NAR: PNM, DAC turn off Tobagonians

THE NAR believes that Tobagonians have been turned off by the respective campaigns of the PNM and DAC as the clock ticks down to election day — January 17.  This was the view articulated yesterday by NAR Tobago chairman Christo Gift who said while the NAR would do its best to win the two seats it is contesting, it deeply regreted that would not provide a third alternative to the electorate. Gift told Newsday that while the NAR is not as visible as its rivals, it is “on the ground” and it is detecting that many people are disenchanted with both the PNM and the DAC. 

In the case of the PNM, he argued that THA Chief Secretary Orville London and his team could not campaign about delivering to the people of Tobago when they had not actually done so. Gift said while some things were in fact delivered under the PNM, the quality of these  left a lot to be desired.  Gift claimed that secondary schools in Mason Hall, Speyside, Goodwood and Castara are now bedeviled with problems. On health, the NAR Tobago chairman alleged that there has been no significant improvement in the island’s existing health care systems under the PNM. Gift was particularly critical of the new Scarborough Regional Hospital which is now being constructed in Signal Hill and described it as “a death trap.” Gift slammed London’s announcement that unemployment in Tobago had fallen to 3.4 percent in mid-2004 and said employment created by CEPEP could not be factored into this equation.

He said he was not against anyone being gainfully employed but London’s administration was going about things the wrong way where employment and job creation were concerned. Switching gears to the DAC, Gift questioned the rationale behind DAC leader Hochoy Charles’ promise to pay CEPEP workers $110 a day.  On Sunday, the THA Secretary warned that Charles planned to shut down CEPEP if the DAC won the THA Elections. Gift said he believed that Charles’ proposal, if implemented, could see employment being lost from other sectors of Tobago’s economy. He also expressed concern that Charles could resurrect some of the bad habits he had as chief secretary. Gift said last year’s defection of NAR Tobago leader Cecil Caruth to the DAC and recent developments have clearly shown that the people around Charles would not be able to prevent him from engaging in the excesses of the past and Tobagonians had much to fear on this score. Gift is contesting the Providence/Mason Hall/Moriah seat while Jason Nancis is the NAR’s candidate for Belle Garden/Goodwood.