Birchwood: No apprenticeship programmes targeting at-risk youth in budget

News Jada Loutoo 11 Hrs Ago

Laventille East/Morvant MP Christian Birchwood

Laventille East/Morvant MP Christian Birchwood says the 2026 national budget is devoid of apprenticeship initiatives linking youths in at-risk communities to state-funded projects.

In his contribution to the budget debate in the House of Representatives on October 17, Birchwood alluded to Finance Minister Davendranath Tancoo’s statement, in the $59.2 billion fiscal package, about contractions in the labour market.

“The Minister of Finance stated that estimates over the past decade show a contraction of nearly 70,000 jobs and labour force participation has fallen from roughly 62 per cent to below 55 per cent.

“Well, Madam Deputy Speaker (Dr Aiyna Ali), I believe we must measure the true impact of this government and their employment initiatives against those numbers. This is how we hold them accountable,” he said.

Birchwood, an engineer, asked, “Where, in this new budget, are the targeted apprenticeship programmes and community job centres that connect young people from high-need districts directly to projects funded by the State?”

He then urged Tancoo to ensure that people from Laventille and surrounding communities are employed on infrastructure and development programmes across the north-west corridor.

“We want our welders from Morvant, our tradesmen from Mon Repos, we want our joiners from Cipriani Avenue. We want our young graduates from Success/Laventille village.”

Birchwood said his people on the ground has already begun to report “a lot of contrary.

“So without this deliberate linkage between public spending and local participation, this employment fund risks becoming distant line items rather than engines of empowerment.”

He said as the country moves away from the Cepep and URP models towards the Employment Fund, “we must guard against bureaucracy and ensure fair access for single-parent households, micro-entrepreneurs and youth start-ups.”

Birchwood said the people of Laventille East/Morvant have always been patient.

“We know what it is to wait for a road to be repaired, for a bridge to be secured, a drain to be cleared. Infrastructure is not supposed to be an abstract statistic. It must bring dignity to those on the ground. It must.”