THE citizens of Trinidad and Tobago especially those who care about the environment are not to be blamed for putting a dent into diversification projects that would eventually be harmful to nature.
Corporate Secretary of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) Gary Aboud slammed Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley for admonishing citizens for opposing against People’s National Movement (PNM) plans for projects such as the aluminium smelter plant and the Sandals resort in Tobago.
In a press release on Wednesday, Aboud said the topic of economic diversification was a longstanding one for politicians from both sides but never sustainable.
He said, “PM Rowley chastised the public but never consulted us on how we wish to sustainably diversify our economy.”
Dr Rowley, at the sod-turning ceremony for the new Desperadoes pan theatre on Nelson Street, Port-of-Spain, had said he hoped entertainment would assist in diversification and lamented about major projects that could have been.
Quoting from PNM’s first leader and prime minister Dr Eric Williams, that democracy, finally, rests on a higher power than Parliament which was an informed, cultivated and alert public opinion, Aboud said at no time, the public was ever consulted to chart a way forward for the country.
Aboud said, “Had this been done, PM Rowley would know that our population largely opposed the smelter plant because of cancerous health implications. Also, the public opposed the Sandals resort because of imminent threats to our fishery, mangrove and Buccoo Reef. We have grown weary of the promise of a booming ‘tourism’ industry that like Hilton and Hyatt are a prestigious drain on our treasury. Most importantly, he would know that our citizenry has grown weary of convoluted ‘kick back’ schemes that continue to escalate in the absence of a strong procurement law which line friends and financier’s pockets rather than sustainably develop our country.”
He said the prime minister was instead wrong in his previous planning and his recent statements.
Aboud said, Sandals would not have diversified Tobago, but instead, made Tobago more dependent on a single industry – tourism which has a bleak future and collapsing in the evolving pandemic and the Chatham smelter would have been reliant on subsidised natural gas which today was in short supply.
“Until our leaders are able to meaningfully consult with our best minds, we will continue to suffer the consequences of advisors without experience, of decisions without logic, and of investments that, like many before, are doomed to drain our national treasury,” Aboud said.
