SUNDAY 3RD APRIL, 2016 – UWI TODAY
3
These were the thoughts I expressed at the State of the
Economy Symposium held at this campus recently. It is in
the same vein as what I said at the annual meeting of the
Campus Council a few days later.
For the past 55 years, the St. Augustine Campus has
sought to lay the groundwork and infrastructure for a
modern university whose research and graduates shine
like a beacon, producing the leaders of our societies and
guiding the people of the Caribbean towards a promising
future, despite the stormy financial environment.
The role of academia, especially in the instance of the
UWI, (as was once the case under the stewardship of our
former Dean of Engineering Professor Emeritus Kenneth
Julien) in the conceptualization and establishment of the
Pt. Lisas Industrial Estate, is again pivotal. This current
fiscal environment provides us with an opportunity to
demonstrate our value in playing a deliberate part in the
acquisition of new gains through our assertiveness, shaping
the future and in tapping into new potentials and horizons.
As Principal, and as a strong proponent for the conduct
of impactful research, I continue to stress that research and
development are central pillars of our University’s strategic
direction. It is what has distinguished us fromother tertiary
education institutions regionally. The UWI has over five
decades, improved the lives of people across the Caribbean
region. The innovation through research engaged at the
UWI, becomes even more critical as the region continues
to grapple with wealth creation, the environment, crime
and the challenges of an interconnected world.
Leveraging our University’s assets of Institutional
Intelligence and resourcefulness has, and will continue
to foster, considerable income generation in our country.
However, the thrust in doing so must incorporate the
building and strengthen of partnerships with the private
sector, governments, alumni, and regional and international
organisations.This is the only viable way forward andmuch
depends on our success. The time is now for us to embrace
the old adage:
All hands on deck!
OnMarch22,
the annual Campus
Council meeting took place at the
St. Augustine Campus. It is a time
of accounting for our studentship
of the Campus, and this year’s
meeting was no different as we
considered the University’s future
in a financially testing period.
However, what we have been
experiencing in the last year in
Trinidad and Tobago has been with us before, and as we
reflect on the history of the cyclical nature of the mainstay
of our economic support: energy, we are reminded of the
profound impact of its unpredictability on our overall
wellbeing as a nation.
In reflecting on this history, I recall that in 1970 a
barrel of oil was less than $5; with a subsequent increase to
$14 per barrel in 1974 with OPEC. In the 1970s, as a UWI
student, I witnessed the period of turbulence here that was
very challenging – driven by social and political issues, and
fuelled by economic imperatives.
From the late eighties to the early nineties, we saw
falling oil prices that resulted in great trials in our country.
Oil fell from $40 per barrel to less than $10 per barrel. We
also endured an attempted coup. In the world economic
crisis period of 2008, oil prices collapsed from a high of
$147 per barrel to a low of $32 per barrel. But by 2009 and
to late 2014, oil prices again rose to between $70-$120 per
barrel, before returning to the days we now face with oil
at $30-$40 per barrel. This can be seen as a fourth period
of decline.
We must ask these important questions. How long will
it last? What did history teach us? Where do we go now?
It is reasonable to conclude that Trinidad and Tobago,
even in the midst of an undulating commodity index, has
made progress in certain sectors. Our transition from oil,
to gas to petrochemicals and to steel, was substantial and
economically beneficial to our economy – even though this
industry is now being challenged by depleting resources in
the oil and gas sector and commodity prices for steel. With
the gas reserves in particular, being estimated at 12 trillion
cubic feet, to service an annual consumption rate of 1.5
trillion cubic feet; leaving us approximately eight years of
resources and this can prove challenging.
In the manufacturing sector, we became the leading
exporter ofmanufactured goods in the region; fewhave even
gone beyond, but it was driven by our low energy prices
in Trinidad and Tobago, enhancing our competitiveness.
However, this effort was also sustained by the rising level
of entrepreneurship and innovation that is seen in certain
quarters of our manufacturing sector.
It is my view, that in the last several years, we have
broken our stride and are more challenged now than ever
before, by not seizing the initiative to deepening our gains
in the areas just mentioned above. We have not widened
the base to create a diversified economy that explored new
areas and niches. I make direct reference to the areas of
food and agriculture, tourism and the service sectors, the
creative industries and the possibilities for growth in the
century of the green economy. We have lost valuable time
that could have been put to better use.
We must immediately construct a plan to take us
forward, by demonstrating an unwavering determination,
this time, to put processes in place that will create the
transformation that has become necessary. I envision the
establishment of a future, Vision/Strategic Implementation
Plan; one that conceptualizes the diversification model
that is required for the country. It must be a plan that has
successfully received the buy-in of all sectors of our society.
But more importantly, this approach can only be effective,
if this plan is enshrined in our legislative agenda, so that we
do not suffer the start-stop syndrome that is usually linked
to the political cycle of change.
EDITORIAL TEAM
CAMPUS PRINCIPAL
Professor Clement Sankat
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Dr Dawn-Marie De Four-Gill
EDITOR
Vaneisa Baksh • email:
CONTACT US
The UWI Marketing and Communications Office
Tel: (868) 662-2002, exts. 82013 / 83997 or email:
We have driven on these roads before
FROM THE PRINCIPAL
CLEMENT K. SANKAT
Pro Vice-Chancellor & Principal
Unless we stay a course and path towards sustainable
development and transformation that goes well beyond
a 4-5 year cycle, we will never be able to create the
environment that is beneficial for our children and their
children. A long purposeful and shared view of where we
want to be in 20 to 30 years’ time, in Trinidad and Tobago
and the region; is a matter of URGENCY.
Clearly, as it relates to the UWI, all these strategies to
possibly reconstruct the fabric of our financial structure will
have short and long-term effects on our institution. Once
more, as the leading regional higher education institution,
our primary objective remains the same, as we continue to
deliver what the region requires of us.
Unless we stay a course
and path towards
sustainable development
and transformation
that goes well beyond a
4-5 year cycle, we will
never be able to create
the environment that is
beneficial for our children
and their children.
