00:00One economist in Tobago says former ministers and MPs, Ayanna Webster-Roy and Asham Fukujo,
00:08failed to show the parliament, the state of Tobago, what it means and how to achieve it.
00:13And he remains doubtful the new Tobago People's Party representatives can accomplish it either.
00:19Dr. Varnas James says Tobago is in serious trouble.
00:23We have to have a level head and think through not only what we have to do in the country
00:31so that Trinidad and Tobago can get out of the hole it is in.
00:34This is a massive crisis Kamala has inherited here.
00:38And that Tobago could get access to fair opportunity to set up a development path for itself and for the country over here.
00:48If we can't talk through that properly, we're going to be in big trouble in a very short time.
00:53Dr. James tells the Morning Edition there is no need for the Tobago MPs to be part of the cabinet.
01:00He explains that being in cabinet means express loyalty to the party leader.
01:06That's no hand for a place like Tobago to play.
01:09Because remember, you have to persuade the government to do things that it may not want to do
01:16but would be in the national interest and in the interest of Tobago.
01:20Dr. James also says that over the past 10 years, the Tobago economy collapsed under Dr. Keith Rowley
01:27and continued to plummet under the Farley-Augustin administration.
01:32He says there is no euphoria in Tobago, as the people have not yet won.
01:37In Tobago, the pain is still there.
01:41Inflation over the last 10 years has been 6.2% in Tobago.
01:46So people feel in the pinch and they want change and they want the THA to change as well.
01:52And finally we'll have a very different experience in the THA election
01:55because now this is not about PNM.
01:58This is not, you're the incumbent.
02:00He says there may be an illusion that the people are happy with what the THA is doing
02:06but that is far from the truth.
02:09Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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