Tobago hopes for fair allocation; plans to do more to raise own money

So said the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Orville London, and Finance Secretary, Joel Jack during interviews with Business Day.

Following their meeting with Finance Minister Colm Imbert last Wednesday to discuss provisions to be made for Tobago during this year’s budget presentation, the Chief Secretary would not name his ideal figure for Tobago’s 2016/17 subvention. However, he expressed hopes that the government would continue to be fair.

“We hope Tobago will be treated equitably like we were last year.

We are also aware that we will have to share in the economic burden, which the country is now experiencing. We have had encouraging discussions with the Minster of Finance and the Minister of Planning. We expect that would result in a reasonable allocation for the people of Tobago.” Beyond the annual budgetary allocation, though, Finance Secretary Jack hopes to the island will create increasing financial independence from the Central government as the current subvention does not always allow for much needed projects.

“The way to treat with this, is to engage in modern financial transactions such as bond financing, through public/private sector partnerships,” said Jack, “The Minister of Finance has indicated his support for the Assembly and has agreed in principle to engage in PPP transactions. We are also working on other similar modern type transactions that will enable the Assembly to accelerate a lot more of our capital development.” Some of these capital development projects include continued investment in the Cove Eco-Industrial Business Park run by the Eco Industrial Development Company of Tobago.

“This is our flagship economic project,” said the Finance Secretary.

The state enterprise has been charged with the undertaking of assessing the feasibility of the construction of a container bearing port. Jack said the THA is awaiting the report from this study.

“We also continue to focus on economic diversification. We continue our investment in the Tourism Sector to treat with the room stockage gap that we face, as we continue to market the island and improve airlift as well.” The Sandals Resorts International chain recently met with tourism stakeholders and the THA about proposed construction of a hotel in the Buccoo/Bon Accord area.

Housing is also another priority, with Jack saying there were in excess of 7,000 applicants . He indicated that plans were being made to partner with the private sector in this arena.

The Finance Secretary said development of Tobago’s human capital was another priority and he noted he was pleased with the increase in tertiary education numbers on the island to 19 percent. He said the THA planned to continue to provide incentives for persons wishing to become entrepreneurs, including funding through the Enterprise Assistance Plan Programme and the Tobago Venture Capital Fund. “We will continue to provide an enabling environment for Tobagonians to succeed. We understand the challenges Tobagonians face attempting to get financing from more traditional routes.” Regarding the challenging economic times the country is now finding itself, Jack said he believed Tobagonians were well poised to confront the challenges being faced in the coming year and surmount them.

In the THA’s June 2016 Budget presentation, Secretary Jack had indicated that he planned to submit a $5.3 billion dollar budget request to the Central Government for fiscal 2017.