By Sue-Ann Wayow
MEMBERS of the public can now access services at the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) offices even if they are wearing short pants, slippers or sleeveless garments.
This was announced by THA’s Chief Secretary Farley Augustine during a post-executive Council media briefing on Sunday who said Tobago was a tropical island and dress codes must be reasonable and not continue to follow colonial days.
Workers at the THA offices will continue to maintain full professional wear, he said.
And according to Covid-19 protocols, the mask must be worn at all times.
The media briefing took place after a five-day retreat at Rovanel’s Resort and Conference Centre in Bon Accord.
Augustine said, “Effective immediately, we will be asking the Chief Administrator to send out a circular notifying a change in policy with regard to seeking services in a THA office. This is not for workers, this is for the public.
“As public servants, we will all serve the people. The entities like schools and other specialised areas, they will all retain their dress code. For the general divisions of the THA we will be removing that dress-code policy. You can see a relaxing of that policy.”
The Chief Secretary said the former dress policy represented a form of colonialism and should no longer exist.
“It is about shaking off the vestiges of colonialism that we have held on to for dear life. No one can convince me that in the tropics we ought to turn people back because they may be wearing a slipper. That can’t be reasonable,” Augustine said.
He added, “The taxpayers are paying us. We, the public servants,will dress up. We will dress professionally and serve the people however they come.”
Augustine related reports of persons being debarred from buildings because of the way they were dressed which according to him was “ridiculous.”
