It has been long realized and accepted that Infrastructure Management directly affects productivity; outputs driven by comfortable and safe work and play spaces, such as; water and electricity, industrial parks, administration offices, community centers, open parks, transport hubs, roads and bridges, etc. Utilizing 20.75% of the nation’s total expenditure, as reported by the office of the Auditor General 2018 and 19.73% in the 2019 revised estimates, while estimating 18.69% for 2020 up by 1.55%, as published by the Ministry of Finance, the Infrastructure Management category consist of the ministries of Public Utilities, Works and Transport, the Tobago House of Assembly, the ministries of Rural Development and Local Government, and Housing and Urban Development.
News from the previous period
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 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 also to ensure fairness, transparency and equity in the provision of utility services throughout the nation.
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.
Tobago House of Assembly (THA) administers and implements policies through heads of expenditure and secretariats: Assembly Legislature, Agriculture, Marine Affairs, Marketing and the Environment, Community Development and Culture, Education, Youth Affairs and Sport, Finance and Enterprise Development, Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Public Administration, Information, State Lands and Energy Matters, Planning and Development, Settlements and Labour, Tourism and Transportation and Health and Social Services, all toward the development of the island of Tobago.
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 also engaged in 14 consultations throughout the nation on Local Government reform clearing the path for legal and financial empowering of the cities, boroughs and regions to manage their own allocated budgets.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban
Development provides
quality, affordable housing solutions for first-time homeowners who fall within
the low to middle income brackets and associated community facilities for use
by these families, 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 cities and towns across
Trinidad and Tobago through its development portfolio.
Within this current period
The Ministry of Public Utilities, with 25.73% of the
Infrastructure Management budget, has the responsibility for the supply and distribution
of tax free LED bulbs for use to reduce the use of electricity generated from
petrol chemicals, decrease the nation carbon foot print across the country and also
to promote the installation and use of solar water heaters in low income
households.
The Ministry of Works and Transport, with 23.49% of the
Infrastructure Management funding, is presently overseeing the National
Infrastructure Development Company Limited (NIDCO) construct of a first-class
road from Valencia to Toco and a new Fast Ferry Port in Toco. NIDCO is also undertaking
the construction of the Curepe enter change and Churchill Roosevelt Highway
Extension from Wallerfield to Manzanilla.
Tobago House of Assembly (THA), with 20.87% of the Infrastructure
Management budget, days away from local elections, has been granted permission
to raise loans independently and must communicate plans to their constituents,
while permanent staffs work on future budget submissions.
The Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, with 22.51% of the Infrastructure Management funding, engaged in local election and proposed reforms to better manage revenue collection, must now engage in implementation of their election promises.
The Ministry of
Housing and Urban Development, with 7.40% of the Infrastructure Management budget, works with the Trinidad
& Tobago Mortgage Finance Co. Ltd (TTMF) which offers low cost mortgages to
Buy a Home, Build a Home, Buy Land, or for Home Improvement and Home Equity.
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.
