Daphne Bartlett: Governments ignore San Fernando Waterfront

As chairperson of the project, Bartlett says the Government has continued to ignore this developmental plan for the past two years. “While I think the 2017 budget is fairly good, I am disappointed that the Government did not give anything to upgrade this facility,” she said, adding that in light of the fact there are two elections coming up, that of the Local Government and The Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Imbert delivered a fair enough budget this year.

She noted with the allocation of $2.3 billion to the THA, she hopes to see great things happening in Tobago.

With talks on the development of a Sandals resort at the Buccoo/Golden Grove Estate, Bartlett says she believes that this is a good move. She noted the country would benefit immensely with the establishment of this resort.

On the topic of selling off of assets, Bartlett said she is not happy with the proposed sale of Lake Asphalt saying this could cause problems in the long term. She said one must look at the assets that can generate greater funds in later years. Despite the recent remarks made by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley that the government should not have to take full responsibility for the building of schools and roads in this country, Bartlett believes Rowley is seeking to have people think about country. She went on to say that prior to the general elections, there was talk of completing the highway from Penal to Point Fortin and the building of the highway from Princes Town to Mayaro and there have been no signs of this happening at all.

Bartlett is of the view that Government has to do more in agriculture.

“The Government owns a lot of land and they should move to get farmers to do short crops on these lands as a means of feeding the nation and providing employment for young farmers,” she said.