SCARBOROUGH, Tobago – The Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Farley Augustine says he will establish a special team to address the issue of autonomy for Tobago.
In an address to Tobagonians on the issue of autonomy on Sunday night, Augustin said the team conducting the public discussions will be apolitical and will be led by former University of the West Indies (UWI) lecturer, Dr Winford James.
“They will speak to you, the public, in the coming weeks. Also this coming week, my office will dispatch to the prime minister, the leader of the opposition and all individual members of the independent bench of the Senate.
“I will be inviting them and their charges to conversations with Tobago on this important matter,” he said, adding that the THA will be releasing a docu-series detailing the history of Tobago’s quest for autonomy.
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said recently that it is the intention of his ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) administration to bring to Parliament the two autonomy bills now before the joint select committee of Parliament for a vote early in the current session of the Parliament.
But Augustine made it clear that Tobago would not accept anything inferior to what was proposed back in 2013.
“We Tobagonians were told we should reject (then prime minister) Kamla’s (Persad Bissessar) 2013 bill for something better and we agreed. We listened to pur leaders in Tobago then and overwhelmingly Tobago rejected Kamla’s bill by giving all 12 seats to the leaders of Tobago then.
“Today, the leaders of Tobago then are the leaders of the country at Port of Spain now and I dare say we will not accept any bill ….that offers less than what we rejected in 2013, because 2013 provisions were inadequate.
“Further, I must remind everyone that the founding father of our nation stated “I hope I do not go too far in suggesting that Tobago as an island cannot simply be put in the same footing as the county council of Caroni (in Trinidad), Victoria or some other part or district of Trinidad”
While he admitted that the definition of Tobago is a controversial one, Augustine nevertheless insisted that it is a must in the quest for autonomy.
“The Constitution in sections 11 and 12 clearly state the nation formally known as the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago comprises the island of Trinidad and the island of Tobago without specifying the boundaries of either.
“This call for delineation is therefore within the purview of the constitutional provisions and merely seek greater clarity for the purpose of effective administration over the respective islands,” the THA Chief Secretary said.
He told Tobagonians that the same people, who in 2013 were leading Tobago and were demanding that the Kamla bill should give Tobago 200 miles “are the same ones hypocritically demanding that Tobago should accept less today.”
In January 2013, then prime minister Persad Bissessar dismissed suggestions that her coalition People’s Partnership government was introducing legislation to grant greater autonomy to Tobago ahead of the January 21 election for control of the THA.
But then opposition leader Rowley described the proposed amendment to the Trinidad and Tobago Constitution as a “fish with feathers” and reiterated that the PNM would not support the initiative that needs a special majority in the Parliament to get the green light.
Persad Bissessar told legislators that the legislation is in keeping with the policies outlined by her coalition government when it campaigned for the May 24, 2010, general election and was not intended to influence voters in the sister isle to support the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) a, coalition partner that is seeking to topple the PNM after 12 years in charge of the 12-member THA.
Augustine in his broadcast on Sunday said that former president and prime minister, the late ANR Robinson, who was part of the coalition government, had stressed that internal self-government was a rights issue, adding that Tobago wanted to make a more meaningful contribution to the nation of Trinidad and Tobago.
But he said while his administration is conscious of the need to reserve the state of Trinidad and Tobago, the next generation may not be as patient. (CMC)
