(An extract from Foreign Direct Investment 2018)
A nation's development is badly hindered
and retarded by individual greed; corrupt public officers, bias reporting,
unfair hiring practices, slow justice, unbalance dispute settlements, unlawful
opinions, compromised records, a lack of transparency, general back room
dealings, selling executive influence, misusing presidential privilege, laws to
benefit the few rather than the many, practices and actions which have to be
avoided, rooted out, dealt with and, ultimately replaced by Good Governance.
News from the previous period
The Ministry of Public Administration and
Communications (MPAC) & The Personnel Department; Public Service Academy, is in the
process of expanding its programme of learning and development activities. The
Ministry further request specialized audio/video and computer equipment as well
as software for a digitization system to facilitate the conversion of audio and
video analogue recordings of historical and national significance, to quality
digital recordings, in line with international archival, digital preservation
and industry standards for the National Archives. The Ministry also seeks the
Supply, Installation, Configuration and Commissioning of an Information
Technology Infrastructure Storage Solution.
The Judiciary & The Industrial Court performance
data have to be understood in the prevailing national cultural and economic
context, including the existing infrastructure and available resources, as preparations
and adjustments continue to be urged and pursued in order to effect the
long-term transformation. Vision involves the ability to appreciate the big
picture; to take a systemic view; to understand concepts like case flow
management and the fact that the Judiciary is only one part of the
administration of justice and that dysfunction in any one area affects the
whole.
The Ministry of the Attorney General and
Legal Affairs (AGLA) announced the proclamation of the Marriage Bill by the
nation’s President making it illegal to solemnise a marriage of a person who is
under the age of 18 years. This Ministry recognizes that the promotion of the
rule of law, and the protection of individual freedoms and property rights, can
have the greatest effect on national development if institutional linkages are
formed and maintained. The focus at the Ministry has therefore been to endorse
the harmonization of policies and work towards common ideals and performance
measures in the law and justice sector at the national, regional and
hemispheric level.
Other
Heads of Expenditure involved in Governance, mostly
serving at the pleasure of the nation's President, consisting mainly of
statutory boards and other bodies which select, appoint, regulate, monitor and
examine decision-makers and their decisions, to foster and employ the best
practice; behaviors and efforts, under and within their remit while, carrying
out duties for the public good.
The
Office of the Prime Minister, reshuffled and replaced
the Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, the Minister of Public Utilities,
Minister of Works and Transport, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development,
the Minister of Housing and Urban Development and combined the Ministry of
Public Administration and the Ministry of Communication. The Prime Minister has
authorized an agreement between neighboring Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago
to supply the Caribbean twin-island nation with as much as 500 MMcfd of natural
gas from the Mariscal Sucre region.
The
President & The Parliament, via statutory bodies
and parliamentary committees examine the effectiveness and efficiency of
decisions, the moral and ethical conditions of actions, and redress lack of
decisions and actions to deliver public services.
Within this current period
The Ministry of Public Administration and
Communications & The Personnel Department, with 41.16% of the Governance funding, must continue
to relocate ministries, divisions, and units into publicly owned premises or
into adequate buildings that would reduce it rental bills. This Ministry must
also continue to drive the National Information Communication Technology (ICT)
Strategy by helping to develop realizable and implementable initiatives to help;
the public sector, the private sector and academia. The ministry of
communication hopes to finalize policies regarding its media investments. The
Personnel Department faces several union negotiations which will be difficult
and with the potential to retard the economy.
The Judiciary & The Industrial Court,
with 18.62% of the
Governance estimated expenditure, has no control over, but for which it always
seems to take the blame, things like the slow turnover of forensic analysis; the
absence of a Public Defender’s Office; the persistence of the system of
preliminary inquiries; the underfunding of the Director of Public Prosecution
DPP’s office; an under-resourced probation department; poor evidence gathering;
shortage of physical plant; no video remand suites; push back in some quarters
against the introduction of video recorded interviews; an archaic legislative
regime; the fact that night courts were a failed experiment that keep being
proposed by those who have no idea of how the system works, etc, etc. The
Judiciary doesn’t pass legislation; The Judiciary doesn’t build judicial
complexes.
The Ministry of the Attorney General and
Legal Affairs, with 12.34%
of the Governance funding, will continue its two
separate constitutional roles; a governmental role responsible for the
administration of legal affairs and a role as the guardian of the public
interest, acting independently in a quasi-judicial capacity, representing the
community at large.
Other Heads of Expenditure involved in
Governance, with 11.88%
of the Governance estimated expenditure, include the Integrity Commission,
Elections and Boundaries Commission, Public Service Commission, Public Service
Appeal Board, Tax Appeal Board, Police Service Commission, Teachers Service
Commission, Environmental Commission, Equal Opportunity Tribunal and
Recognition and Certification Board, which will review and control the
respected responsibilities.
The Office of the Prime Minister, with 9.98% of the Governance
funding, forms and conducts the nation's executive cabinet, facilitates and
negotiates trade, financial and production relations with numerous countries
and international operators.
The President & The Parliament, with 6.02% of the Governance
estimated expenditure, must continue to serve the citizenry and make
laws. Noting, all Bills passed in both Houses of
Parliament must be assented to by the President before they become law. Remembering,
The President also appoints Members of Commissions and other senior officials
and is the Commander and Chief of all the nation’s Armed Forces.
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.
