Christlyn calls THA reps to resign from Port board

At a press conference on the Greens of the Scarborough Port on Monday, and with the cargo vessel, the Superfast Galicia berthed in the background, Moore said THA representatives on the Port’s Board, Ken Wright and Melissa James, must resign and show Tobagonians that ‘this fight is ours’.

She said Wright and James must put aside party affiliation and show solidarity with the people of Tobago who continues to suffer and face tremendous hardships under the present management of the Port Authority.

Moore contended that Wright and James were on a board “that is supposed to serve the people of Tobago and serve the transport needs of the people of Tobago and it is not being done”.

Noting that the cargo vessel, the Superfast Galicia, has been sitting at the Scarborough port since Saturday, Moore said the vessel could not oper ate on the seabridge because a cruise ship was docked in Trinidad “When a cruise ship comes to Port of Spain, Tobagonians can’t eat, can’t bury their dead, trucks can’t come up, goods can’t come up and nothing could go down,” she contended as she called on Tobagonians to stop taking this kind of treatment from the Port authorities.

Moore said that the Tobago Forwards has taken up the issue of the poor ferry service because it felt that the needs of Tobagonians were more important that the cruise ship. “Until the government and the THA start to treat with Tobagonians as if they are more important than what is going on in Trinidad, then Tobago will continue to be stagnant and continue to be suffering because Port of Spain want us to suffer and THA doesn’t say a word,” said Moore.

She said the operations of the ferry service demands accountability, and that a Tobago Forwards administration will demand accountability from the Port Authority, from the Inter-island Transport Company and from the company that is responsible for berthing facilities in Trinidad.

Moore said that no one is authority was concerned about the harships Tobagonains were experiencing because of the poor service provided by the Port on managing the sailings of the ferries because it appears that “if it happens in Tobago, it does not really happen.” Moore said that with funds in excess of $40 billion having passed through Tobago over the past 16 years of the PNM administration of the THA, the island should have its own ferry by now.

Moore said Tobago Forwards would be committed to acquiring another vessel for the sea bridge within 12 months of being in office.

Moore said a Tobago Forwards administration will do this for Tobago because the Port Authority and the inter- island transport company and successive government administrations in Trinidad have all failed the island.