Jesse Ramdeo
Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Farley Augustine has pledged two vessels to Tobago police in an effort to clamp down on illegal beach parties.
During a briefing yesterday, Augustine issued a tongue lashing to those involved in a recent zesser event flouting the health regulations.
“I will not be empathetic to that kind of madness. I am disappointed in terms of how we conducted ourselves at Nylon Pool.”
He said their behaviour can compromise the island’s fight against COVID-19.
“We are in COVID-19 and when you look at the videos, no masks, everybody jam up, jam up in the water.”
Augustine said such activities will not be tolerated and it is why he is giving the police a helping hand in their response to such illegal activities, especially in light of claims they were grounded in their efforts to break up last weekend’s event at Nylon Pool.
National Security matters, including policing, fall under the Sixth Schedule of the THA Act, which lists the areas that the THA Executive does not have control over, and must instead be managed by the Ministry of National Security.
There is, however, nothing preventing the THA from making donations to the Police Service.
“We have in the THA, sitting down at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, two patrol boats that were used one year for Dragon Boat Festival and just there park up taking dust, relatively new engines on them, used only once and we are going to service them and provide them to the police,” Augustine said.
Augustine added that police will be bolstering their presence and patrol for the Easter period to ensure the public health protocols are maintained.