Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has issued a statement defending her Government’s approach to social spending, saying citizens who repeatedly make poor personal choices should not expect the state to support them indefinitely using taxpayer funds.

“Everyone makes mistakes, but citizens who continuously make bad life decisions should not expect the state to use hardworking taxpayers’ money to support them in perpetuity,” the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar argued that citizens who make responsible life decisions, follow the law, make personal and professional sacrifices for self-improvement, and pay their fair share to the state should not see their tax dollars used to fund what she described as “politically motivated government programmes” aimed at repeatedly bailing out people who made poor personal choices.