Rowley to Duke: No need to swim

Speaking with reporters during a tour of projects in the Diego Martin West constituency, Rowley said he had already given an undertaking for Tobago to have “greater input” in talks regarding a new vessel to service the seabridge.

The prime minister said when he met stakeholders on the island last week, “I offered to Tobago that when the next goaround which is happening now, of evaluating and selecting a vessel for Tobago, an evaluation team will be put in place to support the Port and that evaluation team will have a large Tobago input.

“One does not have to swim across the channel for that.” Rowley said he also had spoken about the expansion of the board of the Port to give Tobagonians a larger say, “to ensure that whatever the Port does because Tobagonians are so vulnerable to Port management issues, Tobagonians will have a bigger say.” He said this issue was already on the table.

“Those are all things that government put on the table . So that did not require a swim, a dive or whatever else,” Rowley added.

Early on Monday, Duke, accompanied by fellow minority assemblyman Farley Augustine and other supporters, swam for about an hour in the waters off Scarborough before being taken on board a jet ski and pirogue to get to Toco, to highlight the need for Tobagonians to have a greater say in managing their affairs, including the beleaguered sea bridge.

Rowley told reporters Duke did a very good job of pointing out that Tobago is not far from Trinidad.

“He has made a good case for the Toco port and the road to Toco and if there is a ferry service from Tobago, one would not have to struggle, to drown, to get a pirogue or to get a jet ski.

“All we need is to have that project of the development completed and have a good ferry service running back and forth over a 20-mile stretch of water which would be done on a 45-minute trip as against a fourhour trip.

“That is part of the development project that’s ongoing and nobody is swimming for that.” Rowley anticipates the report on businessman Christian Mouttet’s investigation into the procurement of the Cabo Star and Ocean Flower 11 vessels will be completed by the time he returns from his overseas trip within the next two weeks.