a fe a ee ve TOMNMOMMORNMTOTOMTOM TOT AOMOMT MO MUANTTIOM TRO TNO UUT MENT TM CURA OOHAU MOOD BOTAT VENT TUAITAR TAT AQ ATIC (| 6 alli 4 NATIVE PEOPLES TAKE CAUSE TO UN ‘Entire country participates in economic planning MOSCOW — The draft report to be given to the upcom- ing 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on economic and social questions is now the subject of country-wide discussions. The Soviet press reports that more than one. million proposals are in on subjects raised in the report from meet- ings of CPSU bodies at all levels which are taking place to consider plans and elect new leading committees. The draft report shows that during that 10th Five Year Plan (1976-1980) the country’s national income rose by 400 billion roubles (1 rouble = $1.76 Can.); industrial produc- tion jumped by 717 billion roubles and industrial production went up by 50 billion roubles. The report indicates that four-fifths of the national income was channelled into con- sumption, housing and social and cultural construction. In its mass of detailed facts concerning all economic sectors, the draft shows that the real per capita income of Soviet citizens increased by 17% over the past five years. PHOTO — TASS Native peoples from the U.S. and Canada rallied outside the United Nations building in New York to bring public attention to their plight. Indians from Canada were protesting revisions in the constitution which they charge will result in their annihilation as distinct peoples. U.S. Indians were completing a six month march across the This direct income hike was added to by corresponding increases in the ‘‘social consumption fund’’ — free educa- tion, medical services, pensions, etc. The report showed, however, that growth problems re- main: not all industries met their assigned targets, waste and material losses were reduced too slowly and alternative resources poorly used. It cites deficiencies in transport and says that improvements in efficiency, management and planning lagged behind real needs. The 11th Five Year Plan In the sections of the report looking toward the 11th Five Year Plan (1981-85) continued emphasis will be given to increasing the country’s material and cultural standards. . The plan is to boost the national income by 18-20% by an improvement in labor effectiveness, a more rational use of material, labor and financial resources and a better integra- tion of scientific and technological breakthroughs. This section outlines in detail-the application of the immense strength of the Soviet economy and includes a section on needed changes and improvements, target planning and management. The 37,000-word report then breaks down the economic and social areas which form parts of the overall plan. Sec- tion three, for example, outlines steps for the development of science and technology; section four with the develop- ment of industry and section five with agriculture. There’s a section on transport and communications, one on capital construction and another on environmental pro- tection. The report has a lengthy section on improvement of administration and management and another dealing with the development of the republics. One of the immediate characteristics of the report is its critical and realistic approach coupled with concrete prop- osals in every section. Another is its optimistic tone, its confidence in the people. This is seen in the conclusions: ‘‘To carry out the tasks set forth, we must effectively use the inexhaustible forces of: the Soviet system, the tremendous productive, scientific and technological potential and the rich national resources of our country, and drastically raise the efficiency of pro- duction ... ‘ “Work is the only source of multiplying national wealth. Society can distribute only what has been produced. That is why the higher the productivity, the greater the might of our country, the fuller the satisfaction of personal and social requirements and the higher the living standards of our people.” : Small wonder, then, that the entire Soviet people are involved directly in discussions on the draft report which will form the guidelines for the USSR’s economic and social progress in the years ahead. It is important to consider, too, that not only is every Soviet citizen keenly interested in these questions, but that for months leading up to the 26th CPSU Congress which opens on Feb. 23, hundreds of thousands of meetings are taking place at which each per- son’s input is seen not only as a right, but as a responsibility. ss a * country. Called the March for Survival its aim was to publicize the destitute living conditions ofthe Indian people. _ Trinidad’s prosperity — doesn’t reach its people By NORMAN FARIA PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad — It is now 10 years since the spectacular ‘‘Black Power”’ revolt shook the bastions of power in what is described as the most prosperous in the Anglophone Caribbean communi- ty. : Back in April, 1970 thousands of Trinidadians took to the streets to call for the taking over of the major industries, including the Canadian commercial banks on the island, as well as other economic reforms. They took to the streets then to campaign for an end to unemployment, high prices and cultural imperialism. Critics of the Eric Williams government, which has been enconsced in the island’s Parliament for the last 25 years, say little has changed for the working people in this former British colony since then. On the surface, Trinidad and Tobago (Trinago for short) is prosperous by Caribbean standards: foreign reserves have now reached TT$5.3-billion (One USS. dollar = TT$2.40) and last year’s trade surplus was $1,070-million. The island’s fertile oil fields largely account for this state of affairs (proven reserves of 750 million barrels plus some 12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas yet to be tapped). The People’s National Movement (PNM) of Wil- Jiams has earmarked some of this fuel for a sprawling industrial estate at Point Lisas where aluminum, steel, fertilizer and other industries are now coming on stream. However, there are rumblings about whether the benefits from these new industries will filter down to the island’s one million people, the majority of whom are of African and East Indian descent. The apparent contradiction between the publicized and the actual distribution ofthis wealth is no more clearly spelled out than in the ‘‘declared war’’ on the government by the island’s powerful Oilfield Workers’ Trade Union (OWTU). The union, which played a majorroleinthe 1970upheavals, iscurrently fightingthe ee = PNM’s move to restrict union representation at the industrial park. "3 The government has cleverly passed an order mak- ing the TT$800-million Iron and Steel plant an essen- tial industry. Under the island’s Industrial Relations Act, workers at the plant cannot join a union already involved in another essential industry. Backing up the union is the United Labor Front, a badly split coalition of socialist groups. Once the offi- cial opposition to Williams, the ULF is now divided into two factions: one led by sugar workers’ union head Basdeo Panday and a former army officer who was among the leaders of the 1970 events, Raffiue Shah. The factions now spend their time bickering with each other and carrying on extra parliamentary work. Like most West Indian islands, with the exception of Cuba, the unemployment level is well over 10% of the labor force. In Trinago, a 4,823 square kilometre (1,863 square miles) tropical island sighted by Christ- opher Columbus in 1498, the official figure is 11.9% (down from 14.1% in 1978) but this figure is widely dismissed by anti-Williams forces here. Aside from the traditional problems with telephone and water services, the inefficiency of which are the subject of standard jokes in the region, the housing situation is particularly bad. A national housing short- — age has resulted in comfortable flats renting for up to $1,000-$2,000 per month — well out of the reach of, for example, some categories of domestic servants who may bring home $120 per month. As the island celebrates its 18th year of indepen- dence, the Williams government is cynically respond- ing to what some people call the national mood of uneasiness and desperation with silence — the same cold shoulder treatment (even refusing to reply to official correspondence) the government extends to the new revolutionary state in neighboring Grenada. With elections constitutionally due next year, Wil- liams’ PNM will have to open up to face these com- plaints. Among the issues which will certainly need some explaining: the alleged payment of U.S. $575,000 to unknown persons in the island by the U.S. aircraft manufacturer McDonnel Douglas in connec- tion with the sale of three jets to the state owned carrier BWIA. Another problem area expected to demand atten- tion in the forthcoming elections is the demand of more autonomy for the outlying island of Tobago, which together with the larger island, Trinidad, forms the Republic. Residents of Tobago, a 300-square kilometre coral formation lying 33 kilometres north- east of the main island, complain of a cost of living 300% higher than that of the mainland. Moreover, Tobagionians presently cannot even obtain simple documents like driving licenses in their island. For a long time the islanders on Tobago have also asked the Williams government to investigate the er- ratic state run cargo services from Trinidad, a state of affairs which because a lot of the cargo now comes in through unrealiable and small scale private vessels, has resulted in unnecessary markups on such staple supplies as bottled cooking gas.