THA assured of funding for rest of 2003 fiscal year

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has been assured of the relevant funding to conduct its affairs for the rest of the 2002/2003 fiscal year which ends in September. The assurance came yesterday from THA Chief Secretary Orville London following a meeting with Junior Finance Minister Conrad Enill at London’s offices in Scarborough. At the same time the THA Chief Secretary told Newsday,  that his burning ambition was to make the Dispute Resolu-tion Commission (DRC) report “irrelevant” to the administrative politics between the THA and the Central Government. (The DRC is a mechanism provided for in the THA Act No 40 of 1996, which can be triggered by the Government or the THA to resolve any issue over which either party may be dissatisfied, and which seems unable to be rectified through normal channels. The DRC was triggered by the previous Hochoy Charles-led NAR THA administration over the question of alleged inadequate funding to the Assembly by the Central Government.)

London, who was accompanied at the meeting by Finance/Planning Secretary, Dr Anselm London, and Secretary for Public Utilities/Infrastructure, Hilton Sandy, described the session with Enill as a “post-THA budget/pre-national budget” discussion. “We believe that one of the ways by which a number of the problems could be resolved is, if we as partners in governance start discussions as early as possible and treat some of those nuances that could become irritating, even critical, down the road,” he explained. He added that basically, it was a discussion from more a general perspective than specifics. “What our plans are for development in Tobago, and how are we going to translate those plans into the kind of funding and the kind of programmes that will make them a reality?” London said the question of funding for the THA for the rest of the current fiscal year, as well as projections for 2004, were also reviewed. With respect to the question of THA funding for the rest of this current fiscal year, London explained: “We want to make sure that we do all the ‘housekeeping’ and so on, that will ensure that we get all that is due to us by the end of 2003 (fiscal year).”  London reported: “We have got the confirmation that the funding would be made available according to the provisions of the THA Act (1996).”