THA head accuses PP Govt of ‘abuse’

Deputy political leader of the People’s National Movement (PNM) and Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Orville London has described the People’s Partnership Government as being much more “abusive, insultive and disrespectful” than any other administration. “We are seeing the abuse everyday, the most blatant and obvious abuse that this country is seeing in ten years,” he said at the tenth anniversary celebrations and awards function of the Tobago Council of the PNM at the Vanguard Hotel, Lowlands, on Sunday.

London said this was the end and the beginning because if it was not the end and the beginning, it was “going to be the end of Tobago as we know it and the end of Tobagonians as we know it. “We have got to stop the abuse and disrespect here in Tobago,” he said. “We have to send a powerful signal to those people, the UNC-led coalition in Trinidad and their colleagues in Tobago that they understand and accept and appreciate that our dignity, that our pride, that our autonomy are in fact critical and that we are going to allow nobody to undermine that and we have to fight for that.”

Buoyed by the large gathering of cheering party members, supporters and friends, the PNM’s deputy political leader tore into Attorney General Anand Ramlogan for alerting the population that he was drafting new legislation to govern Tobago and other government spokesmen for wanting early THA elections. London said Tobagonians had to understand what was happening with the THA Act No 40 of 1996, pointing out that this was done without consulting the people of Tobago and if the Attorney General was allowed to do the same thing and get away with it every Tobagonian should hang his head in shame. “We all recognise that this is not the way that things should be done,” he said.

“We decided that we will do the right thing, even if it is going to take a little longer because at the end of the exercise every Tobagonian would have the opportunity to make a contribution and decide what is going into the Act. “What in God’s name would give Anand Ramlogan the authority to say that he going and prepare drafting to take away a process involving John Prince, Eastlyn McKenzie, Rita Pemberton, Carlos Dillon and Russell Martineau. “Anand Ramlogan would take away the drafting, to say what?” London added.

He said Tobagonians had a right and a responsibility to get involved in the process of consultation that was about to take place. He said there were “people who want to hijack the thing because they feel that can cap off the thing and call an early election. “Tell all those clowns who want early election to come down now to the Vanguard and watch what is happening...let them see the numbers, let them see the energy and ask them whether they still talking of early election. “It is unethical; it is immoral, and nasty.”