THA Deputy Chief Secretary and representative for Roxborough/Argyle Watson Duke has established a chamber of commerce catering specifically to small entrepreneurs in the Tobago East constituency.
He made the revelation on Wednesday during a community meeting at the Cyd Gray Stadium, Roxborough.
Duke estimated that in Tobago East alone, which includes villages along the Windward Road from Bacolet to Charlotteville, there are close to 500 small entrepreneurs.
“They are the ones who need support. A big business needs no support. And what the chamber of commerce does is stand as a big establishment to protect and advance their interests,” he told the gathering.
“So, if you into fishing, farming, dressmaking, deejaying, making fudge and sugar cake, hairdressing, the chamber is there to protect you.” He said small businessmen in that constituency must understand and capitalise on their power.
“If all the small businesses in Tobago East were to shut down, every single businessman in Trinidad will feel it,” he declared.
Duke added, “If all of the parlours as far as Mt St George, Calder Hall, Concordia, Moriah, to Castara, Parlatuvier, Charlotteville, Speyside all the way back down to Roxborough, Mt St George, Bacolet, if that area of the map were to shut down all the parlours for one week and demand that all goods be cut by ten per cent, I tell you, all goods will be cut by ten per cent. That is the power of a chamber of commerce.” He said the chamber will advance their interests.
“A chamber of commerce is a big lobby group that is too powerful to ignore. We will lobby on government legislation. For instance, taxation in Tobago should be far different from Trinidad. It should be one that is unique to our economic development and our cultural and social development.”
Duke said members of the chamber, who will be based at the Roxborough Administrative Complex, must be able to capitalise on future developments in the region because they too are affected by what goes on in the rest of the society.
He said the organisation would be distinct from the Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
“They are two separate things based on my understanding of it. I have not researched it extensively so I can’t say I am an authority on the subject. The Tobago Business Chamber has official business people with registered businesses paying taxes and that’s good.
“But there is none that really represents small businessmen who want to become medium-sized and also medium-sized businessmen who want to become full-sized, especially those in rural areas.”
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