THE Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has decided not to renew the lease on a building located at 24-26 Pembroke Place, Pembroke Street in Port of Spain.
The THA had been renting the vacant building for a period of 10 months with the intention of establishing a THA presence in Trinidad.
According to a real estate website, the building will be available for rent from September 3 at $95,000 plus VAT per month.
The unfurnished three-storey building with basement has an 8,556 sq ft floor area.
Meanwhile, PNM Tobago Council political leader Ancil Dennis is demanded that the THA reveals “how much of the taxpayers’ money literally went up in smoke in that arrangement, with absolutely no benefit to Tobagonians.”
The purpose of this office was to provide THA services to Tobagonians in Trinidad and ensure that they had access to their government, Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said in 2022.
But on Thursday afternoon, workmen were observed putting up a “For Rent” sign at the entrance of the building. The THA office, which was reminiscent of an embassy, fell under the Office of the Deputy Chief Secretary.
From September 2022 until June, there was hardly any activity within the building, apart from security measures and scheduled maintenance carried out by workmen. Augustine confirmed in 2021 that his administration was in discussions to set up the office at that location.
Soon after, Newsday noticed, SWAT security officers had been stationed at the building and it seemed as though the office space was being prepared for its new tenants.
The proposal for the establishment of a “THA embassy” in Trinidad was first introduced by Watson Duke, the leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP), just days before the THA elections on December 6, 2021.
Duke, who was previously the deputy chief secretary, informed Newsday recently that as far as he’s aware the THA had given up the building in 2022.
However, in the middle of a public spat between Augustine and Duke, Augustine had told reporters on September 14, 2022, that the THA was interested and was in negotiation for Pembroke Place at the time.
One day after Duke resigned as deputy chief secretary, months shy of the anniversary of the THA election where his party emerged victorious with a 15-1 margin against the PNM.
Duke’s resignation came after a week-long dispute with Augustine over the allocation of resources to a group of Tobagonians who Duke claimed was stranded in New York.
Sources from Tobago revealed that the building had been rented out from September 2022 until the present at “a significant cost.”
The lease is set to end in two months, and it will not be renewed after the one-year term expires in September.
On June 8, Augustine briefly visited the building during a trip to Trinidad. Newsday was unable to confirm the exact time of his arrival, but he was spotted leaving the underground car park shortly after 3 pm that day.
Following Duke’s departure from the Assembly, Faith BYisrael, the Secretary of the Division of Health Wellness an
