The People's Party Manifesto: The First 120 Days. (Notes)

Disclaimer: To be clear, I will be expressing opinions on the PNM manifesto as well. And since I am not voting in this General Election and have been irked by both sides, I am being as fair as possible.

In reading both manifestos for the General Election 2010 here in Trinidad and Tobago, I've decided to change the way that I'm going through them. The majority of both manifestos is rhetoric and promises, much of which can't be proven or disproven. That is politics - but it isn't necessarily democracy.

To be fair to the PNM, since I have already written something regarding their manifesto, I will critique the promises of the first 120 days in the The People's Party Manifesto. You can reference the manifesto here.

The promises will be in bold italic, and my comments will be in plain text below.

1. Every child going on to secondary school from the SEA will be provided with a laptop to begin their secondary school education.

A laptop does not change the fact that the teachers may not be well versed in their usage or that the curriculum will be adapted to allow for the use of laptops in the classroom. Further, it does raise questions about what the government will fund. Will they purchase systems with Microsoft software on them, assuring that students only learn about Microsoft products - or will they go with something along the lines of the OLPC, where students can learn on an open platform based on shared knowledge?

And while the OLPC, on the surface, may be a better option - how is something that can be stolen really detract from making children targets of crime? In part this promise requires a dependency on a promise in the reduction in crime. 

The OLPC has also been criticized by people and nations other than myself. In 2006, as an example, India rejected the use of the OLPC.

In essence, I believe that this is a simple move to promise voters something for their children and is one step above kissing babies.

2. We will begin addressing the issue of securing and expanding GATE.

GATE? That would be this project. It stands for Government Assistance for tuition expenses. But how is GATE to be 'secured' and 'expanded'? And - 'secured'? From who?

3. We will rescind the property tax.

Ahh, the Property Tax, something I have personally been paying a  lot of attention to. Rescinding the property tax reform is one thing - but to rescind the property tax would mean that no one would have to pay taxes on property! I like that idea, personally, but I have to wonder if it is best for a nation already plagued with bad roads, overall infrastructure less than average and so forth.

I have yet to meet someone who owns property who is unwilling to pay a property tax - once they get to see results. Water. Electricity. Internet Access.

Maybe they meant 'rescind the property tax reform'. But the same question arises: Where will the money come from to make things better? Perhaps that is in another one of the promises.

4. We will establish a working committee to review all programmes targeted at poverty alleviation and social support to make recommendations to:

a. Strengthen synergy, reach and impact through rationalisation and integration
b. Help households to step up to prosperity and to reduce the number of people classified as poor by 2% each year.

Establishing committees! But in what time frame will these committees be working within? See - the promise here is that the committees will be formed, but there is no promise of results in a period of time. And I'm really at a loss as to how any committee can allow people to 'step up to prosperity' without adequate infrastructure. And I haven't seen a real promise in infrastructure yet... but wait for number 5.

5. We will begin an aggressive programme to fix all leaks in WASA’s pipelines, and establish an emergency response unit for monitoring system dysfunction, unplanned disruptions and crisis management.

Water. Something that would have to be a campaign topic after people began to realize just how much water we don't have. And these things need to get done. Where will the funding for this project come from? And what of the issues of corruption within WASA itself? And can people sue WASA for water damage during flooding? After all, WASA legally owns all water that falls from the sky, right? And what of the push for farmers to have to get licenses to use river water, etc? Oh. Number 6...

6. We will coordinate integrated action on water resources management, drainage, irrigation,
flooding, water capture, conservation, sustainable food production and food security through
synergistic deployment of human resources and equipment under state control in collaboration with private contractors.

Would these be the private contractors that support the People's Partnership, or will they be drawn from a wider pool? I see an opening for more UDECOTT nonsense here. And again, where will the money come from?

Who are these private contractors? Will there be public tendering, or do you already have people (supporters) in mind? Not that it matters to me, but I think it is a fair question that anyone should be able to ask. After all, its worded to be vague on that.

7. In partnership with CBOs and NGOs our government will release appropriate resources
from the Green Fund to reforest areas that were burnt during the past dry season.

I like this, I really do. Hands down, nice promise. But what is the definition of 'appropriate resources'? Why not just say, "we will plant trees and plants." In fact, some areas - left alone - may do this on their own.

8. We will simultaneously begin the rehabilitation and paving of existing access roads and
construction of new ones.

Well, the PNM is doing that right now for you in their normal pre-election fervor. So this promise is actually something we don't have to worry too much about. After all, roads don't have party slogans on them. Don't get any ideas.

9. We will begin the process of establishing a Ministry of the People.

To do what, exactly? Page 18 explains this. It is the forming of a Ministry from directors of other Ministries to assure that red tape is cut between Ministries. This may be a good thing in theory, but in practice it is completely dependent on the Directors involved... and how well they work with each other. Given that the present directors haven't done well working together, there is a serious question as to whether this is a productive use of resources.

It seems to me that for it to work, it will require some new Directors.

10. We will begin a review process for the minimum wage.
 

And I will begin a review process of the People's Partnership should they win - within the first 120 days. My statement is as dubious as this one.

11. We will prepare an immediate action plan for containing criminal activities and reducing the number of murders – this first phase will be from June 2010 to December 2010.

OK. But if the police become more effective, there should be a spike in the statistics of measuring crime. So whether effective or not, the results of this won't be seen for some time to come.

12. We will begin to identify and address the fundamental challenges to the effective management of law and order.

But you've been in Opposition! Surely you have identified and attempted to address these fundamental challenges already? 

13. We will deploy police on the streets, on the beat and in the communities and increase police presence everywhere.

How? How will you change the status quo?

14. We will initiate a process to make every police station a centre for crime containment and reduction, crime fighting, community policing, statistical information gathering and communication linked to the National Operations centre and we will establish five (5) model stations as the pilot.

Excuse me - but that's exactly what police stations are supposed to be now. While this carries an implicit criticism of the way government has handled the issues in the past, I am forced to wonder why Opposition hasn't presented these in the past.

15. We will begin the process of reviewing the laws and institutions, which address white-collar crime with a view to strengthening the laws.

Strengthening of Law can be good, but it's the enforcement that is the real issue. Law enforcement remains one of the failures of Trinidad and Tobago.

16. We will strengthen the National Security Council to link intelligence gathering and assessment with strategy and execution in crime fighting.

A la 'Homeland Security'. This must be related to organized crime, right? 

17. We will replace the Senior Citizens’ Grant with Old Age Pension and increase it to $3,000.

OK. Where will the money come from?

18. We will look at the immediate challenges of each hospital and determine what needs to be done to make an immediate difference in the lives of citizens seeking care and we will act immediately on these – whether it is 50 more beds in a hospital, a vital piece of much-needed equipment or improving the effectiveness of delivery of emergency patient care.

While I appreciate that more beds and so forth are good, the real push should be retaining doctors, retaining nurses, focusing on continued education and assuring a Patient Bill of Rights. Having seen people in private and public health centers in Trinidad and Tobago, and having worked in the medical field in the past, I am disgusted not with lack of equipment and so forth - I am disgusted with how patients are treated by nurses and doctors.

19. We will establish a LIFE fund for life-saving surgery for children ($100m). This fund will be
administered by an independent board in a fair, equitable, transparent and accountable manner.

Nice idea. I like it.
 

20. We will begin the introduction of camera technology at traffic lights and set into motion an
efficient system of ticketing offenders.

Well, if the camera systems are powered by T&TEC, we can assume that they won't be working 100% of the time. Further, enforcing these laws will take money - which means that the fines will have to go up. I have  no problem with that.

21. Each minister will be required to present a one-year action agenda for consideration and
approval by Cabinet after consultation with senior ministerial staff within thirty (30) working days of swearing in. Each ministerial action agenda, once approved, will be included in the next budget.

On the surface, this seems good - but it destroys effective long term development when Ministers plan only one year ahead at a time... oh, wait. Number 22.

22. Each ministry will be required to begin work on a five-year strategic plan within the first 60 days for completion by February 2011 within the framework of our manifesto.

Sustainable development inspired 5 year strategic plans? Nice. But I'd rather a 10 year strategic plan with a 5 year milestone.

24. We will establish a Civil Society Board, to strengthen the voice and influence of NGOs and
civil society organisations.

Influence with whom? 

25. We will initiate consultation to develop a coherent export strategy, an industrial policy linked to knowledge formation and a national services industries competitiveness strategy with key stakeholders.

'Key Stakeholders'? WHO?

26. We will initiate a forensic audit of Petrotrin and other state bodies, where there are grounds for suspicion of misconduct similar to what transpired in UDeCOTT.

Good. From what I've been hearing from high level sources in Petrotrin, that does need to be done.

27. We will establish a legislative agenda, aligned to our one-year action plan to establish the sequence of flow of bills to Parliament in the first year.

As long as one of the bills isn't to increase the pay of people in Parliament, I'm all ears. What other bills are in mind?

28. We will establish a timetable for constitution reform beginning with consultations.
Consultations with who? Public consultations? I should hope so.

29. We will work with the Central Bank, CSO and the public service to determine the true condition of the country’s finances and the state of the economy and the condition of projects to share that information with our citizens.

Shouldn't this be number 1?! It seems difficult to promise so many things in the first 120 days without 'determining the true condition of the country's finances and the state of the economy and the condition of projects'. This is, at least to me, borderline irresponsible.

30. Within the 120-day period, we will also share with our citizens our priorities for action during our first budgetary period.

But... but... there are at least 25 things prioritized in this list!

31. We will formulate a project plan for completion of all infrastructural projects currently in train in Tobago.

Good on Tobago. About time they got some more love.

32. We will establish a Ways and Means Committee to formulate a project plan on a phased basis to make all government public services more accessible to residents of Tobago.

Ahh, the Tobagonians embraced again...