Chester Sambrano
It’s been six days since Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Farley Augustine revealed that the company which was paid $2.5 million for the zipline project in Tobago does not exist, but former secretary for Tourism and Transportation Tracy Davidson-Celestine has decided to stay silent on the development.
The 1.5-kilometre zipline project started during Davidson-Celestine’s tenure but it was never completed.
The Auditor General said in a letter to the THA’s Chief Administrator in 2020: “$2,511,210.20 was paid for “materials and equipment; however, the existence of these assets was not verified and a visit to the Stores section of the Division revealed only some ropes on hand.”
Guardian Media reached out to the former secretary for comment on the fact that it has now been disclosed that the company, Original Canopy Tours Limited, is not a legitimate entity in the British Virgin Islands.
However, she said, “No comment at this point in time.”
She spoke on another issue, though, her defamation lawsuit against Augustine.
Davidson-Celestine confirmed that she is proceeding with the matter.
“The matter is still in the court, it has not left the court and so it is now the court to decide. It is no longer about what I say or what Farley says, it is about what the court says and I am so far liking what the court is saying,” she said.
Last month, attorneys for Davidson-Celestine and Augustine were told to agree on whether the defamation claim against Augustine is dead in the water or can progress.
But she told Guardian Media it was simply a procedural issue that has since been sorted out.
“It was just a matter of filing the case and my lawyers have indicated that has been done,” she said.
Augustine’s attorneys had argued that the lawsuit was automatically struck out because Davidson-Celestine’s attorneys did not apply for a case-management hearing in accordance with the civil procedure rules.
The lawsuit was filed after Davidson-Celestine took umbrage to statements made regarding her and the zipline project during the January 2021 THA election campaign.
Efforts to contact Augustine for comment on the lawsuit proved futile up to late on Tuesday.