VZCZCXRO2465
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHSP #0261 1691901
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181901Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY PORT OF SPAIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9899
RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS PORT OF SPAIN 000261 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON SCUL SOCI TD
SUBJECT: TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO'S SOCIAL SAFETY NET 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Trinidad's social safety net for adults able to 
work consists of two major work programs and a variety of training 
programs. While successful in alleviating extreme poverty, they have 
not lifted individuals permanently out of poverty nor made them self 
sufficient. The economic downturn may reduce GOTT's ability to pay 
for these programs. END SUMMARY 
 
Work Programs Don't Impart Skills 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Unemployment Relief Program (URP) and the 
Community-based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme 
(CEPEP) employ over 20,000 workers with limited skills and 
qualifications.  The typical employee is single, female, 42 years 
old, with primary level education, and the head of a four person 
household. Employees work in the mornings cleaning streets, 
sidewalks, public parks, and beaches of debris and dead animals, 
trimming weeds and clearing gutters.  The CPEP and URP workforce is 
64% Afro-Trinidadian, 13% Indo-Trinidadian, and 23% bi-racial. 
Currently, minimum wage in T&T is TT $9.00 per hour (US $1.50). 
Typically, employees work four hours and are paid between TT $9.00 
and TT $10.00 per hour for an eight hour day. 
 
¶3. (SBU) CEPEP and URP do not offer participants an opportunity to 
learn skills that will allow them to earn a living wage. 
Consequently, 49% of CEPEP and URP workers have been with the 
program for over four years, 30% do not believe they could find 
alternate employment, and 73% claim program wages are their sole 
source of income.  In a 2008 CEPEP Impact Report, GOTT claimed a net 
economic gain of TT$446 million based on the program's contribution 
to national welfare and the positive impact of training and 
"meaningful work" for those normally excluded from the formal 
economy. While URP offers specialized training programs such as the 
Women's Program and the Multi-Sector Skills Training Program (MuST); 
these "earn to learn" programs are widely seen as attractive 
alternatives to road cleanup and not as avenues to career 
development. 
 
Never-ending Training 
---------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) GOTT funds several training programs to help Trinbagonians 
secure or create employment.  The Youth Training and Employment 
Partnership Program (YTEPP) and the Youth Business in Trinidad and 
Tobago (YBTT) develop future entrepreneurs through classes and 
mentoring. Graduates of the programs are given a small business loan 
and continuous mentoring. However, many graduates continue to seek 
additional training with other government funded programs instead of 
starting a business. Business sector contacts complain there is 
little coordination between programs and little practical assistance 
for program participants to become entrepreneurs. 
 
Politics and Money 
------------------ 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) There is a strongly voiced general sentiment that CEPEP, 
URP, and training programs are strategies for the Peoples National 
Movement (PNM) to retain control of government by securing votes 
from the poor. Citizens complain that employees work only half of 
the day and are simply collecting checks.  Business owners claim 
that the programs are affecting the available work force by lowering 
demand for private sector employment. 
 
Social Programs May Be Unsustainable 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶5. (SBU) GOTT spent TT$1.2 billion on the CPEP program between 2002 
and 2007.  In 2007, GOTT spent TT $273.4 million on CEPEP.  GOTT 
expects to spend 13% of the national budget on social services and 
pensions in 2009.  Due to the economic downturn, GOTT was forced to 
reduce government spending by TT$5.3 billion in 2009.  Additionally, 
private companies are laying off employees due to decreased 
revenues.  In February 2009 over 2,000 jobs were reportedly lost in 
the construction sector alone.  Although Prime Minister Manning has 
publicly stated that social programs are not in danger, GOTT may be 
forced deeper into deficit spending to sustain their funding if the 
economy goes into recession by the third quarter of 2009, as some 
local economists continue to predict. 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT:  While T&T's social programs prevent some 
Trinidadians from living in extreme poverty, they are also creating 
a dependent population.  Post will continue to report on the 
effectiveness and sustainability of T&T's social safety net. END 
COMMENT. 
 
 
KUSNITZ