Digitisation, youth entrepreneurship, more investment for Tobago, retaining youth agricultural programmes, and the cost of feminine products were some of the topics up for discussion at the Parliament Youth Budget Talks on Thursday.
The five young men and women shared their views on what they would like to see Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo proclaim in the upcoming budget presentation in a discussion moderated by Independent Senator Dr. Marlene Attzs.
National Youth Advocate Darion Cupid had a strong opinion on the country’s digital future and the question of legalising cannabis.
“Digitisation and AI – I think that we are definitely behind in a lot of areas in the country in the sense that there’s a lot of friction in terms of always having to go to the office, calling a phone and no one’s answering, calling a phone that doesn’t ring, yeah. Less taboo around the topic, let’s have an educated discussion on it. A country in a deficit shouldn’t be burning millions of dollars in cannabis.”
Youth Parliament alumnus Jhada Charles called for the government to prioritise the opening of the new airport in Tobago to boost tourism revenue.
“Tobago boasts of beauty, our coastline and our marina, and I think that if we could get the investment in a marina in Tobago, that is going to boost our economy. It’s going to boost our foreign exchange, especially because of Tobago’s location underneath the hurricane belt. We can see a great boost in the economy from the yachting industry. Persons, a lot of persons from the small islands, they have boats, they have big yachts. Why can’t we have somewhere to house these things and earn money? That also creates jobs for the young people.”
Another Youth Parliament alumnus, Kriss Hosein, asked that agriculture and education be carefully evaluated before changes are considered.
“So, outside of the Homestead project, one of the other things I would like to see at least remain in its current format would be GATE. I know that this incoming administration would have indicated on various forums that they intend to expand GATE. Now I don’t know how big that expansion could be maybe it might be at the Master’s level, and if it is so, I still think a means test should be utilised.”
In the area of small and medium enterprises – a growth area attracting youth – National Youth Advocate Nicholai Rampersad called on the government to offer more assistance.
“Let’s get programmes involved to help these young people, one, with the information being available and two, with the grants. Sometimes grants are so tedious to access, in terms of the process itself and the information that’s required. Let’s have, if the process is to remain the same, let’s have these workshops. But definitely I want to see more grants geared toward young persons fostering that entrepreneurial spirit.”
National Youth Advocate Soleil-Marie Collins raised a sensitive issue that affects more than 50 per cent of the population.
“Menstrual products, whether it be liners, tampons, pads, they are quite expensive, and this is something a female has to deal with on a monthly basis, so it’s not to say that ‘oh it is a by the way, we have to purchase.’ This is a necessity for us in our everyday lives. So that should be taken into account, especially with taxes placed on it.”
In their contributions, one area on which the entire group unanimously agreed was the need for a representative body for youth that is independent of government control.