Minimum Standards are to be met. The Minimum Standards encompass the following eight critical areas: registration and licensing of Early Childhood Care and Education Centers; staffing; early childhood development practices; standards for EC environments for children from birth to three years; appropriate EC standards for children three to five years of age; record-keeping; health and safety standards; and the physical environment. There is strong leadership in support of EC policy and of supportive management structures. 2.30
Water infrastructure, in particular, requires special attention. About 90% of the population has access to a public water supply and 20% to a conventional sewage system. However, water supply is not adequate and wastewater treatment plants do not operate properly for lack of maintenance. WASA, the Water and Sewage Authority, was operated from 1996 to 1999 under a management contract with a private operator. However, the Government did not see fit to renew this contract and control of WASA operations reverted to the old public model. Government has yet to commit to increased participation of the private sector to improve services. Nonetheless, it does seem amenable to private sector participation through BOLT-type contracts--build, operate, lease and transfer--particularly for the construction, operation and maintenance of wastewater treatment plants and the outsourcing of meter installation and billing systems.
2.31
Lack of security is a growing problem for the citizens of T&T. After almost a decade of steady decline in the rate of serious crimes, kidnappings, wounding and shootings increased over 100% since 1998; murder rates increased over 75% and rapes over 8%. Domestic violence is an additional concern. Recent evidence from the region shows unequivocally that violence slows economic growth and impedes social development. The most obvious cost of violence is the value of resources used to treat its consequences; these are related to increased expenditures in health services as a result of violence. Less obvious, but perhaps more important, is the impact on economic growth that is generated by the effect of violence on incomes and on investment and productivity. Incomes are affected by violence as employees decide to work fewer hours or are less willing to work at dangerous times or in dangerous neighborhoods. III. PAST STRATEGY AND PORTFOLIO ISSUES
A.
Assessment of past strategy
3.1
The last Country Paper for Trinidad and Tobago was approved in 1997. It identified the following main development challenges: (i) to promote sustainable economic growth and diversification; (ii) to reduce unemployment and poverty; (iii) to reform the public sector; and (iv) to improve natural resource management and environmental protection. The Bank’s strategy has been targeted to help address these challenges, focusing on priority areas where the Bank’s support would have greatest impact.
3.2
In many respects, the Bank has been only partially effective in implementing its strategy since 1997, especially with respect to the lending program. Of the 9 operations identified in the 1997 CP, only one--Secondary Education--was approved. All the others were dropped due to a combination of factors including re-thinking of sector strategy 10