Trinidad & Tobago :Trinidad & Tobago D I R E C T I O N S


What a Trini lifestyle should be… :What a Trini lifestyle should be… Quality of life is about freedom – freedom to pursue the things that interest us, as long as the rights and freedoms of others are not disrespected. Quality of life is about entertainment – having access to the things which make living more than just survival: the arts, sports, dining, walking the streets of beautiful towns and communities late at night without fear, delay or anxiety. Quality of life is about vibrancy – having the relaxation of island-life where people stop to help and look each other in the eyes while also having the excitement of a developed and bustling metropolis with booming business and social activity. Quality of life is about the environment – having the promise of land to aspire to owning and develop while also having spaces in which to relax and enjoy outdoor activity. Quality of life is about having the basic infrastructure that governments are obligated to provide to its citizens.


T&T today :T&T today Trinidad and Tobago has spent billions of dollars over the years mainly from “monetizing” our non-renewable oil and gas reserves. The benefits have been questionable. View from San Fernando hills


T&T today :T&T today The money spent has not really had a positive social impact or even an infrastructural one. The island still comprises mainly of industrial plants and houses. View from San Fernando hills


Living space :Living space Very little regard has been paid to building a “quality of life” in harmony with the small land space we occupy and who we are as Trinis. A park in New York


Real Estate :Real Estate The real estate market has been rising outside the reach of many average Trinidadians and Tobagonians. Our land is in very limited supply with living spaces in very concentrated areas and poor infrastructure. The government has intervened to ensure that housing is provided at reasonable prices to citizens. The irony is that it is the government’s industrialization and development drives that are fuelling the minimal availability of land and the escalating prices.


Capitalism & Consumerism :Capitalism & Consumerism Because of our focus on extraction of our oil & gas reserves rather than conserving them, major local conglomerates have also decided to move towards the energy sector and profit from it too. Money and profits have become the order of the day with expensive cars and luxury houses the way to demonstrate how well we have done. We have decided to follow the American model of meeting our every need and spending for happiness complete with all the U.S. franchises. The young people of course, want quick money too, but find few legitimate opportunities to rise out of their poverty and despair. Gangs and crime become an attractive option.


Smelter Plants – not just one! :Smelter Plants – not just one! Amid all of this, when we have heavily industrialized with very little to show for our efforts and riches, comes proposals for the creation of aluminum smelters to add to our already dense and polluted landscape. The smelters promise jobs, additional government revenue and diversification to “downstream” industries to utilize the oil and gas reserves locally instead of just extraction and export. Deschambault smelter – Quebec. Expansion halted due to energy constraints. Many plants are instead being relocated to the third world


Do these reasons add up? :Do these reasons add up? For Jobs? - T&T has had record low unemployment levels for some time now and even the smelter investors have suggested that imported labour may be necessary. For Revenue? - T&T has also been having unprecedented revenue levels - so much so, that the spending level is said to be fuelling inflation as the productivity levels cannot keep up. To Diversify? - T&T must address the possibility of declining oil and gas reserves. Diversification must mean moving away from industries heavily dependent on these limited reserves – downstream is of little use if there is no stream!


Risks of Smelters in T&T :Risks of Smelters in T&T Possibility of water contamination through aquifers Fault lines pose a risk of fracture and contamination Proximity of poor and densely populated communities to these plants with little or no infrastructure for safety Implications on water availability and electricity costs to our citizens Possibility of fluoride poisoning and environmental toxicity Sulpher Dioxide (acid rain) emissions where the standard for the plant does not even meet the standard at the Iceland plant which is 12 times the level the World Bank expects from modern smelters Negative impact on forests, fish and wildlife


Risks (cont’d) :Risks (cont’d) The impact that further industrialization can have on a small tropical island in a world being globally warmed. Scarcity of land and trees available to people with little hope of migrating. Range of diseases associated with the aluminum industry: respiratory ailments, cancer, dementia, renal failure, Alzheimer’s disease. Disposal of spent pot linings – Basel convention requires permission of countries en route to allow toxic shipments Under-capitalization for clean-up costs and environmental issues Convictions and the record of these companies on environmental and political issues Reserve depletion and gas pricing: Aluminum manufacturing is an energy glutton. Producing one ton (0.9 metric tons) of aluminum takes some 13.5 megawatt-hours of electric power - enough to run 10,800 U.S. homes for an hour


Who we are & what we want :Who we are & what we want It is estimated that our proven oil and gas reserves will last for 15 to 20 years and our politicians laugh it off saying that they have been hearing that for many years. However funny it may seem, there will come a time when we have to rely on our “real” economy to survive. When that time comes, will the multi-national companies give back in the way they have taken? More importantly, would we have developed the necessary assets to sustain our expensive habits? Non-renewable resources are not to be spent on recurrent expenditure. They are to be used to transform our economy away from the reliance on those resources so that when they are gone the economy does not collapse. Trinidad and Tobago, it is time that patriotic citizens take back our country and decide for ourselves who we are and what we want to become. This is what Constitutional Reform should be about. One day…


Slide 13:This love affair we had for the summerThings eh the same way like when we startBecause of your neglectful behaviourThe time has come now for we to part, ah, ahYou shoulda never let the ways of evilDominate yuh soul and rule yuh mindYou must always rememberWhen people treat you gentleYou doh treat them unkind, boyOne day, ah tell yuh one day,One day you’re going to fallOne day, ah tell yuh one day,One day you’re going to fallOne day you’re going to cryMy God, de well run dry!You took me for grantedNow we are partedLike de old people sayYou go pay for it one day.Yuh haunted now like a fish out of waterBroken to tief, you ent have a dimeDe dollar only work out to a Yankee quarterBecause you never learn to be thrifty at no time, ay, ayThere was a time when money was no problemYou had no reason to neglect me soYou listen to yuh crooked partners an demSpend, spend, spend, spendEasy come, easy go, boyOne day, ah tell yuh one day,One day you going to fallOne day, ah tell yuh one day,One day you going to fallOne day when all is lostThrough no fault of yours, of courseYou will rememberI tried to warn youBut like de old people sayYou go pay for it one day. Image from: http://guanaguanaresingsat.blogspot.com/2006/11/one-day.html Music from: One Day by Natasha Wilson Both without permission…apologies!