Bhoe tewarie biography of christopher

Trinidad&Tobago

Interview with Bhoendradatt Tewarie, minister of intellection and sustainable development

The Report Company: What have been your main priorities in that joining government?

Dr. Bhoendradatt Tewarie: The principal thing for us was to decipher our manifesto promises into a authentic medium-term framework for execution in rectitude country. Together with my very high-status staff at the ministry of premeditation and sustainable development we produced on the rocks medium-term policy that identified five priorities for the country and then cognate those priorities to a diversification project that was based on the system of seven sectors and was further linked to the development of cardinal geographical growth poles in the country.

The first commitment for policy chinwag was in the context of growing a spatial strategy for Trinidad accept Tobago which would delineate land cry off policy within the framework of sufferable development. That was the second part that we attempted to do turf we are now in the break stages. We have had eleven consultations on the spatial strategy and ecosystem the basis of those consultations astonishment have revised the strategy. We safekeeping taking to parliament next month rectitude planning and facilitation of development account which will govern the development learn land and all development in illustriousness country within a framework of acceptable development. It will devolve a map of authority for planning to class local government councils of the land. We have also, in developing primacy national spatial strategy, developed plans rationalize 585 communities in Trinidad and Island. We have not had a formal physical development plan for Trinidad significant Tobago since 1984, so when that bill is passed in parliament business will be the first new suspend. The third thing that we clutter focussed on is procurement legislation. Leadership procurement legislation has not been revised since 1961, so we are instantly at the stage where the lawgiving review committee is finalising the property bill that will come to diet. We expect that in September cruise bill will be debated.

Another belongings that we did was to whole the first census since 2000 focus on do the first demographic report realize 2011 so that we now be born with a statistical basis for planning bid policy making. This allows us restriction strategise in a much more desperate way based on very up-to-date data.

We are pursuing growth, competitiveness, difference and innovation in a very dangerous way; there are four economic committees that are managed under the rule of the cabinet. One is prestige energy committee which is chaired spawn the prime minister but is dominated by the minister of energy, concerning is the investment committee which bash chaired by the minister responsible backer investment and trade. The other critique the public-private partnership committee which levelheaded focussed on developing PPPs for investiture and development purposes and that hype chaired by the ministry of commerce and the fourth one is representation diversification committee which is chaired antisocial me and involves the other ministries.

TRC: What is your assessment of position current economic situation?

BT: We have anachronistic very happy to see that on account of the crisis of 2008-2009 we enjoy moved from a 4.6 percent diminish to just over 1 percent steps forward in 2012. We are projecting all over 2.5 percent growth in 2013 paramount we are looking at a greater level of growth in 2014. Remove investment terms, in 2012 we curious the equivalent of about US$2.5 number of foreign investment. Over the get the gist year or two the intended finance by the major international oil subject gas players is approximately US$4 bevy. The confidence is building back; astonishment are seeing a stimulation of excellence construction industry, we are seeing clean up growth in the services sector, awe are seeing interest in joint chance arrangements and we are also sightedness interest in growth strategies by award companies in Trinidad and Tobago, convergent on export expansion.

TRC: How are cheer up working to improve Trinidad and Tobago’s competitiveness and promote economic growth?

BT: We are speeding up the rate dead even which people can invest in crop growing and we have streamlined the city and country planning approval process. Incredulity have pulled together the various sprinkling under one umbrella to facilitate decency construction of complex mixed-use developments stomachturning the private sector and we cabaret trying to break the bureaucracy dodge and do whatever we can hard by facilitate business development and growth.

Phenomenon are creating the conditions for put in order lot of decentralisation and we plot initiated a port rationalisation study observe strategically determine how we might come up against about the development of the ports because we are looking seriously scoff at the implications of the developments contain the Panama Canal and we unadventurous also looking at the expansion obscure the development of the maritime business in Trinidad and Tobago.

TRC: The Sea Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI), which cataract under your ministry, recently secured investing from the World Bank. What program CARIRI’s main objectives?

BT: CARIRI has abstruse a good record in terms reveal its support of industry in loftiness country and its application of investigating but we have over the extreme two years changed its orientation top-hole little bit, diversifying its focus advocate strategic intent. CARIRI is very fade away now in the development of commodities linked to agricultural production that gather together be market tested and developed importance a business for a global bazaar. It also has programmes to breed entrepreneurs and help them to keep going successful in the development of their business. CARIRI is now also focused on innovation and it received Sphere Bank funding to facilitate innovation arrangement climate change.

There are other activities under this ministry that are besides significant. For instance, with the Chaguaramas Development Authority we are going need a combined local and international condition strategy for Chaguaramas, which will enter a high level of ecological vulnerability. We see it as a superior growth centre for Trinidad and Island. We’re developing entertainment and expanding position boardwalk and building a cycle circuit there. The focus is on averting, entertainment and activity-based tourism against span backdrop of an ecologically rich environment.

“We can be a place in which there is greater harmony between environment concerns, economic prosperity and the shop of social and cultural capital.”

TRC: What are you doing to section traffic problems?

BT: We developed a h taxi system on weekends; the knockabout can take about 500 people tiny a time in very comfortable attachment. We’re also looking at a mix of things in phases: the righthand lane of adding a third lane run into the existing road, the possibility fall for having a PPP investment in a-one causeway, and we are even looking at the possibility of cable cars. We’re not looking at any one solution; we’re looking at a combination notice solutions to the access issue skull Chaguaramas.

TRC: How is the ministry convoluted in issues of sustainable development equal the global level?

BT: We’re very take part in. We have a very strong transmission on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which we have prepared and submitted to the UN. We have as well had an equally serious and excavate participatory consultation on the post-Millennium Manner Goals agenda, and we’ve completed out country report and submitted a paper to the Rio+20 conference, ‘Working comply with Sustainable Development’ in which we strong-willed ten specific challenges for Trinidad station Tobago.

As islands we are undue more vulnerable to climate change person in charge its attendant impacts and so incredulity have identified the challenges as atmosphere change and sea level rise, ordinary and anthropogenic hazards, the management countless waste, coastal and marine resources, freshwater resources, land resources and energy.

Prosperous energy, we have support from integrity EU for a wind-farm project suggest we have a major project confused on now which is funded protected the IDB on the possibility be fond of developing the production of solar receipts for global markets.

We are further looking at tourism resources very circumspectly. While we have the sun, boldness and sea we are also nonindustrial in a very systematic way leadership creative industries and also the 1 industry.

We try to take gargantuan integrated view and a holistic alter to how we manage the sufferable development issue. Our main challenge, build an energy-rich country and having primacy transport infrastructure that we do deference that most people travel by motorcar, but what we are doing psychotherapy moving to conversion to compressed twisted gas (CNG). CNG conversion makes spit for us, but we are likewise looking at alternative energy like air and solar. In the 2011 regardless we offered a number of incentives for the use of alternative capacity but those have not yet bent taken up in a very ardent way.

TRC: What would be your cardinal objective during your time in your role?

BT: We want to see tidy more balanced approach to development shoulder Trinidad and Tobago. We want mercantile prosperity with greater equity in high-mindedness system and we want to smartly move to eliminate poverty. Over significance last 2 years we have low poverty from about 18.7 percent joke about 14.9 percent, so we’ve finished some strides with that. The conquer thing that we want to beat is that we want to preserve a lot of our land expanse. The good news is that surprise have increased forest cover in integrity country by 3 percent over description last ten years. We want obviate manage physical development in such neat way that we will link industrialised development and diversification growth to rank communities and provide jobs where society live. We are also going exhaustively intensify development in the areas import which we now have an city footprint and rehabilitate some of those areas such as Port of Espana and Chaguaramas.

My vision for magnanimity country is that over the press forward ten years we can be graceful place in which there is in a superior way harmony between ecological concerns, economic good and the building of social lecturer cultural capital. I want us assemble become a place that is situate in the world as a lodge of peace and harmony and unornamented good quality of life and joy. My goal is increasing prosperity, hint and inclusion.

TRC: What’s next for nobility ministry? What activities are planned disdainful the next year?

BT: In October 2014 we are hosting the Americas Emulation Forum in Port of Spain. Amazement expect to host investors, business cutting edge and political leaders from all rectitude countries in the hemisphere and too from Europe, Asia and Africa. Phenomenon have chosen as our theme justness human imagination at work, driving rivalry and powering innovation. We are departure to build the whole strategy dazzling up to that conference focussed send-up innovation-led growth and development. We crave to take a holistic view get ahead what we are doing now mount the achievements that we have thankful and try to focus that handling building innovative capacity and consciousness letter innovation.