Chester Sambrano
There will be "no election" in Tobago! That is the stance taken by Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Farley Augustine despite calls from Progressive Democratic Patriots' (PDP) Watson Duke and the People's National Movement (PNM) Tobago Council leader Ancil Dennis to go back to the polls in January.
On Monday, there was a collective resignation of the 16 members from the PDP.
Augustine is standing firm even amid questions being raised over the legality of 16 PDP members announcing their resignation from the party but continuing as independents in the THA. In an interview with Guardian Media, Augustine maintained that he and his team had received "strong" legal advice on the move.
"Extremely legal, any lawyer who is mooting anything other than that needs to go back and check their legal credentials, it's extremely legal," he argued.
He explained that people would have voted for a candidate before a political party during the THA elections.
"And morally, we campaigned that Farley will be Chief Secretary, we campaigned that this would be the team, that does not change, the only thing that has changed is that we choose not to be identified by that name called PDP, it's all that has changed," he said.
But the plan is not to stay "independent" indefinitely, as Augustine said they are looking for a party that does not have one owner, as in the PDP.
"We hold the view, all of us, we hold the view that the isle of Tobago at this time must take precedence to the party we loved. The party we love has some issues that the party doesn't seem intent on fixing and so we have decided that we will all be independent members of the house. Further to that, we have decided that going forward we will not try to have a construct where the party is owned by one man...we are looking for a party that is owned by the people whose construct will keep everybody in line," he explained.
Asked about plans to form a new party, Augustine said, "Well, there are plans to engage the public and have the people in Tobago participate in forming what that would look like."
He said those conversations would start in January next year.
Gives the team a 7 out of 10 for their performance
As it related to his administration's first year in office, the Chief Secretary argued that his team worked very hard.
"If we rate from one to ten, I would put our performance anywhere around a seven," he said.
He listed among their accomplishments raising the salaries of URP and CEPEP, grants for home repairs, a major cataract removal programme, an app to deal with road works, a large school repair programme, and hosting the first-ever Tobago Carnival.
"We had in excess of 30,000 people visiting in that period with the average spend being over two thousand dollars," he added.
But it was not all smooth sailing. Besides the obvious public spat with Duke, Augustine said another major challenge faced was getting new secretaries to understand how the public service works and how to adapt to get things done.
He added that in this fiscal year they want to increase the support to the private sector, implement a robust road improvement programme, reform the education system, launch the constituency fund and fulfil a campaign promise of ex-gratia payments to public servants.
The ex-gratia payments are to be expected to be done before the end of this calendar year, he said.
In terms of tourism, the lifeblood of the Tobago economy, the bar is being set high and there are talks to get several airlines flying into the island.
He wants Tobago to become the hub for people seeking to go to Europe.
The Chief Secretary said they are still aiming for 100,000 visitors per year to the island.
But while plans are being made to move forward independently, PDP leader Watson Duke has accused the executive of moving away from its mandate which was given on December 6, 2021.
"This cowardly act of abandoning the PDP Mandate and Tobagonians for 30 pieces of silver must be treated with scorn and contempt by us the right-thinking people of Tobago," Duke said.
He has threatened to challenge the 16 resignations in court.
What the Tobago people say
This is what Tobagonians had to say about Augustine and his executive's performance during their first year in office:
Uriah Kirk
VINDRA GOPAUL-BOODAN
Uriah kirk: I would give them a 50/50.
Leroy Huggins
VINDRA GOPAUL-BOODAN
Leroy Huggins: They still have plenty to learn, as young people we have to take teaching and learn from mistakes, that's the most I could say about PDP right now.
Ermin Thomas Melville: They did okay, they did well.
Ermin Thomas Melville
VINDRA GOPAUL-BOODAN
Denzel Walker: Not good at all, not good at all, they have to come better than that for the next year.
Denzel Walker
VINDRA GOPAUL-BOODAN
Anselm Duncan: Not well.
Anselm Duncan
VINDRA GOPAUL-BOODAN
What members of the T&T public say
This is what members of the public had to say via Facebook.com/CNC3 Television about the Chief Secretary's decision not to call THA elections.
Cheryl Williams: Yes, my CS (Chief Secretary), stand your ground sir, don't let the naysayers confuse you, cover him Lord under your precious blood.
Stefan Granderson: Governance was never about a party, it is us the people that built that Trojan horse...it's about representation. Nowhere in the Constitution are there political names or symbols.
James Pandohie: You don't need to be part of a house or party to govern...All 16 members who resigned might serve the people of Tobago better as independents... They would be more accessible to the public's needs.
Kesley Andrews: Politicians should not be afraid of the people. I am getting the impression Farley and friends are fearful of Tobagonians.
Trevor Joseph: The most honourable thing to do is seek a fresh mandate...Tobago didn't vote for what's happening now...they voted for the PDP & not independents.