Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC is insisting that Government revenues must be used to benefit law-abiding, honest citizens and should not be used to provide welfare to failing State-run businesses.
In a social media post on Thursday, the Prime Minister defended Government’s plan to divest loss-making State Enterprises.
She claimed that Lake Asphalt went from having TT$279.34 million in cash reserves in 2015 to just TT$3,400 in 2025 under the previous administration.
Mrs Persad-Bissessar said that the company is now bankrupt and alleged that hundreds of millions of dollars in cash, assets and retained earnings were lost over the ten-year period.
“The company is now BANKRUPT. Over the same time period the value of the company’s assets declined by 169 million dollars, from 399.47 million to 229.8 million. The retained earnings went from 173.96 million to 1.37 million dollars, a decline of 172.59 million. The previous board also paid a foreign company 21 million TT or 3 million US dollars for bitumen that has never been delivered. That is the legacy of the PNM and State Enterprises.”
She argued that taxpayer funds should be used to benefit citizens rather than support failing State Enterprises.
“Taxpayer money is to be used to improve the lives of the taxpayers, not to give welfare to PNM party hacks, the eat a food fake elite and the local drug mafia. The government will divest loss making state enterprises, they will not be left for the PNM to thief out for years to come.”