When one of the United States founding fathers said “nothing is certain except death and taxes”, the latter might have well been referring to our annual fiscal budget. Among the key decisions taken by the Government, as outlined by Finance Minister Colm Imbert, are the price increases in fuel and as well as implementation of property taxes.

Although these revenue-collection procedures were expected, particularly considering how heavily dependent our economy is on oil and natural gas, it didn’t stop what I imagine was a collective groan that might have reverberated throughout both islands when Imbert announced a $1 increase in super and premium gasoline, and a 50-cent increase in diesel. Added to this was a renewed commitment to commencing the collection of property tax which Imbert declared was “on track”.

During the 2023 Budget Statement, Imbert alluded to growth in GDP by 34 per cent since 2020, from $142 billion to an estimated $190 billion. Imbert went on to say our per-capita GDP has increased from US$15,000 in September 2020 to US$19,500 in September 2022—among the highest in the region. According to Imbert, our economic growth sustained over the past seven years, since 2015, has contributed to our nominal GDP being the highest it has been since we became an independent country. Coincidentally, 2015 was the year the People’s National Movement came into governance.

Now, these numbers may mean absolutely nothing to you, and that’s precisely the point. Despite the latest Budget Statement attempting to give the impression that our country is performing well amid global economic challenges, the reality is that we the people have not felt the impacts of this performance. There continues to be a disconnect between politics and the people. This is ironic because at every campaign rally, during every election, we are told politics is about the people.

As much as the Government continues to attempt a reduction of expenditure through means of revenue collection, there must always be an attempt to innovate for the sake of a better quality of life. The innovation I speak of isn’t the Diego Martin Overpass which will serve commuters to the Western peninsula, or the creation of new agencies such as the Trinidad and Tobago Revenue Authority, Gambling Control Commission and Trinidad and Tobago Mortgage Bank. With the formation of these agencies comes a larger public-sector payroll and the potential for ethical misconduct.

Balancing a nation’s fiscal responsibility with the citizens’ quality of life is a difficult act. Difficult, but not impossible. Two sectors in particular that could be focused on to innovate and ultimately contribute to revenue, as well as improve our quality of life, are the Transportation and Digitisation ministries.

One method of innovation that was tried and failed involved the ridesharing taxi company, Uber. In 2018, after just over one year, Uber decided to pause operations in T&T. The company stated that T&T lacked “a proper environment for innovation and technology to thrive”. While Uber is hardly one to judge what is proper, given repeated class action lawsuits and multiple allegations of sexual assault, it nonetheless remains that innovation and technology were singled out as the main reasons for their withdrawal.

In the Budget Statement, Imbert dedicated significant time to “modernising our economy and placing greater use on digital technology”. Some of the digital measures include software solutions via a “Developer’s Hub”, integrated access to Government services across ministries and agencies through the “National E-Identify and interoperability Solutions” initiative, and the “PARLOUR” e-commerce platform which provides local and regional artisans and makers of craft with a larger market for their products.

Of all the services outlined by Imbert in the Budget Statement, none deals with digitising our transportation system. Uber might have been a failed project, but that does not mean the local ­ride-share equivalents have to be as well. Alternatives such as Drop, TT RideShare and Caribbean Taxi can be supported through further digitisation.

To balance the price increase in fuel, the Government should consider improving access to, and encouraging, public transportation through a merged initiative between the Transportation and Digitisation ministries. Such an initiative will benefit the entire country—not just a few who occupy the Western peninsula.

Another measure that can benefit the entire population involves the GPS tagging of both taxis and “PH” taxis. I’ll admit this measure is one for the long-term future. But, given the initiatives taken by the Government to set up an extensive property tax collection through a broad legal structure that includes a valuation tribunal, the first step can be taken to commission a study of GPS tagging of taxis. The major benefit of this is a safer public transportation system because commuters can actively share the location of a taxi.

While the Government has labelled the theme of the 2023 fiscal budget “Tenacity and Stability in the Face of Global Challenges”, to the man on the street the theme may well be “fuel prices and more taxes”. Although digitisation formed a great deal of the Budget Statement, there are yet-to-be-seen innovative measures that allow citizens a better quality of life, either through more reliable public transportation or greater safety when commuting.

—Author Jarrel De Matas is a PhD candidate and teaching associate, Department of English, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.