With oil prices now under $40 dollars barrel, political parties must be realistic about how they prepare for the post-election budget, former president of the Supermarkets’ Association Balliram Maharaj said yesterday. “We are now hearing political proposals by the political parties. When one hears about the proposal of $45 a barrel on which to base the budget, it shows a lot of homework has to be done on that.
“They cannot at this stage give a number as it is so unpredictable. I would prefer to see an average of $35 a barrel,” Maharaj said yesterday after attending the ceremony and street procession on the 229th anniversary of the Feast of Santa Rosa at the Arima Roman Catholic Church, Arima.
On Friday, oil prices fell below US$40 a barrel, the lowest since the global economic crisis in 2009. Making a note of this, Maharaj, who is also CEO of ADM Distributors, said a lot of the issues that are important to citizens are not being discussed on the political platform during election campaigning.
“I want to see, over the next two weeks, issues that affect the country and the world come out. I am not hearing the issues,” he said. Maharaj’s son, Ishwar Maharaj, is the owner of Hearty Foods Supermarket, which was destroyed by fire last week, leaving 200 workers on the breadline. Maharaj said his son’s business could have been saved if there was water in the hydrants and it was issues like these that politicians should be discussing.
“Could you imagine if we had water we could have saved a $100 million property there? If we had water there we would have saved that building,” he said. “Unfortunately, these are the serious issues at hand. We do not know what caused the fire and investigations are going on.”
Offers for Hearty Food workers
He also said the tragedy had also highlighted the shortage of labour in the country, since other business people have been calling him about hiring the 200 workers who were affected. “For the 200 workers affected, we have over 2000 people requesting from different companies. Now we do not have enough workers to transfer to other companies.
“Our friends in the business community are calling us for these workers. It shows that we do not have workers in this country,” he said. He also said half of the business people in the country want guns but there is no proper board or authority to issue firearms. “If the criminals have guns why should the business people be deprived? I am not hearing this.
“The process should be similar to when you apply for a visa and there is a proper formula. There should be a committee or board and apply to the board with a prescribed form and if some one is entitled to a gun, then give it to him.” On the topic of gay marriages, he said more people should take a stance on the issue.
“We need to have more discussion on this. What are we going to do? It will negatively impact the next generation. However, it should remain a personal issue without being openly promoted,” he said. Last week, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said any changes to the existing law on abortion, gay rights and marijuana use will have to be determined by the citizens after extensive consultations.
She gave the response during the question and answer session at Friday’s luncheon organised by the Powerful Ladies of T&T (Plott) at the T&T Chamber of Commerce in Westmoorings.