Fight for Pigeon Point

CHAIRMAN of NAR Tobago, Christo Gift, has accused the Orville London PNM administration of giving Tobago-nians the impression that it was vigorously pursuing a solution to the Pigeon Point issue and called for Tobagonians to wake up and fight for what was rightfully theirs.

He was speaking at a press conference held at the NAR headquarters on Thursday, the eve of the anniversary of the death of  Michael Melville, who was fatally shot by security guard Richard Bontour on the Pigeon Point premises, three years ago. It was reported that Melville, a craft vendor of Bon Accord, was shot for the same reason still being addressed now, that of accessibility to the beach.

Gift further stated that the NAR failed to understand why the THA was discussing the issue with Club Pigeon Point, who was only leasing the property from Robinson Crusoe Limited, the actual owners. He stated that if any arrangements did come out of these negotiations, should Club Pigeon Point cease to exist, these arrangements would be nullified. Even sadder, he said, was the fact that the very party chosen by the people, was now allegedly agreeing to evict the vendors from the premises and taking away their livelihoods. Gift said that, after the PNM-THA administration had spent approximately $2 million of tax payers’ money to rebuild the infamous Pigeon Point jetty, people were still paying to gain access. “Devils are in the details and the details are missing from this,” he said. He concluded that the only solution to this issue was for the THA to seek absolute acquisition of the Pigeon Point beach.