While the Opposition PP has expressed concern about the PNM Government’s $15 million budget concession for trade unions, the past PP cabinet in 2014 had agreed to fund the Public Services Association (PSA) with $10 million, Finance Minister Colm Imbert revealed on Tuesday night.
Winding up budget debate in Parliament, Imbert said the PP cabinet’s decision to allow $10 million to one union was said to have been to support PSA’s negotiation transition process and review IT infrastructure, “so, It’s right to give PSA $10 million and wrong to give all unions $15 million?” he asked.
Accusing the PP of being “political hypocrites,” then amending it under PP protest, Imbert said JTUM had taken a “principled stand” by not accepting the $15 million offered in the 2016 Budget to JTUM and Natuc.
He also struck down PP claims, including those by former Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, that the last Government’s account with Central Bank went into overdraft at the end of the last year in what was a “usual” occurrence for that period. Imbert listed government’s Central Bank balances for 2010 to 2015, noting a positive situations from 2009 (under the last PNM administration) which later turned negative after the PP’s early years.
He said there was over $9.3 billion in positive credit in September 2009 but that was systematically reduced under the PP, going to a negative level in 2014 to minus $4.5 billion.
He said it was now negative $8.5 billion in September 2015. Accusing the PP of “acting like they had a money tree,” he said the past government had $6.5 billion in credit in May 2010 but later reversed it.
Imbert defended Prime Minister Keith Rowley against queries from Opposition Whip Roodal Moonilal whether Rowley had used state helicopter assets to visit Tobago. Imbert said “the Prime Minister has not visited Tobago” since September 7 whether air, sea or any form of transport.
“The MP (Moonilal) is a stranger to the truth!” Imbert thundered while PNM MPs murmured “privileges (committee), privileges (committee)...” for Moonilal. Imbert also waded into Moonilal on another helicopter matter when Moonilal had said Finance Ministry permanent secretary Vishnu Dhanpaul had approved former National Operational Centre head Garvin Heera to obtain the four helicopters in question.
Moonilal had indicated there was no secret matter on that concerning the former prime minister as the Government had earlier claimed.
But Imbert read out a National Security Council minute of January 2015 in which the council approved the helicopters for NOC and for payment within a (US)$81 million loan.
Imbert noted Dhanpaul’s approval was in February 2015. He said Moonilal was a member of the council and would have known full well the council approved it and it was also signed by the council chairman, former PM Kamla Persad- Bissessar. Imbert accused Moonilal of trying to “implicate innocent public servants in the matter.”
Dismissing PP claims of the IMF “bogey” Imbert said Government had asked the IMF team to check the numbers and it had confirmed what local information had yielded. He said the private sector had urged the new Government to raise taxes, cut the fuel subsidy and other tough measures to deal with T&T’s economic challenges but he said the Government only partially listened to the sector.
Imbert, who devoted some time to reinforcing that the PP had lost “by 100,000 votes” which the PNM obtained, said the PP needed to “repent, recant and apologise to the public.” He said the Government would not let the Opposition PP forget “nepotism, cronyism“ and other alleged ills of its tenure.