Senior reporter
peter.christopher@guardian.co.tt
T&T’s current economic model has created an enabling environment within the public sector that has stifled this country’s productivity.
This was the view of economist Dr Terrence Farrell as he addressed the topic of public sector reform during a panel discussion hosted by the T&T Chamber of Industry and Commerce at its annual business meeting, held at the Hyatt Regency hotel yesterday.
Farrell explained that for some time, the country had benefited from the returns of the oil and gas sector which largely came from foreign companies and investors.
He added that as the country developed around these returns, the Government created a large public sector which has stifled the development of the private sector.
“The economic model has created a bloated public sector that has squeezed out the private sector,” Farrell said.
He added that this was compounded by the fact that many public sector workers were granted constitutional protection which shielded them despite lack of performance.
Farrell noted that even the prime minister was made powerless by this as in the face of mounting crime, “the prime minister can not fire the commissioner of police.”
“If a public servant is not performing, I want to ability to fire them. If I were the prime minister, I would want the option to fire the police commissioner if the police commissioner is not performing,” Farrell said.
He said, however, that fixing the public sector was “politically fraught” and the structure has not changed for 50 years.
The economist also briefly touched on the IMF’s assessment, noting that the IMF’s focus was on specific criteria and would not do a great analysis of the wider issues in the country.
Economist Dr Marlene Attzs, who was also part of the panel, noted that statistics have masked some of the shortcomings in society as she explained that while it appeared that digital penetration was high due to the high number of smartphones owned by the public, there were still concerns about literacy and numeracy.
She also agreed with Farrell that there needs to be some level of public sector reform as she advocated for a reworking of the economic model to include greater public-private partnerships.
Retired banker Ronald Harford also questioned the lack of apparent leadership in the country and expressed worry that the country could follow Venezuela and Haiti in terms of losing itself to crime.
“What kind of State do we want to live in? Remarkably, this is an oil and gas country and we have no plans for oil and gas production. That should be in the newspaper every day,” Harford said.