Chamber considers legal action over Galicia’s removal

The owner of the vessel has given the Government two weeks notice which effectively ends a month-to-month rental arrangement and will remove the ship from the sea bridge on April 14.

Speaking at an emergency media conference at the chamber’s Scarborough office on Monday evening, head of the Inter-island Transport Committee Dianne Hadad said the body will be looking at its legal options to safeguard private- sector interests.

“This has been a little too much for too long, and if we add to that the Land Licence Act that has been implemented and multiply it, I can imagine that many people will be sitting behind bars for the losses that we would have incurred as a private sector,” she said.

Hadad called on Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan to enter into urgent negotiations to replace the Superfast Galicia, the only cargo boat operating between the two islands.

“It is about time that we get something, and something that works for Tobago and the business community. Sadly, we seem to be in a position where we are accustomed to being reactive, so it is only when something happens then the whole of Trinidad and Tobago wakes up,” she said.

Hadad dismissed the idea of using a barge to transport goods between the islands as inappropriate owing to its open design, which leaves its contents exposed to the elements. She said she had been told by Trinidad suppliers that the barge was not a viable option.

“They indicated quite clearly their goods are not going on a barge, because they are taking no losses with regard to rusted caps and that sort of exposure that takes places coming across the salt water. This has happened years ago. We have experienced this.

and many companies had some serious losses when we attempted to use the barges, and rusty caps were a real problem by the time the goods got here.

“Further to that, offloading the barge is usually a serious problem – the port, the hours – and I am not sure why Tobago must continue to work hours that Trinidadians either party or sleep.” Chamber chairman Demi John Cruickshank said his team was only made aware of the removal of the Superfast Galicia from the sea bridge on Sunday by newspaper reports.

“We are very, very disappointed that a move like this happened and the stakeholders were not called before we read this on the media.

The Superfast Galicia coming out of service in Tobago will not primarily affect the Tobago businesses, it will directly affect the people of Tobago,” Cruickshank contended.

He said chamber members had said they would not be using a barge for the transportation of goods and services between the islands, and the last time Tobago was in such a crisis with the ferries was in 1939, when the option of a barge was offered.

“The chairman (of the chamber) then refused a barge to bring goods to Tobago. In 2017, this chairman is refusing any barge to bring any goods for anybody in Tobago. It is totally unacceptable.”