THA CHIEF SECRETARY Farley Augustine says he will give his administration a grade seven out of ten for its performance in office over the past three years.
But he believes there is still room for improvement.
“If we are to rate the government’s performance, we are somewhere at seven out of ten."But being the kind of perfectionist that I am, I want to push in this last year to get it closer to ten. We have to go above and beyond for Tobagonians and the reward for good work is more work,” he told reporters at a prize-giving ceremony for the Chief Secretary’s Tobago Secondary Schools’ Art Competition at the Hampden/Lowlands Multipurpose Facility on December 6.
Augustine and the other sitting THA representatives were part of the Watson Duke-led Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP), which had an overwhelming 14-1 victory over the People’s National Movement in the December 6, 2021 THA election.
But eight months into its term, Duke accused the THA of failing to financially assist the members of a Roxborough group that had gone to New York to perform at a cultural event.
>
Duke subsequently fired Augustine, Dr Faith BYisrael and Alicia Roberts-Patterson as PDP deputy political leaders. He also resigned as Deputy Chief Secretary and was replaced by BYisrael.
Augustine and the other assemblymen, who came into the THA on a PDP ticket, eventually resigned from the party. Their supporters later formed the Tobago People’s Party (TPP).
The party, which was launched on August 13, 2023, has signalled its intention to contest the Tobago East and West seats in the general election as well as all 15 electoral districts in the THA election, both of which are constitutionally due in 2025.
Reflecting on his tenure so far, Augustine said, “Across the three years, we have demonstrated an ability to remain stable even in the presence of what might appear to be chaos. Although we had several hiccups, although we had several challenges, I feel that we have a very stable government that was able to stabilise the Tobago economy post-covid19.”
He said his administration also has spent a considerable amount of resources “cleaning up the mess.
“Transformational leadership means you have to do a lot of messy work and a lot of messy cleaning up and I am happy that we have been able to get that done.”
Augustine said under his stewardship the THA has increased salaries and social grants.
He added, “We have given out more lands in under three years than the previous regime has given out in their whole 21 years, and that is lands for home ownership.”
The agriculture and health sectors, he said, have also seen significant improvements.
>
“You notice that we have far less complaints than we used to have in the past in the health care system?"But despite all of that, I am pushing my team to continue doing more because this is not just about passing a certain mark or just doing better than those we replaced. It is about positioning Tobago towards becoming the greatest little island on the planet.
“That means going far above just outdoing our predecessors. We definitely are doing better than those we replaced."But we are not even considering those we replaced. We are looking around the region and around the world and positioning and lining up Tobago against other jurisdictions and asking ourselves how much better can we do with the limited resources we have to ensure that Tobago can compete with the rest of the world.”
Augustine said the THA has gone past competing with its predecessors “because they eh coming back here any time soon.
“Tobagonians are happy they have taken the time to rid themselves of their abuser. But right now, I want us to begin to look at Tobago against the rest of the world, starting with other territories in the region and look at how we can even better ourselves and be better than our neighbours, because becoming the greatest little island on the planet requires that we become better than everybody else.”
However, Minority Leader Kelvon Morris has described the Augustine-led THA’s term in office so far as a disaster.
“This administration has been nothing short of a disaster for Tobago and Tobagonians,” he told Newsday via WhatsApp.
Morris said the THA cannot boast of success in any sector.
“They rode into office on the slogan ‘Leh We Fix Dis,’ but instead of fixing anything, they’ve succeeded only in dismantling our island’s progress.”
He claimed thousands of Tobagonians were jobless “and those lucky enough to still have jobs face the indignity of late salaries month after month.”
>
The Darrel Spring/Whim assemblyman added tourism, “our economic lifeline,” is collapsing, with arrivals at an all-time low.
“Meanwhile, the secretary and her minions are globe-trotting on taxpayers’ dollars. What exactly has this wasteful travel achieved for Tobago? Nothing.”
The agricultural sector, he claimed, is “dying a slow death, leaving our farmers abandoned and our food security in jeopardy.
“Worse yet, Tobago’s patrimony, our land and opportunities, have been handed over to outsiders while our own people are left to suffer,” he said.
