The Tobago road to Self Government

over the past two weeks have fuelled hope that the long journey towards self government for Tobago is closer to the final destination.

After months of delay and dithering, Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar has finally agreed to Chief Secretary Orville London’s most reasonable proposal that a Central Government team should meet with a team representing the Tobago House of Assembly and the Forum of Political Parties to discuss and make final decisions on the self government issue.


The respective teams have been selected and the selection processes have been particularly revealing. The Prime Minister initially appointed Ministers Ganga Singh, Delmon Baker, Lincoln Douglas and Devant Maharaj as members of the government team and then belatedly, recommended Tobago lawyer Christo Gift and TOP leader Ashworth Jack, as advisers. Not surprisingly, the Tobago team includes Chief Secretary Orville London; former Minister of Government and Parliamentary Representative Stanford Callender, representing the People’s National Movement; former Chief Secretary Hochoy Charles, political leader of the Tobago Platform of Truth (TPT) and Allan Richards, the long serving retired Chief Administrator of the Tobago House of Assembly. Senior Council Gilbert Peterson and young attorney Ingrid Melville have also been selected as advisors to the Tobago team. The Forum should be commended for extending an invitation to Ashworth Jack, political leader of the Tobago Organisation of the People. Jack had blanked the Forum, after attending the first meeting at Mt Irvine, more than a year ago. Since that time, the members were involved in the hosting of 12 consultations with the various sectors; four regional meetings, including a meeting at St Augustine in Trinidad; a massive convention at the Signal Hill Senior Comprehensive School and the recent public meeting at the Penny Savers Car Park. It was also reported that the members of the Forum met on 24 occasions and the leaders Orville London, Neil Wilson and Hochoy Charles held exclusive sessions among themselves, a further 11 times.


Despite Jack’s deliberate snub, the Forum displayed maturity and maintained its commitment to the united Tobago approach by inviting him to be a full fledged member of the team. His response is mind boggling, but revealing. As political leader of one of the major political parties on the island, Jack not only refused the offer to represent his party supporters but actually accepted the offer from the Prime Minister to be an advisor to the Government team. The Tobago Council supports the position of Tobago political leader and Chief Secretary Orville London who admonished Jack for his acceptance of a demotion from full representative to advisor and his betrayal of all of Tobago by opting to sit with the government, rather than with his fellow Tobagonians, at this critical juncture in the deliberations. It is difficult to envisage how Jack and the Tobago Organisation of the People could restore confidence among the Tobago people whom they continue to betray, in so many ways.


Tobago will deal with Jack and therefore, the Council urges the Tobago team to ignore his betrayal and focus on the challenging negotiations ahead. They are the real representatives of Tobago and they have to ensure that the demands of the Tobago people form the basis for any agreement reached with the Central Government team. We have come to this point because of their commitment and resilience over the past year during which they surmounted the criticisms of the cynics and naysayers who not only ridiculed them continuously, but postulated that the process would flounder.  It is now 47 years since the late Arthur N Robinson piloted the motion for Tobago self government in the national parliament. After close to five decades, Robinson’s dream remains unfulfilled and the present opportunity must not be lost. All the parties have made public commitments to Tobago self government and they must now “walk the talk”.


We, as Tobagonians, must send a clear signal that if they do not “walk the talk”, they will pay the price.  The Forum has recommended that the first meeting should be held at the Mt Irvine Bay Hotel on Monday February 23 and the information is that the Prime Minister’s preference is for a March 2 meeting at the Magdalena Hotel. The Council’s position is that, regardless of the date of the first meeting, the teams should focus on completing its deliberations and reporting to the island and the country within the 60 days recommended by the Tobago team. We have waited too long. Now has to be the time.
thetobagonews.com

and become its own country

We have waited too long. Now has to be the time.

In 2001 when the People’s National Movement swept to power in Tobago, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) was embroiled in a viscous battle for turf and respect.

Being the smaller island with none of the primary engines of government based here, Tobago received the shorter end of the stick. Then Chief Secretary Hochoy Charles had minimal resources to manage the affairs of Tobago and workers were protesting the late payment of salaries. When the Orville London administration assumed office, it was faced with the same contentious and vexing issue of negotiating with Central Government. At that time, London did not choose to have a war of words as his predecessor did, but he negotiated his way to a better relationship with the central government-albeit that the fiscal parameters pursued by the Hochoy Charles administration vis–à–vis the Dispute resolution Commission soon took effect.


Given all that was said above, as Tobagonians we must determine the best approach to acquiring the greater autonomy for Tobago which we are presently pursuing. The situation that exists is as such that two of the major parties in Tobago and other Tobagonians have come together (as the Forum) to present an official Tobago position for the issue of democratic self-government. On the other hand, there is Ashworth Jack, who remains one of the leaders of the People’s Partnership Government; a coalition which promised in its manifesto to deliver the long-awaited constitutional changes to facilitate greater autonomy for Tobago. Then, there is the Minister of Tobago Development, Dr. Delmon Baker, who has been spearheading a set of consultations geared toward garnering views of Tobagonians on the matter.


In response to the request by the Chief Secretary and the Forum to further discuss the matter, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced last week that she has pulled together a committee (including Ashworth Jack and Dr. Baker) to represent the government. The fact that the Tobagonians were on the ‘government’s side’ did not go down well with the Tobago politicians. One must question why should this be a major challenge to our focus of achieving greater autonomy? Should it not be to Tobago’s benefit that two of our own are part of the government’s team? As far as Tobago is concerned, Ashworth Jack and Dr. Baker now have a greater responsibility to ensure that Tobago gets what it wants. When the bilateral meetings are over, the two sons of the soil must go back to the People’s Partnership caucus and argue Tobago’s case.


What is imperative at this stage is for the Forum and the two Tobago government representatives to come up with a compromise of what exactly Tobago wants and what is realistic at this time. It is not the time for political bantering and undertones. This time requires political tact; it requires unity of the Tobago voice and not fragmentation. Given the present composition of parliament, it is clear that Tobago needs the support of both sides of the House for our desires to be realized.
Let us put aside our differences (and political legacies and ambitions) and work together for this important cause.
thetobagonews.com

are you against Tobago breaking away from the federation?

ok i see your point.  ;D

Sometime ago I had cause to ask the Chief Secretary what have the people of Tobago done to be treated in the manner in which they are being treated by the Executive Council. Today I am constrained to ask the same of the Prime Minister (PM).

I am compelled to revisit “Bloody Monday” and examine how the TOP and the people of Tobago by extension have been relegated to the latrine of the Prime Minister with the full blessings of the TOP leader.


The most notable dismissal as far as all Tobagonians were concerned was that of the Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security Mr Embau Moheni, the only government voice from Tobago in the Upper House without a Tobago replacement.


Here we had a situation where the worst government in the history of Trinidad and Tobago is clearly wounded, and needs the support of the two Tobago seats to prop it up, yet the Prime Minister went ahead in the most reckless manner and removed the only Tobago government Senator (out of a total of 16), and to the surprise of almost every right thinking Tobagonian, the TOP boss is not uncomfortable. Is he telling Tobagonians that Tobago does not deserve at least one out of 16 Senators? Interestingly, the Draft Green Paper on the new Constitutional arrangement for Tobago proposed Senator(s) for Tobago as of right. Is he now telling Tobagonians that as (the new Advisor to the Government on the constitutional arrangement for Tobago), the particular recommendation contained in the Green Paper was not worth the paper on which it was written? Is he now telling Tobagonians that former temporary Senator Sherry Anne Rollocks Hackett is not good enough? Is he now telling Tobagonians that former Assemblyman Rolly Quaccoo is not good enough? Is he now telling Tobagonians that the young and brilliant Joseph Frederick and Tracey Tobias are not good enough? How in the name of God or man could Ashworth walk away with nothing (apart from his own appointment as Advisor) after such a major Cabinet reshuffle at a time when the TOP and Tobago had the ideal opportunity to wine on the head of the Prime Minister when she is out partying like ah Boss? If that’s his reasoning, it stands to reason that Tobago does not need any police stations, any fire stations, integrated campus, or additional constitutional powers.


All right thinking Tobagonians must frown upon such a travesty where Tobago does not have a Government voice in the upper house, and must be viewed as nothing short of contempt regardless of the expressed satisfaction by the TOP Leader. What must be equally interesting is that there is absolutely no evidence that there was any form of compromise or horse trading. If there was, by the very least, Minister Toppin should have been reinstated to the Cabinet as probably the new Sports Minister, especially when one considers the rationale given by Ganga Singh to Mr. Hamel Smith for his removal (which is to expose prospective candidates). I would have had no problem if Mr. Sancho was made her junior. From all appearances, Minister Toppin may be the only person willing to run on a TOP ticket. She has clearly paid her dues for any apparent wrong doing in the Credit Card issue (which has now become a non-issue) given what we now know has been taking place among some of the others like Larry Howai, Wade Mark, Vasant Bharath and others. The problem that Mrs. Toppin had is that we in Tobago do not understand money. In addition, we held her to an extremely high moral, ethical and behavioural standard, ignoring the environment in which she was put to function. This is in no way to suggest that we should condone any apparent misbehavior. We in Tobago abused her for months over sixty-eight stinking thousand dollars, (pocket change) and turned a blind eye to some in Government who are shoveling and excavating in excess of $68,000,000.00 from the treasury.


I hate to quote former Assemblyman Carlyle Dick (who is surely not my favourite person); however, he is on record as saying that Tobago has a high price to pay for the manner in which Mrs. Toppin was treated. The issue of the Singh building for her Ministry’s office while she was the Minister of Tobago Development is a classic case in point. After the Island Council of the TOP was successful in getting the Cabinet to set aside the approval for Minister Toppin to have the use of the building, we turned around and gave the same building to Delmon Baker and gave an insignificant reason for the change of heart. If there was ever an injustice done to this Minister, this was it.


Today as May 24th 2015 approaches, the questions remain, who speaks for Tobago in Port of Spain and what has Tobago benefitted from their now unholy alliance with the PP Government, as the TOP and Tobago Forwards continue to facilitate the Partnership Government and compete for the ear of the PM. Delmon Baker is struggling for survival and now playing a political acrobat, with one leg in the TOP and the other in the Tobago Forward. All the evidence suggests that representation is certainly not his primary focus-re-election is. Mrs. Vernella Toppin on the other hand, was reduced to being the ‘Food Card Minister’ and handing out crumbs and dregs to her constituents after her demotion.  In the meantime, we have one Opposition and one Independent Senator from Tobago but no Government Senator, yet we have the TOP Leader agreeing publicly with the Prime Minister despite the disenfranchisement suffered by the people of Tobago.


Finally, I am constrained to ask, does it surprise anyone that the last Motion which was carried to the Lower House on behalf of the people of Tobago was carried one year and two weeks ago by the Leader of the Independent Liberal Party and MP. for Chaguanas West? So far, the only party that has demonstrated that it would speak fearlessly for Tobago in Port of Spain is the Independent Liberal Party. For those who may have forgotten, one of the requests contained in the Motion that was carried by the ILP was for an additional brand new cargo vessel to bring relief to all of Tobago. I rest my case!!!
thetobagonews.com