Panday tells Manning tighten belt first as example to nation

Opposition leader Basdeo Panday said Friday Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his government must set the “tightening belts” example. Panday's statement came in response to Manning's address to the nation Thursday night.

Panday was one of the several people who had suggested to Manning several weeks ago to make adjustments to the budget because of falling oil prices and the global economic crisis.

On Thursday Manning told the nation that his government is reviewing its expenditure and would announce next week what adjustments are necessary to deal with the economic crisis. And he called on citizens to tighten their belts as the nation faces a revenue shortfall of $6 billion.

“Mr Manning must lead by example if he is asking the population to make tough sacrifices,” Panday said in a statement to the media. He wondered whether Manning would continue to travel as often as he has been doing and whether he would continue to fly on a private executive jet wherever he goes.

"Before Mr Manning tells the population to tighten their belts, he must tighten his own belt,” the former prime minister said, noting that Manning has "a ridiculously over-sized cabinet" of 24 senior ministers, five junior ministers and three parliamentary secretaries.

He said despite this "there has been gross mismanagement of every sector from crime and food security to infrastructure and the economy."

Panday said the prime minister's speech has little detail of how he plans to deal with the economic crisis.

“Based on the Prime Minister’s choice of words, it is very difficult to discern which specific projects will be halted or deferred," he said. “There are several very controversial projects that despite objections and warnings from all sectors, the Government rushed ahead and signed contracts for. Are those corruption-riddled projects still going to be on the cards?” Panday asked.

The opposition leader said the lack of specifics could serve to worsen the trauma on an already traumatized population since the uncertainty of what projects and what sectors would be cut would create fears and insecurity across the board.

"Nobody knows what jobs are going to be lost and which projects will be shut down. Until this becomes clear, persons in all projects and all sectors will be scared," he said.

Panday added that while Manning is calling for all to share "the burden of adjustment" the PNM's policies over the last seven years sidelined the average citizen and facilitated the sharing up of the wealth among the friends of the PNM.