Incoming Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Farley Augustine yesterday said they will be seeking legal counsel to determine whether the authority to open beaches lays with them or the Central Government.
He made the comment during the Morning Panchayat on Aakash Vani 106.5FM, after he was asked about a promise by Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) leader Watson Duke to make reopnening beaches the first item on the agenda once the executive is sworn in today.
Beaches have been closed by Public Health Ordinance on both islands since April as part of the Government’s fight against COVID-19. The legal question is whether the THA’s authority trumps that of the Central Government and the Public Health Ordinances.
Augustine said under the THA Act, beaches were controlled by the body.
“So it would be an interesting legal position that we would have to take. As we indicated on the platform, it is something that we will discuss and the Executive Council will take legal advice on it and we will proceed to operate in a manner that is in keeping with the law,” he said.
“But something has to give when it comes to our tourism sector and the reopening.”
He said Tobago’s tourism had been down even before COVID hit.
“And yes we have to fix that, but outside of tourism, we have made it clear that we are also desirous of building out our agro-processing sector, which we have not done. We have been looking at our diasporic connections and how we use our diaspora connections and as consumers of the Tobago products,” he said.
Augustine said there were more Tobagonians living in Trinidad and abroad than in Tobago.
“That is a market that we are yet to tap into, both from the perspective of people coming home to invest and we incentivising such kind of investments, and we need to get to that place quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly, where we can ensure that Tobagoninans begin to work hard at earning more,” he said.
He said people were often confused by the political “fancy talk” and proceeded to break it down into a more understandable concept.
He said that Tobago goat meat fetches a higher price than non-Tobagonian goat meat and sells faster than imported meat.
“Tobagonians are selling live goats at $16 per pound and then when it gets to Trinidad, someone butchers the goat, take it through the halal process and immediately that same goat that was purchased for $16 a pound is now sold at $52 on the market,” he said.
“And guess what? It sells out faster than imported goatmeat from New Zealand.”
However, he said Tobago does not benefit from that mark-up.
“There is value in the brand that is called Tobago,” Augustine said, adding that there was already a perception that agricultural goods coming out of Tobago was better.
On the possibility of the looking at the next General Election, Augustine said while there are provisions in the party’s constitution for that to happen, he did not think they were ready for that yet.
He said the focus now was on taking Tobago to “dizzying new heights” and making it a textbook example.
“I want Trinis to see what we have done in Tobago and that you too should demand better, not just sit by and accept what is happening at the national Parliament and just accept it as is,” he said.