The People's Partnership launched its manifesto Friday outlining seven pillars on which it hopes to build the nation.Read the manifesto at UNC.org.tt
In a brief address at the launch, UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar noted that the aim if to take the nation out of the the worst crisis it has experienced since 1956 when the PNM first took office.
She said the model of governance introduced by the PNM is now outmoded and outdated and cannot address the challenges that threaten the very foundation of the country's economy and way of life.
"The oil and gas based economic model of development is now on shaky ground. The recent volatility in the markets and consequential strong fluctuations have revealed the vulnerability of our economy," she said.
She noted that the economic development model is fundamentally flawed and is in urgent need of revision.
"A new template for development is needed and I am therefore proud to present the manifesto of the People’s Partnership...the collective vision, hopes and policy intention of a unique coalition of forces that seek to build a new economy based on not one, but seven pillars," she said.
The first of those pillars is on a partnership with the people, she noted.
"Under the PNM, we have seen an inverse relationship between economic prosperity and the development of our people. They presided over an oil boom and a gas boom but failed to create a society that prospered and developed alongside the government and private sector.
"The investment in our human and intellectual capital did not bring the anticipated returns because some of the skills that were being developed did not match our needs.
"We intend to create a knowledge-driven, technologically proficient society that will be the core and engine for a competitive and sustainable economy," she said.
The manifesto is based on seven fundamental pillars:
- People-centred development
- Poverty eradication and social Justice, with a preference for the poor and disadvantaged
- National and personal security to ensure human security for peace and Information and Communication Technologies
- A more diversified, knowledge intensive economy
- Good governance with people participation
- Foreign Policy based on a balance between bilateral and multilateral initiatives. to influence the direction of decision making regionally, across the hemisphere and globally
- a laptop computer for every child going on to secondary school from the SEA to begin their secondary school education
- begin addressing the issue of securing and expanding GATE
- rescind the property tax
- establish a Working Committee to review all program targeted at poverty alleviation and social support
- begin an aggressive programme to fix all leaks in WASA
- coordinate integrated action on water resources management, drainage, irrigation, flooding, water capture, conservation, sustainable food production and food security release appropriate resources from the Green Fund to reforest areas
- begin the rehabilitation and paving of existing access roads and construction of new ones
- Establish Ministry of the People
- begin a review process for the minimum wage
- prepare an immediate action plan for containing criminal activities and reducing the number of murders
- begin to identify and address the fundamental challenges to the effective management of law and order
- deploy police on the streets, on the beat and in the communities
- initiate a process to make every police station a centre for crime containment and reduction
- begin the process of reviewing the laws and institutions which address white-collar crime with a view to strengthening them
- strengthen the National Security Council to link intelligence gathering and assessment with strategy and execution in crime fighting
- replace the Senior Citizens’ Grant with Old Age Pension and increase it to $3,000
- look at the immediate challenges of each hospital and determine needs
- establish an independent LIFE fund of $100 million for life-saving surgery for children begin the introduction of camera technology at traffic lights and set into motion an efficient system of ticketing offenders
- 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 after swearing in
- each Ministry will be required to begin work on a five-year strategic plan within the first sixty days for completion by February 2011 within the framework of our manifesto
- establish an Economic Development Board which will consult with stakeholders and play an advisory role in policy formulation
- establish a Civil Society Board to strengthen the voice and influence of NGOs and civil society organizations
- 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
- initiate a Forensic audit of Petrotrin and other State Bodies where there are grounds for suspicion of misconduct similar to what obtained in UDeCOTT
- 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
- establish a timetable for Constitution Reform beginning with consultations
- 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
- share with citizens priorities for action during the first budgetary period
- formulate a project plan for completion of all infrastructural projects currently in train in Tobago
- 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
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