Marla suggests that after 6 years of borrowing to pay interest on loans the government of Trinidad and Tobago needs to engage a stringent debt management exercise; reimplement the foreign exchange auction mechanism which would allow for some slow and steady, manageable depreciation of the TT dollar relative to the U S dollar and reduce transfers and subsidies and the wage bill. In the absence of these and similar measures, she suggests that the country is heading for a balance of crisis.
Cultural advocate Rubadiri Victor comments that a 2016 Unesco report identified the global creative sector as an annual $2.2 trillion dollar industry and that Trinidad and Tobago has the potential to generate substantial income if the enabling environment is carefully curated. His advice to younger creatives is to understand our history and build their craft carefully and intentionally. In his words: “creatives have to apprentice, you align your brain, your head, your hand, to the geniuses of that craft locally”. He makes a plea for government to invest in the national trust and substantially increase their TT$ 1 million allocation to the film sector.
Dennise Demming 