00:00Two bills intended to deliver autonomy for Tobago hit the lower house. The
00:05session starts off with much opposition pursuant from a morning briefing by the
00:10THA chief secretary Farley Augustin seeking support for more consultation
00:14with the people of Tobago before affecting changes that will impact
00:18their lives. What the outline is basically some clauses in the bill that
00:25may violate core principles of self-determination and the current
00:29administration of the THA and Madam Speaker we have genuine concern with
00:34respect to this particular manner in which we are conducting today's business
00:37because the chief secretary is raising serious concerns and at the end of it he
00:42asked that no further that they don't proceed further with this particular
00:47bill. While at the committee of the whole stage for the act to repeal the Tobago
00:53House of Assembly Act and to provide for the powers and functions of the Tobago
00:57Island government, the Prime Minister maintains consultation took place for
01:02years. I am shocked that the member for Baratayerson could so cavalierly
01:11intervene in the parliamentary proceedings to play this game. Madam
01:17Speaker the matter before us is a matter that has been in the public domain for
01:23years, in this house for years. Dr. Keith Rowley said he received a WhatsApp
01:27message from Augustin two minutes prior but had not received any official
01:32correspondence to his office. The chief secretary of the Tobago House of
01:37Assembly is now intervening in that matter offering eight pages of legal, I
01:44don't know who the legal lawyers are, telling the Parliament to stop its
01:49proceedings because he through the member for Baratayerson and other
01:53persons have found another way or other things to be done under the rubric of
02:00consultation Madam Speaker. How did we get here if not by a series of years of
02:07consultation? Back at the house stage a division was taken and even the United
02:12Opposition was unable to stop the passage of the bill which required a
02:16simple majority. It was 24 and 10 against. Then came time to go back into
02:22the committee for the bill's big brother, an act to amend the Constitution of the
02:28Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to accord self-government to Tobago and
02:32for related matters. There was a flurry of back-and-forth between the opposition
02:37and government benches. While the intention of the bill, this constitutional
02:42amendment bill is saying give the right of self-determination, the law is not
02:46really giving them the right to self-determination. Central government
02:49will still have a stronghold over the executive arm. If the member does not
02:54have an amendment then Madam Speaker I would like us to proceed please. Thank
02:59you. I never said not to speak, you can speak for as long as you wish. Enter the
03:03concern over the various definitions of Tobago. The persons who had sent
03:11information to the Honourable Prime Minister by WhatsApp. These are some of
03:17the concerns that they raised and so we have taken their concerns on board
03:22including the letter that was sent since 2021. These are the concerns that were
03:28raised and Madam Speaker if they are the mouthpieces for the TPP then Madam
03:35Speaker they should be well aware of what is before us today. Although the
03:40preamble suggests both Trinidad and Tobago share law-making functions, will
03:46Tobago be out trumped? These laws that the Tobago legislature will pass are
03:51actually going to be subordinate laws to what the National Parliament passed. So
03:55it's not going to be that there's an equality of status with respect to the
03:59Tobago legislature. So again this in itself does not achieve what the
04:06government's narrative is. They are just fooling people with this amendment. The
04:10objective was to give Tobago additional powers, powers that they do not now have.
04:18Madam Speaker the objective was not to have a separate Tobago from Trinidad. So
04:25Madam Speaker the law-making powers that govern Trinidad and Tobago as a country
04:31will continue to be done in the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago.
04:37Attorney-at-law Saddam Hussein who led the opposition's queries asked why the
04:42appeal stage of the dispute resolution committee was stopped at the court of
04:46appeal stage and not the Privy Council, much like election petitions. He was told
04:53that comparisons were made with other jurisdictions before this decision was
04:57taken. When taken back to the House this bill which needed a three-fourths
05:01special majority failed to get the required support. Our members with a
05:07division of 21 members voting for, 16 members voting against and no abstentions.
05:15The motion for the third reading of the Constitutional Amendment, Tobago
05:20Self-Government Bill 2020 is not approved.
05:25Urvashi Tiwari, Rub-N-Ryne TV 6 News.
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