LEADER of Government Business Camille Robinson-Regis said now is the time to give Tobago the greater self-governance within the unitary state of Trinidad and Tobago that it has been demanding for years.
She was opening debate in the House of Representatives to adopt the report of the joint select committee (JSC) on the Constitution (Amendment) (Tobago Self-Government) Bill, 2020.
Recalling that calls for greater self-government for Tobago pre-dated 2018, when this bill was brought before a JSC, Robinson-Regis said keeping the bill before Parliament any longer would be disrespectful to Tobagonians.
"Now is the time. Change is inevitable. Now is the time to move this process towards its logical conclusion."
After indicating the bill needed a three-fifths majority (25 votes) to pass in the House and a two-thirds majority (21 votes) to pass in the House and Senate respectively, Robinson-Regis launched what seemed to be a pre-emptive strike against what she described as the UNC's tradition in recent times to abstain when it came to voting on any special-majority legislation. She said it was her fervent prayer that the UNC would vote for the bill and in so doing, show "a modicum of respect for the people of Tobago."
After saying none of the three UNC members on the JSC (senator Jearlean John, Couva South MP Rudranath Indarsingh and Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally) signed the committee's report, but attached their own minority report to it, Robinson-Regis said the UNC's claims of insufficient consultation on the bill were a non-issue. She said amongst those consulted by the JSC were all 12 elected members of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).
Robinson-Regis said the UNC's lack of commitment to Tobago is underscored by the fact that only once, in the distant past, has it ever fielded general-election candidates in Tobago.
Robinson-Regis, who chaired the JSC, said many people believed legislation to give Tobago greater self-governance would never see the light of day.
"We are here taking one step closer to repairing a relationship that some argue was broken with the annexation of Tobago to Trinidad in 1889, approximately 132 years ago, when Tobago was made a ward of Trinidad."
She said the PNM has fulfilled a promise to Tobagonians by bringing this bill to Parliament. Referring to the existing THA 1996 legislation, Robinson-Regis said many people felt over time that more could have been done for Tobago. After noting numerous consultations and debates from then to now, she said, "Notwithstanding the long history of the PNM in Tobago, we have never sought to insert ourselves in the debate, preferring instead to let the good people of Tobago speak for themselves."
She said the forum of political parties in Tobago emerged from those consultations and provided invaluable contributions to the JSC's report and the accompanying legislation. This, she said, disproves the UNC's claims that the legislation are PNM bills and must be rejected for what the
