00:00A motion was moved and approved in the lower house on Friday under the Land Acquisition Act,
00:06paving the way for the state to vest approximately 100 acres of land at the Cova State in Tobago.
00:13And the lands were to be acquired based on the legal notice for the purpose of the establishment of a housing settlement and the expansion of villages.
00:23Minister Hussain said the acquisition process had been left in abeyance by the previous administration creating uncertainty for residents
00:31who were relocated to facilitate the expansion of the A&R Robinson International Airport.
00:37What is disheartening about this entire situation is when the previous government started the relocation of persons for the airport expansion,
00:46they were in fact relocating Tobagonians on this particular piece of land that is being acquired and they did not have the proper title for it.
00:58We are here right now through a legal process trying to vest the legal title of this land from the Tobago Race Club into the state.
01:09According to the minister, the lack of formal title has had serious consequences for affected residents.
01:15As a direct consequence of these unresolved legal processes,
01:19one, residents cannot obtain registered titles.
01:23Two, they cannot access mortgage financing.
01:26Three, they cannot secure business or home improvement loans.
01:29Four, they cannot use their properties as collateral.
01:33Five, they are effectively locked out of the formal financial system.
01:37From the opposition bench's MP4 Lopino Bonaire West, Marvin Gonzalez, said there was no objection to the acquisition itself.
01:45They are planning to go along with the original intention of establishing an estate, housing development and other community development in that particular area.
01:55So there is nothing objectionable as far as the opposition is concerned with respect to the public purpose for which this land is being acquired.
02:05Nothing objectionable.
02:06It's a legal process and we will ensure that we utilize our votes on this side of the house to facilitate this legal process to vest the land in the state.
02:16However, Gonzalez argued that had the then-opposition supported the Tobago autonomy bill,
02:22the lands would have been vested directly in the Tobago House of Assembly rather than the Commission of State Lands.
02:28He also raised questions about whether compensation had already been paid.
02:32Please state for the viewing population and the people of Trinidad and Tobago whether the government or the THA would have paid monies owed and outstanding to the landowners and how much is that.
02:49Very important.
02:50Tobago West MP Joel Sampson argued that the Tobago people wanted differently.
02:55The member also spoke to the autonomy bill that they brought to the house and they didn't get support when this side was across there.
03:04But the people of Tobago did not want a watered-down bill.
03:08We wanted something of substance.
03:11Sampson said the absence of proper land titles has stalled economic activity and deepened hardship for many families.
03:18But today, many of those businesses have collapsed.
03:22Why?
03:22Not because of lack of effort, not because of lack of skill, not because of lack of ambition, but because they have no proper title.
03:33No title means no bank loans, no business financing, no mortgages, no collateral, no insurance, no expansion.
03:44They are trapped in informality.
03:48And Mr. Speaker, informality is poverty by another name.
03:53The motion was ultimately passed in the lower house.
03:56Ravishita Wari Rubnerain, TV6 News.
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