Seeking Development

Seeking Development? Don’t Overlook the Basic Elements.

Given our country’s specific structural weaknesses, particularly our dependence on one sector for growth and our penchant for mismanaging key resources, plans to chart a new course for our nation are continually deliberated. The dialogue generally centres on the challenging, yet necessary goals we have set for our nation, but which unfortunately have proven to be very elusive. Chief among these objectives are a diversified economy, prudent fiscal management, a more efficient public service and low crime rates. Indeed, our failure to be further along in these areas has stoked frustration in many quarters of society and has also earned us some dishonourable mention among multilateral organisations such as the IMF. Even as we seek to push through the various initiatives related to these essential national goals, we must ponder whether we are overlooking fundamental factors that are critical to drive a nation toward success. This note identifies a few elements that are essential if our beloved twin-island state is to progress to greater levels of development. Our weaknesses in some or all of these areas may just be the major reason behind Trinidad and Tobago’s failure to attain meaningful momentum towards achieving its goals.

As a country seeks to transition from one stage of development to another, visionary leadership is an invaluable asset needed to initiate, facilitate and oversee the process. Countries like Trinidad and Tobago need leaders who can envision an enhanced future and who can communicate this future in a way that generates widespread buy-in. Such leaders will also need to develop long-term, cohesive goals that will push the nation to that vision. This type of leader is very careful to safeguard the long-term welfare of his/her country and does not view his/her contribution or the consequences thereof, within the narrow confines of an electoral term. This certainly does not mean that one individual is required to oversee the entire process from conception to goal attainment. Rather, what is required is a pattern of leadership that would ensure that national goals transcend the realm of party politics and so, benefit from an acceptable level of continuity. This requires a significant level of maturity on the part of politicians, but also demands commitment and persistence from major stakeholders. The deep-seated changes that are required to accomplish most of our national goals, call for strong, imaginative leaders and a people willing to make the necessary sacrifices.

It should be recognized that there needs to be a significant level of cooperation among government, business, key institutions, labour, non-government organizations, and citizens if the goals set for the nation are to be accomplished. Simply put, the attainment of national goals requires action on a national scale. Although the pursuit of long-term developmental goals must be led by the government of the day, the various segments of the wider society should feel compelled to make a meaningful contribution. In this regard, having the right culture in place can play an important role. Contributions could be as simple as citizens putting out their best effort at work and being punctual with few absences. This could help boost productivity and save costs. On a grander scale, universities can provide the necessary research to support activities in the sectors that have been identified for growth under the diversification initiative and also provide a greater number of spaces to students, who wish to pursue studies in the associated fields. The government in turn could help to boost the supply of labour to these sectors through its Government Assistance for Tuition Expense programme (GATE). The government can provide the highest percentage of tuition cover for courses of study related to the identified sectors, but offer a smaller percentage of coverage for courses not aligned to the diversification thrust. The various stakeholders must never underestimate how important their roles are in moving the country forward.

It would take a fair amount of discipline to propel Trinidad and Tobago toward the achievement of its goals. The process of attaining each of our national goals must be carefully managed, with adequate time devoted to conduct reviews and to take corrective action. Accordingly, it may be best if a national plan of action is drafted, not only to highlight the roles of the main players, but also to synergise the related activities and streamline the use of resources dedicated to the programme. Nonetheless, a plan by itself will not guarantee sustained effort on behalf of the relevant parties, since in the past we have permitted the riches from the booming energy sector to distract us. In those times of plenty there was little mention of the objectives we have set for ourselves and even less action. But if the plan is empowered by regulations, the prospects for follow through would drastically improve. For instance, fiscal rules which dictate that a minimum percentage of the national budget should be dedicated to diversification can be introduced. Such rules would send the signal to the society that our leaders are committed to the plan and is thus likely to yield a greater level of participation.

Even if we had all the elements mentioned above in place, the nation would still fall short of its goals without the requisite execution skills. Our set backs in this regard, may not necessarily be that we lack or cannot acquire the necessary implementation skills. It is more likely that because of our culture, the wrong criteria and motives (mainly political) were used to fill key roles. It is vital that the right people, institutions and processes are used to execute the various initiatives of the plan. If the implementation process is deficient in any way, the effectiveness of even the best plans will be severely undermined. For this reason, strong leadership is needed to ensure that competence is the principal factor determining which individuals and institutions are used in the various roles. The use of special purpose state institutions and other state enterprises to surmount the execution challenges faced by government ministries, has not yielded the desired results, but has produced additional problems, with corruption topping the list. The people and institutions that have been entrusted with the noble task of transforming the nation must commit to high standards of performance and accountability.

In this, the fifty-sixth year of our nation’s independence and the forty-second anniversary of it becoming a republic, the country finds itself at a crossroad. One road leads to long-term growth and development, but requires significant short-term sacrifices. The other only requires that we indulge our appetites now, while we turn a blind eye to imminent pitfalls. This road also requires us to sacrifice the nation’s future. It is very encouraging that much of the national conversation at the moment is focused on placing the country on the right path. However, if we want this incarnation of structural reform to be more than just talk accompanied by minimal action, we should do some introspection to see if per chance, we have overlooked some of the basic components necessary to take our nation forward. The good news is, we can work to resolve these fundamental issues, though it may not be easy.