Fix Tobago first

THE TOBAGO arm of the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) has called on Prime Minister Patrick Manning to “fix Tobago’s union with Trinidad first before talking about any other union.” The NAR was reacting to Manning’s statement earlier this week at the Caricom Summit at the Hilton Trinidad  in which he called for closer unions with Grenada and St Vincent. The NAR heaped scorn on  Manning for saying “this is the direction and approach the government perceives as necessary.” The NAR said time and time again, they had witnessed the blatant disregard of Tobago as “various PNM lackeys serve us their platitudes and no more.”

It said for a country with such enormous wealth it was a pity Tobago received less than four percent of the national budget. The party said they were waiting to hear from Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Orville London, saying he had a voice when he argued for increased parliamentary seats in Tobago and when he sought to rebut remarks by former President Arthur Robinson on the inequities in the relation between Trinidad and Tobago.