By COREY CONNELLY Tuesday, September 22 2009

THE Opposition UNC is expected to focus on Government’s alleged mismanagement of the economy as well as its failure to address other issues affecting average citizens when debate on the 2009/2010 Budget kicks off in the Upper House today at 10 am.

The absence of stated measures to stem the worsening crime situation, which many felt was poorly addressed in the Budget, is also expected to receive some prominence in the debate.

Senate Minority Leader Wade Mark, who is expected to lead the Opposition’s onslaught, said the UNC was very concerned about many of the measures outlined in the September 7 Budget presentation.

“The UNC as a whole is very concerned about the continued mismanagement and incompetence demonstrated by the present administration and its manifest inability to fully appreciate the vulnerability and fragility of an open resource-based economy,” Mark said yesterday.

“This has resulted in a complete misjudgement of the environment and the consequential deep and unnecessary financial adjustments that the vast majority of people are being forced into,” he added.

Although Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira sought to clarify reasons for its delay last week, Mark said the party was also seriously concerned about what he considered to be the hoarding of vital information from the Parliament with respect to the publishing of the Review of the Economy.

“This has contributed to parliamentarians not being able to access the document which is crucial in properly understanding and analysing the performance of the national economy over the watch of the PNM over the past year,” he said.

Mark dismissed Standard & Poors recent favourable rating of the local economy, saying, “we believe that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. A word to the wise is enough, ‘Do not build your economy on quicksand. It will collapse’.”

The Opposition Senator said despite the international ratings agency’s stable economic forecast, “it is clear that the economy is in profound crisis.”

Mark said the party was of the view that most of the Government’s Budgetary numbers were inaccurate. “And, as such, we would not be surprised if she returns to the Parliament shortly to impose further burdens on an already battered and brutalised population,” he said.

Mark said the debate was expected to last three days. The $44.4 billion Budget was passed last week in the House of Representatives.