BUDGET STATEMENT 2014
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SUSTAINING GROWTH, SECURING PROSPERITY
which offers dedicated funding and training
for our youth who show ambition and promise
in this area. These sporting programmes cost
taxpayers millions of dollars a year.
We can add the millions spent on our young
people on the Multi-Sector Skills Training
(MuST), the Military-Led Youth Programme
of Apprenticeship and Reorientation Training
(MYPART), the Military Led Academic Training
(MILAT), On the Job Training, the Civilian
Conservation Corps; Helping Youth Prepare
for Employment (HYPE), the National Youth
Council of Trinidad and Tobago, Tobago Youth
Development Network; Youth Apprenticeship
in Agriculture (YAPA); Youth Development
Apprenticeship Centres and the Youth Training
and Employment Partnership Programme
(YTEPP), among others.
Mr. Speaker, it is instructive that these
outreach programmes have spanned several
administrations.
The unemployment rate remains near to
what economists call the ‘natural rate’ of
unemployment. To put it simply, there are
sustainable jobs for those who wish to engage
in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s
pay, and this is supported by the number
of businesses of varying sizes which have
complained consistently that they are unable
to staff sufficiently their operations throughout
Trinidad and Tobago.
In essence, the problems witnessed in the
recent upsurge in crime are created by those
who havemade deliberate life decisions to reject
society’s offerings and instead fall into a life of
crime. I wish to assure the population that the
Government will respond firmly.
The irony of the situation, Mr. Speaker, is that
the same Trinidad and Tobago taxpayers who
are spending billions of dollars to ensure that
all our young people are well educated, are
now also spending billions of dollars to protect
themselves from a deviant group of citizens
determined to engage in violent criminal activity.
• the 2.0 percent mortgage programme is
being extended to all citizens with access
to residential service lots whose incomes
do not exceed $8,000 per month and the
value of whose property does not exceed
$450,000; and
• the completion and outfitting of the
Government Campus Plaza a long awaiting
development.
DEFENCE, SECURITY AND
SAFETY
Mr. Speaker, I nowmove to the sensitive areas of
Defence, Security and Safety.
Mr. Speaker, let me put our national security
situation in perspective. It is no secret that
Trinidad and Tobago has an expansive outreach
in the field of education from early childhood,
to primary to tertiary level. In fact, Trinidad and
Tobago is one of the few developing countries
in the world in which education is essentially
free from early childhood to tertiary level. The
taxpayers of this country are paying heavily.
The education sector received the highest
allocation in FY 2013 and FY 2014. We are
committed to fund and sustain an education
system which is designed to provide our youth
with a sound education at all levels. Based on
students’ performance in the CAPE exams,
some 400 scholarships are provided annually
for entry into universities, both locally and
abroad. In addition, in the case of Bachelor
of Science students who achieve First Class
honours degrees, full scholarships are provided
for progress towards their study in a Masters or
PhD programme at any recognised university —
anywhere in the world.
For our young citizens who are more inclined
toward sport, the Government has several
initiatives including the LifeSport and Hoop of
Life programmes, which offer incentives for
participation. The Government has initiated
an Elite Athlete Assistance programme,
