Ashworth Jack says: THA Incompetence Keeping Back Tobago.

Leader of Tobago Organisation of the People
Ashworth Jack

Tobago is being left behind, not because of insufficient budgetary allocations but because of the incompetence of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) to utilise the already allocated funds, were the sentiment of Ashworth Jack, leader of the Tobago Organisation of the People (TOP).

Following the national budget presentation, Jack indicated that he does not understand how year after year THA Chief Secretary Orville London could say repeatedly that he was not satisfied with Tobago's budgetary allocation when the money is not being spent towards the development of the island.

"As of the end of August 2011, the revised allocation on the development programme for the Tobago House of Assembly has been $473,498,000, of that the actual expenditure being $294,684,985 and committed just about $34 million," said Jack.

"In terms of the revised, the recurrent has $1,706,540,000, that's at the end of August, and the actual expenditure $1,288,944,678 with a committed of just over $33 million. It means that Tobago's development is not at the place it should be," Jack added.

"If there is the competence to spend that money, you will be able to spend the money to effect the kind of development that Tobago requires and then you have an argument that can be faced for additional funding.You can't be asking for additional funding in the way we have been doing it when even the allocation that you are saying is insufficient is not being used," said Jack.

Tobago, he said, is too far behind and has to play catch up in using its allocation and requesting more. He noted that Tobago received just over $3 billion in the 2012/2013 national budget.

Jack said there is something wrong when the price of projects in Tobago is increased from $150 million to $250 million.

"We are saying that there must be transparency in how the money is being spent and this does not only apply to Tobago, but I believe we are going to spend $58 billion this year and the public must be kept on board as to how this $58 billion will be expended and people must feel that they get value for money," he said.

On the issue of self-governance for Tobago, Jack said the TOP joined forces with the People's Partnership based on this and the issue of land reform.

He indicated that he felt "heartened and I hope that the leader of the Opposition doesn't carry through on his veiled threat of not supporting any legislation that needs a special majority, because I don't know how he's going to come home and not only are we from the same island but we're from the same village and I would love to see how he would come home and tell people that he didn't support something that Tobago has been clamouring for maybe as long as 130 years," said Jack.