Budget day is September 8: PM Kamla

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar took charge of the agenda Sunday on her return home from a 10-day trip to New York and announced that Minister of Finance Winston Dookeran will present the People's Partnership's first budget on September 8.

"I wish to thank the national community for its support and to reaffirm our commitment to serve the people," she declared.

"The task has not been easy but your government is committed, willing and able. In furtherance of this, I am pleased to announce that on September 8, 2010, the Minister of Finance will present the budget for the fiscal year 2010/2011," she added.

She plans to get to work immediately on pre-budget consultations, starting Monday.

Persad-Bissessar also announced that the important cabinet retreat that she cancelled to deal with flooding across the country will now be held from September 1.

Dookeran had hinted at an early budget. Over the weekend he stated that citizens should expect a deficit. However he said the shortfall would not be as much as in the last Manning budget.

Speaking about her trip, Persad-Bissesar, said it was successful at "rebranding and recalibrating of Trinidad and Tobago as a place to do business with and to live".

She told reporters that many citizens living abroad want to return to return home to invest and help in the development but their most pressing concern is security.

"They fraid' people kill them whether it is on a visit or to stay. It is the same thing we are afraid of here" she said.

As expected reporters wanted to get the Prime Minister's views of the salary of Canadian Dwayne Gibbs, the new Commission of Police (CoP) who is reported to have negotiated a pay cheque of more than $130,000 a month.

She stressed that the matter is before cabinet for discussion and approval. However she made the point that the safety and security of the citizens cannot be measured by money alone.

"We have to balance and weigh the safety and security of our citizens, of life, limb and property against the cost factor that may accrue," she stated and reminded reporters of the kind of expenditure incurred by the previous government without any real results.

"You may recall that we had spent $80 million on a crime plan, we have spent hundreds of millions on others coming to work in various agencies and nothing has stopped, the crime numbers continue to increase," she said.

Persad-Bissessar stopped short of saying the CoP's salary is a done deal, but gave a strong hint that cabinet will approve it. At the same time, she said the government will be in charge and that she expects the new police chief to perform.

"We have to make some serious decisions, we may have to bite the bullet and do what is necessary and the good news will be should a new Commissioner of Police come on board that Commissioner of police is on contract and should he not perform that contract can and will be terminated," she said.

“Our job is to set the policy direction. The CoP will implement. The CoP will suggest initiatives and mechanisms, but they come back to us in the National Security Council, which I chair,” she said.