Region Needs Something Worthwhile To Invest In

November 26, 2009 by Taran Rampersad

While bankers say that the [Caribbean] region needs investment, I believe it is important to point out that there should be worthwhile things to invest in. And when I write 'worthwhile', I do not mean only  to investors; thinking otherwise brings us things such as aluminium smelters. And aluminium smelters are at best a high risk to the environment - especially on an island. 

Granted, with less rigorous enforcement of safety, Trinidad and Tobago is a haven for industrial investment. My thoughts on this are not too far removed from Richard Feynman's comments regarding the Challenger space shuttle - the key being that just because something has not failed yet does not mean it will not fail in the future. NASA believed engines wouldn't fail even though they were used more. Trinidad and Tobago seems to believe that a serious industrial accident won't happen simply because one hasn't happened yet. Considering the number of earthquakes Trinidad and Tobago has been seeing, it is only a matter of time.

So yes - the region most certainly could use money. But what to invest in? More buildings? More sports complexes? Perhaps an island off of Otaheite Bay in Trinidad and Tobago? In a nation that is being pushed toward 'Vision 2020', where developed nation status is expected by 2020, we seem to ignore the fact that the smokestack is the sign of a developing nation. Things that other countries do not want in their own backyards are amongst the 'investment opportunities' that foreign investors should have taken off the table. But this hasn't happened.

So what should be invested in? Why not better infrastructure and opportunity for the average citizen? We don't necessarily expect bankers to be people of conscience, especially after the last year in the global economy, but perhaps we should start making them people of conscience. We do have that authority should we decide to wield it.

Or we can just build a few smelters and move on in the hope that the economy will benefit in such a worthwhile way that we can cast a blind eye to the risks to our respective environments. Intelligent investment includes accepting money for good projects - not bad ones.

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