Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Orville London says a change in economic circumstances is never easy to accept but Tobagonians are resilient people.
He said the THA was treated with an acceptable degree of equity with its allocation of $2.354 billion for fiscal year 2017.
He said although the allocation was significantly less than last year's, the THA was mindful that "we have to share in the burden and share in the sacrifice" because there were less resources.
London said, "We accept the fact that fiscal 2017 is going to be a very difficult year but we are not desperate; we are challenged but not desperate. Tobagonians are aware of the economic challenges and we are a resilient people."
There was a $400 million decrease in this year's allocation.
Speaking with the Sunday Guardian yesterday, London said, "We have to accept that we are working with about $400 million less this year than we had last year but that is in the context of the country operating with $10 billion less than it had last year.
"It is an equitable adjustment and like the rest of the country, we have to make do with what we have."
During Friday's budget presentation, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said of the $2.354 billion, close to $2 billion would be for recurrent expenditure, $289 million for capital expenditure and $20 million for the Unemployment Relief Programme.
Some of the plans and projects announced by Imbert for the island include construction on "the long-awaited" new airport terminal at Crown Point, as well as significant refurbishment of the existing terminal and construction of "the long-awaited" police stations at Roxborough and Old Grange.
Imbert said on Friday the Government continued to be impressed with the strides Tobago has made over the last two decades. He said there were significant improvements in its physical, social and educational infrastructure, and the quality of life and living standards of Tobagonians had been remarkably improved.