- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 04/Jul 14:33

Gonsalves: Happy for ‘monopoly money’ attention

THE St Vincent Prime Minister is happy his "monopoly money" comment has drawn the attention of the Energy Minister as he hopes it will lead to trade issues being addressed between both islands. On July 1, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Dr Roodal Moonilal slammed comments by Dr Ralph Gonsalves which compared TT dollars to "monopoly money." During an interview on an NBC Radio St Vincent programme on July 2, Gonsalves said he had no issue with TT or its people saying both his mother and wife are Trinbagonians. But with his country using Eastern Caribbean dollars (EC) or US dollars, he said there is no use for TT dollars. "When I'm in Trinidad, naturally I use TT dollars but what I'm going to do with TT dollars here?" Speaking at an Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Authority function on June 17 in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Gonsalves lamented that his agricultural exporters were being paid in TT dollars due to TT's foreign exchange issues and likened having it to possessing "monopoly money." He said he tried to have a solution with the Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines but "the bank can only absorb so many TT dollars." "I'm not picking a fight with the government of TT. I'm saying we have some problems and we got to sort them out." Referring to a Newsday article carrying Moonilal's comments, Gonsalves said it was clear the minister had not heard his entire speech. Despite this, he said he believes the new administration could help resolve the issue. "From the report which I saw, it's clear that he didn't get all what I said and I'll send him a copy of my speech. I believe that he and his government would help me to work out this problem because there is a problem and I believe Kamla would help to work out the problem." Before responding, Gonsalves said he does not typically engage in such controversies with regional ministers but was making an exception for the energy minister because, after following his career, he believes Moonilal to be "a sensible fella." In his critique of Gonsalves' statement during an address at a Society of Petroleum Engineers TT symposium on July 1, Moonilal questioned why the St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister did not raise the issue with the previous administration whom he blamed for what he believed was the collapse of TT's economy over the last decade. However, Gonsalves said he has been raising the issue for years, even to the previous administration. To prove his point, Gonsalves referred to a speech he made on February 22, 2018, at his Ministry of Finance where he said: "In the case of trade between St Vincent and the Grenadines and TT, there is a serious problem of non-availability of foreign exchange for traders from St Vincent and the Grenadines who sell agricultural produce." "It is wrong and unconscionable that the relevant authorities in TT have failed and/or refused to address satisfactorily or at all this burning issue which affects our small farmers adversely. I have raised this matter at the last two heads of government conferences in Guyana and Grenada, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank has sought to resolve the matter with the Central Bank of TT...I have made direct representations on the issue with the Government of TT. All of this has been to no avail. The matter remains unresolved. I will raise the issue forcefully again in Haiti next week (at a Caricom heads of government meeting)." He continued: "The fact of the matter is TT sells approximately EC$150 million annually (at that time) to St Vincent and the Grenadines. The bulk of these purchases is made up of petroleum products. St Vincent and the Grenadines has been selling on average for the past five years some EC$18 million in exports of goods. St Vincent and the Grenadines pays in hard currency for our exports from TT but our traders are paid in TT dollars for their exports. Our traders are starved of foreign exchange. All we ask is for TT to set aside some EC$20 million in foreign exchange (US$8 million approximately) out of the huge trade surplus that it has with SVG. Surely that is reasonable. How can the single market function properly in such an unfair environment?" He said while he was not putting his mouth in the political affairs of TT "we cannot have Caricom unequally yoked otherwise the CSME will falter." He believed given the level of cooperation between TT and St Vincent and the Grenadines, some of their long-standing problems should have been solved already. Speaking in the senate on July 1, former foreign and Caricom affairs minister Dr Amery Browne described Moonilal's words to Gonsalves as a really bad idea that would have consequences "over trite matters which should trigger a more diplomatic response." TT's economic elite and disrespect to smaller islands The longest-serving prime minister in Caricom told listeners they weren't the only victims of TT's foreign exchange challenges as many nationals too were having challenges. He blames this on the way "the economic elites fashioned the system in Trinidad." "They (Trinbagonians) catching their nenen to get US$100 in foreign exchange in Trinidad you know while the economic elites and sections of the social elites having foreign exchange for camembert cheese and fine wines you know and they can't put aside some money to pay for our yam, dasheen, tannia, plantain, eddoe, sweet potato...c'mon. So I am glad that this matter has come to the attention of my brethren Moonilal." He said he knows Trinbagonians want the system to be changed and suspects Moonilal too wants the same thing. Despite this, he commended the appointment of former People's Partnership finance minister Larry Howai as Central Bank governor. He further accused the "economic elites" in TT of being disrespectful to smaller Caribbean islands, especially in the Eastern Caribbean. "We got the worst Massy Supermarket in the entire Caribbean, in St Vincent. Go in those in Barbados and St Lucia, you'd see them. What happen? You think we ain't good enough to have a supermarket as to that quality? I thought when they came here they gonna lift the game. They can't touch Randy's and Greaves." He said while he was glad the supermarket had a presence in St Vincent, he continuously receives complaints about it from the public and members of his cabinet. When contacted Massy Group representatives said a response was being drafted. It was not received up to 5 pm on July 2. Overjoyed by Indian PM visit to TT Gonsalves said he was overjoyed that Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi will be visiting TT on July 3. "I'm very happy to see that the government of TT has reached out to the government of India to have Prime Minister Modi to come to visit." He said he met Modi a couple of years ago at a Caricom event in Guyana and then TT prime minister Dr Keith Rowley made a good presentation speaking about strengthening the bond with India. The post Gonsalves: Happy for ‘monopoly money’ attention appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.