Central Govt backs THA on Pigeon Point

PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning yesterday announced the appointment of Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Orville London as the PNM’s fourth deputy political leader in what appears to be a political strategy to strengthen the hand of the THA regarding the acquistion of lands at Pigeon Point from the Ansa McAl Corporation. The Prime Minister also dismissed reports of an alleged Cabinet reshuffle and slammed Opposition Chief Whip Ganga Singh for trying to politicise Canadian forensic investigator Bob Lindquist’s probe into alleged corruption at WASA.

Addressing a post PNM General Council news conference at Balisier House, Manning announced  London’s appointment as the party’s fourth deputy leader with specific responsibility for Tobago affairs and London said he will be briefing Manning directly on issues pertaining to Tobago. The Prime Minister said one such issue was the ongoing Pigeon Point controversy and the PNM’s General Council was updated extensively on the matter yesterday. “The General Council endorsed the position being taken by the THA in this matter which reflects the position of the Central Government,” he stated.

London said Manning “has been kept in the loop throughout the negotiations which have been going on for the last 27 months, under this administration, in addition to three years under the previous admininstration.” He added that Manning has “consistently demonstrated a sensitivity to the autonomy of Tobago and the needs of Tobagonians. “This is not just about a piece of rock jutting out into the sea. This is about the patrimony of the people of Trinidad and Tobago. Pigeon Point is to the people of Tobago and Trinidad as Chaguaramas is to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. This has served to undermine the dignity of Tobagonians as nothing else has,” he declared. Asked if this meant the THA was prepared to pay a reported $200 million to purchase Pigeon Point from the present owners, London replied: “I want us to understand is that there is an application process that has been going on in this country for decades. Even if Pigeon Point is a more high profile property, the process is the same.

One of the things that we are going to guarantee that we do not discriminate for or against any individual or entity in the application process. We will not do that in the Assembly and the Goverment, I know, will not condone it even if we attempted to do it.” He added that a motion on Pigeon Point has been passed in the THA and will be submitted to Cabinet for approval. London said while the lands at Pigeon Point were bought for approximately $17 million six or seven years ago, he was no real estate agent and a valuation process had to be undertaken to determine their present worth. Referring to previous land acquistions in Plymouth, London explained that once the public purpose for the lands was valid “then the acquistion takes place.”

On reports of an alleged Cabinet reshuffle, the Prime Minister said: “I am not in the habit of discussing Cabinet matters in public. All I can say is that report did not come from me. The Prime Minister reserves the right to make changes to portfolios in his government as he considers appropriate and that is not a right I’m about to give out,” he said. “If you think that a minister is demonstrating a particular quality or that quality might be brought to bear to superior advantage in a particular portfolio, then you make that change,” he explained. Manning also urged Singh not to politicise Lindquist’s investigations in any way. “We have done in this matter all that the Opposition has asked for. We thought that if the Government and the Opposition can agree on a course of action in the matter, then we can depoliticise it and really do what has to be done in the circumstances and that is really seek to root out any semblance of corruption wherever it might be, assuming of course there was corruption in the matter,” he said. “That might not have been so at all. Our intention was to investigate it and find out what happened.”