SOCIAL SECTOR INVESTMENT PROGRAMME
76
SUSTAINING GROWTH, SECURING PROSPERITY
CHAPTER 4: OVERVIEW OF THE SOCIAL SECTOR FOR 2013
to be youth, women, infrastructure, education,
sport, housing, health, governance, tourism,
enterprise and industry.
The Tobago tourism sector remains vital to the
island’s overall economic performance. In 2012,
internationalarrivalsbyairtoTobagoexperienced
a 2% improvement from 32,236 arrivals in 2011.
This increase can be attributed to improvements
in the US and Canadian markets. The European
market, however, continues to be depressed.
With respect to other modes of travel, while
cruise ship arrivals showed an increase in 2012,
the average number of passengers declined
by 29.7%. Arrivals of passengers and crew by
yacht over the period 2010 to 2012 remained
fairly stable, averaging 1,023 per year, but with
a decrease of 3% in vessel arrivals. However,
domestic visitor arrivals continued to dominate
tourism clientele in Tobago in 2012. Arrivals by
the inter-island ferry grew from 494,872 in 2011
to 508,061 in 2012. Such arrivals displayed
seasonal peaks in March and April, August and
December. On the air-bridge, the increased
weekly domestic flights contributed an 11.2%
increase in domestic air travel in 2012. Overall
occupancy rates for hotels and guest houses
improved from 33.5% in 2011 to 42.5% in 2012,
peaking in the month of August at 65%.
According to data from the Central Statistical
Office, for the second quarter of 2012, 20.0%
of the labour force between the ages of 20
and 24 years are unemployed. Within this age
group, 27.8% of males and 8.3% of females are
unemployed.
Spending by the Tobago House of Assembly
remains a key factor in determining the level and
pace of overall economic activity on the island.
In fiscal 2012, total recurrent and development
programme expenditure amounted to TT$1.890
billion. Additional spending from unspent
balances amounted to TT$271.5 million and
contributed to the total expenditure in fiscal year
2012 of TT$2.271 billion.
Over the2012/2013fiscal year,theTobagoHouse
of Assembly initiated a Consumer Sentiment
Survey inTobago.The initial survey, conducted in
November 2012 by consultants, in collaboration
with the Consumer Affairs Unit in the Division
of Finance and Enterprise Development, was
designed to provide information on consumers’
perspectives on the economy. One of the major
findings of the first survey was that the overall
perception of consumers in Tobago was stable.
For instance, 70% of respondents thought that
they were the same financially, compared to six
months prior; 71% stated that things would be
the same six months after the survey; and 58%
respondents thought that things would remain
the same six months after the survey.
In terms of the social sector, Tobago has one of
the lowest rates in adolescent fertility and one of
the highest rates of life expectancy at birth in the
nation. However, the downward trend continued
in the CSEC pass rate among males achieving
five or more subjects, while females recorded
an improvement from 32.01% in 2011 to 35.6%
in 2012. At the CAPE level, pass rates for both
male and female improved to 79.2% and 83.7%
respectively.
1. B
UDGETARY
A
CHIEVEMENTS
In fiscal 2013, the sum of TT$1,914,097,000 was
appropriated by Parliament to the Assembly
for recurrent and development programme
expenditures, whilst the sum of TT$162,434,161
was collected in Tobago on behalf of the
Consolidated
Fund.
Revenues
generated
independently by the Assembly totalled
TT$17,510,992, representing an unanticipated
decrease of 62% from the previous year. Total
expenditure amounted to TT$2,271,486,114,
with
recurrent
expenditure
representing
TT$1,478,398,215 of the total; and development
programme
expenditures
amounting
to
TT$411,508,448.
SOCIAL PROGRAMMES
The Tobago House of Assembly continued to
expand the range of human and social capital
