Trinidad will not invade Tobago. This was the statement made by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar during her address at the launch of the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP) election campaign last evening at Tamarind Square, Scarborough. Persad-Bissessar said so in response to critics of the TOP who said a victory for the TOP would lead to the PP taking over Tobago.
"Have no fear of your Government," the PM added. She said: "Nobody could control Ashworth Jack." Earlier, she said her Government was not disrespecting Tobago. She said the TOP was a critical part of the PP Government and Jack had been consulted on all policy matters. The PM said the PP Government, including the TOP, named the airport in Crown Point in honour of Tobago's Arthur NR Robinson, former president and prime minister. She said the Government bought new aircraft to be used on the local air bridge. She asked: "Where is the disrespect?"
Persad-Bissessar listed several projects which were at various stages of completion in Tobago, including a gas station in Roxborough, tertiary institutions, a prison and others in Tobago, which were done under the PP Government. She said a bill to enable Tobagonians to legally own lands on the island is to be debated in Parliament next week. She also said the Government had prepared legislation to amend the Constitution and to give Tobago internal self-government.
She said one of the major changes in the bill was for the creation of independent assemblymen. Persad-Bissessar said the bill will be laid on January 7 and debated on January 16. It requires a two/thirds majority vote to become law. The support of the Opposition PNM is critical for passage of the bill.
Persad-Bissessar called on the PNM to support the measures. It is not expected that the PNM will support the legislation. She said the bill will give the THA greater power to pass its own laws. It will be given more powers in several instances. She said the budgetary allocation to Tobago is to be increased to eight per cent.
Protocol was amended last night to allow political leader of TOP Ashworth Jack to speak after Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Persad-Bissessar began her address by saying she had breaking news-that the next THA leader would be Ashworth Jack. She said London's PNM had failed to deliver on its promises to the people of the island.
He said the PNM spent $17 billion and was unable to show any significant development on the island. She said the question is, "Has the quality of life for Tobago people, including the children, improved under London? It is not about the house Jack built. It is about the THA and who will manage the economy of Tobago better. She said the London administration had failed miserably in all areas of life in Tobago.
"While they promised, they did not deliver," she told the cheering crowd. Wearing their yellow TOP T-shirts a large crowd came out to see the presentation of the party's candidates for the 12 electoral districts. Jack, in his address, dealt with the TOP's programme for economic development on the island.
Calypsonian Sugar Aloes, who performed three songs, was introduced by the chairman of the meeting and Justice Minister Christlyn Moore as the party's newest member. A senior TOP official minutes later said the announcement was "just political talk."
Earlier, Tobago Development Minister Delmon Baker urged TOP supporters to remember the several auditor general's reports which showed that millions of dollars were unaccounted for by the PNM-controlled THA. He said the Orville London led THA had mismanaged the affairs of the island for the past twelve years and should be voted out of office next month.