00:00 thing one has to bear in mind is that not every scenario or situation warrants
00:07 or merits litigation. In fact, if one looks at the address which was given to
00:13 the new batch of graduating attorneys who were just called to the bar this
00:20 week, one of the seminal speeches given was reminding them that not everything
00:26 has to go to litigation or to trial and that is good advice. Mr. George's advice
00:32 comes on the heels of Chief Secretary Farley Augustine announcing last
00:36 Thursday of the intention of the Tobago House of Assembly to embark on legal
00:41 action against central government for money owed to the THG. In circumstances
00:47 such as this where you always have a negotiation process, you always have to
00:53 be dealing with the Minister of Finance for the allocation in relation to
00:57 Tobago and when one bears in mind that given the dispute resolution
01:02 commission's order which basically sets a range, you have a range between a lower
01:09 limit and an upper limit so therefore there's always that element of
01:13 discretion involved. So it's not something that you want to always engage
01:18 in a litigus or contentious or confrontational process to try and
01:24 resolve. Even on Friday, PDP leader Watson Duke echoed similar sentiments
01:30 and called on the Chief Secretary not to proceed with such action. Mr. Duke said
01:36 Mr. Augustine is practicing opposition politics. Martin George is also calling
01:42 on the Chief Secretary to adopt another strategy. Maybe the Chief Secretary ought
01:48 to do a rethink or put a pause on this idea of rushing towards litigation. I
01:55 know he said that he has tried for two years with discussions and negotiations
02:00 but the point is sometimes these things do take time and you know to go now to
02:06 really proceed to actual litigation may still be a bit premature and it may not
02:13 necessarily yield the best results you want for a good working relationship
02:18 with central government. Mr. George said a war with central government is not
02:24 good for the future of the THC. Regardless of what you have to deal with
02:29 central government, every year you have to get your budgetary allocation from
02:32 them so therefore it seems to make sense to try to pacify the situation. It's
02:40 always said that you catch more bees with honey than with vinegar so in those
02:45 circumstances one would think that you would try to have a more you know
02:50 amicable working relationship rather than a contentious you know all-out war
02:56 with the central government or a war between Tobago and Trinidad. That is not
03:01 good for the future of Tobago, it's not good for the future of the THC and I
03:05 don't think that it's good for Trinidad and Tobago as a nation. Elizabeth
03:10 Williams TV6 News
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