Apparently stung by the Opposition's relentless criticism of the 2025 Budget and of the Government's stewardship of the domestic economy for the last nine years, Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, Randall Mitchell, on Tuesday chose to respond with an unbalanced and overly rosy portrait of Trinidad and Tobago in October 2024.
Speaking in Parliament, Mr Mitchell invited Trinbagonians to travel within the Caribbean, and to Canada, the US or the UK, to "see in those countries what the high cost of living really looks like and feels like...
"When you go out there and you experience the high cost of fuel, the high cost of utilities, the high cost of transportation, and the high cost of accommodation, that is when you know how good we have it here in Trinidad and Tobago.”
In comparison to countries in the region and across the world, it is true that cost of electricity and water in T&T is low, and the price of fuel is fixed and predictable, unlike many countries in which it may vary on a monthly or even daily basis.
Transportation costs are closely linked to the price of fuel, which has risen quite substantially in the nine years that the current administration has governed T&T. The cost of accommodation depends largely on location.
The lower cost of fuel, utilities and transportation in T&T, is due to the massive transfer of wealth that residents have benefitted from for the last two decades.
Guardian Media estimates indicate that T&T's total expenditure for the ten fiscal years between 2016 and 2025—which coincides with the nine-plus years the current administration has been in office—amounted to $531.35 billion.
Of that amount, $285.45 billion was spent on transfers and subsidies, some 53.72 per cent of total expenditure, which included substantial sums of money spent on the fuel subsidy and billions transferred to WASA and T&TEC to keep utility rates low. T&T residents also benefit from huge subsidies on the cost of education, healthcare, state housing and intra-island transportation, as well as a range of grants to thousands of people.
Mr Mitchell is right that the massive amount of money that has been spent on transfers and subsidies by the three administrations in the 21st century has moderated the cost of living.
But it is also accurate to state that since the 14 per cent wage hike for public servants and teachers granted in 2014 and 2015, compensation for workers in this country has not kept pace with the increases in the cost of living.
This has meant that the quality of life of a significant percentage of the population, especially those employed by the State, has declined in real terms.
Secondly, we are sure that, on reflection, Mr Mitchell would acknowledge that someone's quality of life is much more than whether their compensation keeps up with inflation.
Quality of life metrics must mean that people live free from fear that gun-toting killers would not kick down their doors with murder in mind. Quality of life goes to issues such as the length of time spent in traffic daily, the standard of service delivery in the nation's hospitals and the ability of a family travelling overseas on vacation to buy foreign currency they need.
In many respects then, life in T&T is sweet for some but sour for many.
