the living standards of citizens are also a priority and that in 2024, the Ministry of Social Development will roll out a national register to track the lives of the most vulnerable.
“Alongside, there will be initiatives from the Ministry of Health, such as the opening of the 106-bed Sangre Grande General and Secondary Care hospital; the conversion of the Augustus Long hospital at Pointe-a-Pierre into an Oncology Centre, with a palliative care ward; the completion of the 540-bed Central Block in Port of Spain, and new programs for diabetes and hypertension and a program to maintain this country’s gains in meeting the UN 2030 standards for pre-natal and maternal rates.”
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