London Says: PM Can't Trigger THA Election.

Chief Secretary of Tobago House of Assembly, Orville London

The Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is presumptuous in trying to force the hand of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) in calling  an early THA election, said Chief Secretary Orville London. He was responding to her (Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar) call last night made at a gathering at her private residence in Phillipine, South Trinidad. 

Orville London stated that only the THA has that power. He took a political jab at the Peoples Partnership saying that the Prime Minister and her Government was only good at diversionary tactics in an attempt to sway the citizenry away from pressing issues of the country, especially as it relates to Section 34 fiasco and the public outcry that resulted. He further noted "That neither the Prime Minister, Minister (Herbert) Volney, Minister (Jack) Warner or any other member of her Cabinet has in fact said anything to convince the public that there was not some sinister motive behind the decision to have the clause enacted."

London stressed the Prime Minister has not told the country why there seems to be in her Cabinet a clear distinction between what he called the "dispensables" and the "untouchables".

"Because you get that feeling that in the Cabinet the dispensables are the people you can throw to the public to give the impression that you are firm, that you are strong, that you have integrity. The untouchables will do the same thing or worse, and nothing happens," London said.

According to the THA Act 40 of 1996, the Tobago House of Assembly has no less than two months and no more than three months in which to call the election, but the Chief Secretary reminded the Prime Minister that the election cannot be triggered by her, nor is he hoping she will attempt to impose her will on the people of Tobago and the THA.

"I think the Prime Minister is a little presumptuous, quite honestly, to be telling us in the THA that we should call elections. The election will be called when the THA as an institution believes that we will set the date, and then the President will call the election after consultation," London Said.

CALL THA ELECTIONS NOW!

Prime Minister
Kamla Persad-Bissesar

CALL the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections now.

This was the challenge thrown out to Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday.

Last Thursday, Rowley, during a news conference at his Port of Spain office, said, "They (Government) do not deserve to be in office, they have betrayed the trust of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. They are stained and they are shamed, and they must leave office and we are calling for elections now," Rowley said.

Persad-Bissessar, addressing a gathering at her private residence in Phillipine, South Trinidad, said, "We challenge you (Rowley) call the THA elections now. That is the only one that is due and we will not sacrifice the votes and the trust and the mandate of the electorate of Trinidad and Tobago to do the thing that Mister Manning did twice, early elections."

Former prime minister Patrick Manning and former leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) called early general elections twice—once in 1995, which he lost to the United National Congress (UNC) and its then leader Basdeo Panday, and then in 2010, which he lost to the People's Partnership government led by Persad-Bissessar.

Persad-Bissessar said, "So Mister Rowley be a Tobago-born soldier, call the THA elections now. Dissolve the THA. Let us go forth. We are rising to the top with the TOP (Tobago Organisation of the People) because, for the first time in the history of this country, people of Tobago are given due respect side by side. Mister Rowley tell Mister (Orville) London to dissolve the THA and I will make the date for the election."

London is the THA's Chief Secretary. The election must take place by January 2013.

Yesterday, Persad-Bissessar hosted a pre-budget function at her home, where all ministers, Members of Parliament, regional corporations, non-governmental organisations and other groups were invited to attend.

The Prime Minister also told her guests she will continue to listen to the people and her government is "alive and strong".

She said, "I am fortified in my view that the Partnership is alive strong and we have demonstrated as a team that even if we should misstep or falter, that the collective good is greater than the individual good. There have been times when you have asked questions, as I have, and as ministers have and MPs ask. There have been questions that we have asked, and it is right and fitting that we ask those questions because when we ask those questions it makes us better."

Persad-Bissessar said, "The answers make us improve and do better than we did yesterday.

She said, "If any one of us falters and fails, I will have no compunction but to remove them out of the very government office because, at the end of the day, it is not about one of us, it is about all of us. I will always listen to the people, I will continue to listen and then lead. I will stay very strong and very focused. You gave us a mandate here and we will continue to carry out that mandate to serve the people."

She also announced that on Saturday there will be a rally at Mid Centre Mall in Chaguanas at 2 p.m. The purpose of the rally will be to discuss the upcoming budget.

Reproduced from Trinidad Express

$15 Million Pool For East Tobago

THA Chief Secretary Orville London ,Secretaries Hilton Sandy
 and Tracy Davidson-Celestine,
 Assist Secretary Huey Cadette, Director of Sport Anthony Price
 at the sod of the $15 million public swimming pool at Kenda
l in east Tobago on Thursday.
 (6th September 2012) Photo THA Information Department.

A $15 million public swimming pool is being constructed by the Tobago House of Assembly at Kendall in east Tobago.

Construction of the pool is being undertaken by the YMCA because of its experience gained in the construction of its pool at Courland in west Tobago, THA Chief Secretary Orville London stated at the sod turning of the new 25-metre pool on Thursday.

He disclosed that besides the swimming pool the facilities will include a learning to swim pool, seating, playroom and administrative offices.

London said there will be no discrimination in the use of the facilities that will be opened for all ages in nine months and urged residents of windward Tobago to make full use of them when they became operational. He added that too many facilities provided by the Assembly have been under utilised.

He said Tobago's first public swimming pool at Courland was built at a cost of $12 million of which the Assembly contributed 60 per cent of the cash, land and road infrastructure and was happy to see it was being fully utilized.

reproduced verbatim from THA information

London says: Independence is more than Freedom

Chief Secretary of THA
Orville London

Chief Secretary of Tobago Orville London is calling on Tobagonians to appreciate the relative good fortune and quality of life we have enjoyed in comparison to many other developing countries of the region and the world. In his annual Independence Day message, London said the good fortune the country has experience has led to increased life expectancy for Tobagonians and a lower rate of poverty.

The Chief Secretary also boasted of the fact that Tobago has more health facilities, more recreational facilities, more community facilities and better apportioned educational facilities than any of its regional neighbours.

"However, as we celebrate, we must also be mindful of the mistakes made and repeated, of the opportunities created and lost, and of the pettiness and the prejudice nurtured and disseminated. So we must celebrate but, as we mark this anniversary of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, we must simultaneously be aware that it is the mindset, the posture, and the contribution of each individual which would have been the major factors determining our rate of development in our journey over the past 50 years," he noted.

And these selfsame qualities will continue to be the major factors in shaping our progress in ensuing decades.

Reflecting on the autonomy Tobago experienced under Great Britain, London said "Tobagonians owe it to our history, and to all those who would have been involved in the struggle, to remain steadfast in our quest for internal self-government. We must not be bribed or bullied into accepting anything less than what we deserve and what our predecessors envisaged for the island and its people."

Independence, he added, is more than freedom and involves how one utilises that freedom.

"Remember, independence means that the choices we make in the coming months and years will determine whether our children, and future generations will stand or sit, or even be forced to lie, in years to come. So I say to you, let us all as Tobagonians make those choices and take those actions that will label us as worthy of 50 years of Independence".

He highlighted a number of Tobagonians who have made the island and country proud, adding that Tobago's potential for significant contribution to the national economy must also remain a priority.

article reproduced verbatim from Tobagonews,

NIB Office-Tobago Closed, THA to Help.

N.I.B. of T&T

If you have noticed a huge pile of brown clay spreading out on the parking lot of the NIB mall, it might very well be linked to work being done on the sewer which have been malfunctioning.  The National Insurance Board's (NIB) office located at Scarborough has been closed for the past month.

A meeting was convened by Orville London, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) in an effort to discuss the problems experienced at the office. 

During its closer, beneficiaries, many of which are elderly citizens have been seriously affected as they were unable to access services. 

Hilton Sandy, Deputy Chief Secretary and Secretary of Infrastructure indicated after the meeting, that remedial work to the sewer system at the mall will commence almost immediately. He further indicated that staff from his Division and the Waster and Sewerage Authority will be at work until the problem is fixed.

In the interim, the NIB has been relocated while general repairs are being undertaken.