Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 30/12/2025 05:26

High price of fiscal incompetence

HUGO MAYNARD “I CONTEND that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle” – Winston Churchill. Churchill’s observation has never felt more visceral than in the dying days of 2025. For the thousands who stained their fingers voting for the current administration, that handle is looking perilously flimsy, and the bucket is starting to feel more like a cage. It appears the government, having run completely dry of ingenuity to solve the gridlock strangling the nation, has decided that if it cannot fix the traffic, it might as well monetise the misery. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, with a startling lack of self-awareness, has cited "lawlessness" and the citizenry’s alleged "sub-par intelligence levels" as the driving force behind a draconian hike in traffic penalties effective January 1. This is a species of hypocrisy rarely seen in the wild. Let us not forget this is the same leader who, in opposition, wailed about the "hardship" of the previous administration’s demerit system. Upon taking office, she dismantled that system, the one mechanism that actually curbed behaviour, only to watch chaos return to the roads. Her solution? Double the fines. It is a tacit admission that the government has no strategy to fix the traffic nightmare that awaits us in January; it simply plans to profit from it. Transport Minister Eli Zakour, playing the dutiful soldier, claims this isn't a "popularity test" and hides behind the shield of "road safety." But let’s be honest: if safety were the priority, we would be seeing a modern mass transit plan, not a price list. Instead, we have a government that treats traffic enforcement like a slot machine. The desperation for revenue is palpable and, quite frankly, pathetic. While Zakour squeezes motorists, Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo is busy raiding the ports. Legal Notices 472 and 473 double customs fees – an $80 charge here, a $1,050 container fee there. Tancoo calls it "modernisation." The average consumer, already standing on the high side of this sinking ship, knows it simply means higher prices on everything from bread to brake pads. Perhaps the most egregious assault is reserved for the working-class backbone of our transport system. The toll for maxi taxis to operate on the Priority Bus Route has been doubled to $600 per quarter, a move executed with zero consultation. As Route Two president Brenton Knights rightly noted, the "honeymoon phase is over." It is a special kind of cruelty to squeeze public transport operators in an economy where foreign exchange is a myth and operational costs are skyrocketing. The result is inevitable: fares will rise. Water will find its level, and the commuter will drown. What makes this penny-pinching so infuriating is the backdrop against which it is happening. While the government chases taxi drivers for loose change, the true engines of our economy are stalling. The downgrade of Consolidated Energy Ltd to CCC+ junk-bond status is a flashing red light on the dashboard that the administration seems content to ignore. With a $224 million debt maturity looming and gas supplies from NGC remaining a "minor improvement" at best, our industrial estate is gasping for air. Yet, rather than a vision to revitalise Point Lisas or a strategy to genuinely expand the economy, we get a lecture on our "sub-par intelligence" and a threat to ban fireworks. The Prime Minister’s Christmas message spoke of "compassion" and "service." Her policies, however, speak of a government that is creatively bankrupt. To tax citizens into oblivion because you cannot govern them into compliance is not leadership; it is a confession of failure. Come January 1, 2026, the traffic will still be motionless, the public transport system will still be broken, and the only thing moving with any speed will be money leaving your wallet. You cannot lift the bucket while you are standing in it, no matter how much you fine the person holding the handle. The post High price of fiscal incompetence appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.