"This budget does not excite me", economist Indera Sagewan Alli said at the Post Budget People Sector Breakfast Forum hosted by the Oilfields Workers' Trade Union and the Co-operative Credit Union League of Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday 9th September. She was referring to the 2014/2015 national budget that was read in parliament by Finance Minister Larry Howai the day before.
Sagewan Alli went further to say that though she anticipated the many "goodies" mentioned in the "election year budget", she lashed out against the government for using the budget primarily as a political tool and not as an economic tool to chart a sustainable path for the country.
Other speakers that addressed the packed OWTU Paramount Building were OWTU President General Ancel Roget, President of the Co-operative Credit Union League, Joseph Remy, General Secretary of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGOs Akins Vidale, President of the Trinidad Unified Farmers Assoc. Shiraz Khan, OWTU Education and Research Officer Rosa Whittier, and President of the Trinidad Youth Council Sean Nicholson.
Participants included students from schools in the San Fernando area and trade unionists, credit unionists, other citizens and members of NGOs. OWTU Chief Education and Research Officer, Ozzi Warwick was the chairperson for the programme.