Internal Self-Government Back on the Agenda for Tobago.

The Government, intent on fulfilling its election and manifesto promise of internal self-Government for the people of Tobago, will meet with Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles and other members of the THA at 1.30 pm today (Tuesday 9 January, 2018) at the THA’s Administrative Building in Scarborough.

Leader of Governm
ent Business and Minister of Planning and Development, the Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis and Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs, the Honourable Fitzgerald Hinds will lead a team which includes Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Ian Mcintyre (SC), Samraj Harripaul of the Law Reform Commission and an officer from the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs.

The THA’s legal team, led by Gilbert Peterson (SC), will also attend the meeting.

It is expected that the work coming out of this meeting will be instrumental in advancing a draft Bill for Tobago’s Internal Self-Government to the Parliament.

Source:Office of the Prime Minister

Joint Team to Look at Constitutional Legislative Reform for Internal Self Government for Tobago

The Prime Minister has announced the establishment of a joint team to look at constitutional legislative reform in relation to internal self-government for Tobago.

Leader of Government Business in the Senate Ganga Singh, Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism Lincoln Douglas, Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj and Minister of Tobago Development Dr Delmon Baker will form part of the team to work with the THA.

Media Release:

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar today announced the establishment of a joint team, at the request of the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, to further examine the issue of constitutional legislative reform with regard to internal self-Government for Tobago.

The Prime Minister today wrote to THA Chief Secretary, Mr. Orville London, reaffirming her Governments commitment to internal self-Government for Tobago, and expressing her agreement to the establishment of a joint team to look at this important issue.

Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar has mandated Senator the Honourable Ganga Singh, Minister of Environment and Water Resources, the Honourable Lincoln Douglas, Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism, Senator the Honourable Devant Maharaj, Minister of Food Production, and the Honourable Dr. Delmon Baker, Minister of Tobago Development to work with the THA in this regard.

The Prime Minister also informed Mr. London that he can expect a carefully deliberated response from the Attorney General regarding the issue of reported incursions into areas devolved to the THA under the Fifth Schedule by the Central Government.

THA to bring new Proposals for Internal Self-governance

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) will present Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar with its proposal on internal self-governance for consideration next week. The announcement was made on Friday at a news conference in one of the committee rooms in Parliament. Both Persad-Bissessar and THA chief secretary Orville London have agreed that there was a commitment on the issue.

 In early April, London called on the Government to resume talks on internal self-governance for the sister isle saying that the Government was silent on the issue especially after the THA elections. On Friday, Persad-Bissessar said: “My government and the THA chief secretary are committed to internal self-governance for Tobago, but the issue still remains what is the process. The chief secretary has brought a document which we have agreed that we would consider,” she said.

London admitted there were too many public statements made on the issue and the time had come to correct it. “My concern is that this must not reach the Parliament in an adversarial environment, where somebody has to win and somebody has to lose. What you want is, by the time it gets to the Parliament, all the parties are committed to a situation, whereby this document is one, where we can sit down and discuss but we are ensuring that the end of the exercise the objective is achieved. We’ve come too far,” London said.

“The problem of course was about the ‘how’ and for that reason I would have brought to the table a document which is, to a certain extent, related to the Dispute Resolution Commission approach which is in the Tobago House of Assembly Act. The Prime Minister has agreed we will flesh out that document and it will be presented to her early next week.” London said though the dispute resolution approach is mainly for financial matters.

Source:guardiannews