(An extract from Foreign Direct Investment 2018)
Utilizing 20.38% of the nation’s total expenditure, as
reported by the office of the Auditor General 2016 and 20.39% in the 2017 revised estimates, while estimating 20.60% for 2018 down by 0.17%, as published by
the Ministry of Finance, to maintain and expand public spaces. Such
Infrastructure expenditure has widely been realized and accepted to directly impact
productivity; outputs, driven by comfortable and safe, work and play environments,
for example; organizations to produce and deliver water and electricity,
industrial parks, courts, police stations, hospital, schools, housing, administration
offices, communications, community centers, open parks, transport hubs, roads
and bridges, etc. This Infrastructure Management category consist of the Ministries of Public Utilities, Works and
Transport, Rural Development and Local Government, Housing and Urban
Development and the Tobago House of Assembly.
News from the previous period
The Regulated Industries Commission (RIC)
is an independent, statutory body established to ensure the promotion of the
highest quality of utility services at fair and reasonable rates, while
building a credible regulatory regime that responds adequately to concerns and
to ensure fairness, transparency and equity in the provision of utility
services throughout the nation. The Ministry of Public Utilities faces the
challenge of delivering, Water, Electricity, Postal Services and
Telecommunications, at sufficient levels of efficient infrastructure investment
to support economic growth and enhance the living standards of citizens.
The Ministry of Works and Transport is
constantly engaged in numerous road and bridge repair and expansion projects.
The Ministry via its Licensing and Traffic Warden Divisions renewed its commitment to road safety and proposes to amend the
Legislative Framework governing the Fixed Penalty Traffic Ticketing System and
introduce a Demerit Points System. The Ministry also signed an agreement
to facilitate the sharing of data collected by the Ministry along the east
coast of Trinidad. This study aims to gather relevant physical data in a
comprehensive manner and present said physical evidence in a format that is
suitable for referencing, analyses, scientific research, decisions support and
policy development.
The Ministry of Rural Development and Local
Government offers Building and Land Development Control, Public Health and
Sanitation, Roads drains and other physical infrastructure, Information and
education, Burial and cremation services and other Community Services. The
Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government shares the belief that Local
Government should be given more, rather than less, responsibility and
authority; and as such, a re-energized platform for Local Government reform has
been introduced with an objective to create a modern, efficient and properly
resourced Local Government system.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban
Development provides; quality affordable housing solutions for eligible first-time
homeowners, as well as ensure there are associated community facilities for
their use by these families, stimulation of private sector
activities with respect to home construction, rationalizing and restructuring
of its mortgage portfolio, management and maintenance of its housing estates,
and acquisition of land for housing development, all via the Housing Development
Corporation (HDC). The ministry also engages the Urban Development Corporation
of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT) to transform the structural landscape of
communities across the nation through its development portfolio, which
includes; Cultural, Tourism and Recreational Development, Government and
Commercial Accommodation, Historical Restoration and Refurbishment, and Land
Reclamation, Housing and Infrastructural Development.
Tobago House of Assembly (THA) administers
and implements policies through secretariats: Assembly Legislature; Food Production,
Forestry and Fisheries; Community Development, Enterprise Development and
Labour; Education, Innovation and Energy; Finance and the Economy; Health,
Wellness and Family Development; Infrastructure, Quarries and The Environment; Office
of the Chief Secretary and Secretary of Public Administration, Information, State
Lands and Energy Matters; Sport and Youth Affairs; Settlement Urban Renewal and
Public Utilities; Tourism, Culture and Transportation.
Within this current period
The Ministry of Public Utilities, with 26.25% of the
Infrastructure Management budget, issued a public advisory on electrical
installation for charging electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles as such vehicles are imported. The Ministry continues to decrease the
nation’s carbon footprint and increase the use of renewable energy sources by inviting
contractors to supply and install solar systems in low income households, to
reduce the use of electricity generated from petrochemicals.
The Ministry of Works and Transport, with 20.71% of the
Infrastructure Management funding, has mandated the National Infrastructure
Development Company Limited (NIDCO) to undertake the construction of the
Churchill Roosevelt Highway Extension from Wallerfield to Manzanilla (CRHEM).
It is proposed that the Highway will proceed East of Wallerfield, South of the
Aripo Savannah, North of the town of Sangre Grande and subsequently proceed in
a South Easterly direction to end just beyond the Toco Main Road. NIDCO will also construct a new Fast Ferry Port in
Toco.
The Ministry of Rural Development and Local
Government, with 20.59%
of the Infrastructure Management funding, must now engage in implementation of
their services, while permanent staff work on budget submissions. The Ministry
has announced its plan to make direct, well-targeted policy interventions to
meet the specific needs of rural residents. This is part of a three-pronged
rural development policy focused on rural banking, rural transportation and
rural housing.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, with 13.22% of the Infrastructure Management budget, works with the Trinidad & Tobago Mortgage Finance Company Limited (TTMF) which offers the subsidized 2% and 5% Mortgage programmes; to Buy a Home, Build a Home, Buy Land, or for Home Improvement and Home Equity.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, with 13.22% of the Infrastructure Management budget, works with the Trinidad & Tobago Mortgage Finance Company Limited (TTMF) which offers the subsidized 2% and 5% Mortgage programmes; to Buy a Home, Build a Home, Buy Land, or for Home Improvement and Home Equity.
Tobago House of Assembly (THA), with 19.22% of the
Infrastructure Management budget, must communicate and implement plans to their
constituents, while permanent staffs work on budget submissions to the central
Government.
Rationale
T.A.J & Associates Company Limited uses this occasion to comment on topics that have been covered, both academically
and by the mainstream media, to add its opinion and point out investment
opportunity, not to invoke any social action.
