Labaour Minister Errol McLeod said on Monday the tens of millions in government social spending should be entrusted to the co-operative movement instead of leaving it to job-creation programmes such as CEPEP, URP and Colour Me Orange.
McLeod said the money would be "more productively spent" if it is diverted to the co-operative movement, which he noted operates on a community level and with greater accountability.
He was speaking at the launch of the International Year of Co-operatives at the Hyatt in Port of Spain. The year-long celebration will be in 2012.
He was speaking at the launch of the International Year of Co-operatives at the Hyatt in Port of Spain. The year-long celebration will be in 2012.
“I want to invite you to think for a moment of how much more we might do in terms of improving conditions in our communities if we were to have access to those tremendous funds,” he said.
“If that $408 million were put into the hands of the more responsible co-operative and credit unions acting with a mandate to satisfy social and economic infrastructure needs, today we would be closer on the road for more sustainable development,” McLeod added.
McLeod's ministry used to have responsibility for the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP). However in January this year Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar reassigned it and created four portfolios with the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of the People and Social Development, the Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry of Food Production.
McLeod urged stakeholders to to submit a proposal on this issue to the State of getting the cooperative movement to administer these funds. "If you were to come with some ideal proposals on issues of that nature, you might be taken seriously," he said.
McLeod told reporters the present system that invests money in social programs become hand outs and cause low productivity.
“If it is going to be productively engaged, there is an end-point that you are subscribing to. We must identify what is that end-point and we must identify the vehicles; the mechanisms that we will employ to do that social service delivery and to realise some benefit to the investment that you make in that regard,” he said.
He added, “There are organisations that have the skill, that have the capacity...to bring relief to those who are adversely affected in the community by engaging them in particular productive activities. And the co-operative movement can do that in my view."
“If that $408 million were put into the hands of the more responsible co-operative and credit unions acting with a mandate to satisfy social and economic infrastructure needs, today we would be closer on the road for more sustainable development,” McLeod added.
McLeod's ministry used to have responsibility for the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP). However in January this year Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar reassigned it and created four portfolios with the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of the People and Social Development, the Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry of Food Production.
McLeod urged stakeholders to to submit a proposal on this issue to the State of getting the cooperative movement to administer these funds. "If you were to come with some ideal proposals on issues of that nature, you might be taken seriously," he said.
McLeod told reporters the present system that invests money in social programs become hand outs and cause low productivity.
“If it is going to be productively engaged, there is an end-point that you are subscribing to. We must identify what is that end-point and we must identify the vehicles; the mechanisms that we will employ to do that social service delivery and to realise some benefit to the investment that you make in that regard,” he said.
He added, “There are organisations that have the skill, that have the capacity...to bring relief to those who are adversely affected in the community by engaging them in particular productive activities. And the co-operative movement can do that in my view."
No comments:
Post a Comment