00:00Mr. Williams' comments comes as the Tobago House of Assembly is set to present its 2025-2026 budget estimates this month,
00:10presented historically this time around by Finance Secretary Petalan Roberts, the first female to do so in the 44 years of the Assembly.
00:19We'd like the THJ to prioritize from settlements of payments to service providers and suppliers.
00:25There are service providers that have long overdue bills and we'd like them to treat reduce because, you know, without a cash flow,
00:34the private sector is undermined business confidence and it really gains us pressure on your cash flow.
00:41Mr. Williams has said a list of the Chamber's projections was presented to the Division of Finance following two meetings last month.
00:49A commercial port, a cruise ship terminal and a marina, waste management program initiatives all submitted.
00:56The establishment of the Tobago Development Fund, we asked about that because it was something mentioned before
01:03and we wanted to know where they are with it and we want to get that going
01:06because there were folks who were trying to get onto the government loan assistance program
01:11and apparently the funds ran out for that program.
01:14So the bank approved them but there were no funds in the account.
01:18Mr. Williams said he expects the Assembly to receive a more favorable slice of the pie this time around,
01:26especially following a successful meeting between the Chief Secretary Fali Augustin
01:31and Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bissessa last month.
01:34It seemed like that meeting was successful and there was a bit of negotiation going on there
01:39and I'm looking forward to it.
01:41We're all excited to see what is there for the media review
01:43and let's see how the central government, now as we have a good relationship
01:48from the media release we've seen so far, let's see what the new government will be doing for Tobago.
01:54In June 2024, Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary Fali Augustin presented a $3.956 billion budget.
02:04Last September, Finance Minister Colm Inbert announced a $2.599 billion budget for Tobago.
02:12Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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