TOBAGO People’s Party (TPP) political leader Farley Augustine has slammed the government for investing heavily on capital projects in Trinidad while stymieing Tobago’s development with meagre budget allocations.
He was addressing a political meeting at the Montgomery Recreation Ground, Bethel, Tobago, on April 15.
Augustine told supporters that several of the government’s major infrastructural projects within recent years have surpassed the $205 million the Tobago House of Assembly’s (THA’s) got for development initiatives in the 2024-2025 budget.
He claimed a carpark at the San Fernando Teaching Hospital was built for $102.7 million, “more than half of Tobago’s development budget spent on a single carpark.
“Ask yourself, Tobago, tonight, ‘Are you valued more than a carpark in San Fernando?”
Augustine continued, “They just open a Moruga fishing facility, one fishing facility cost $62 million. We have $205 million for the whole year. Ask yourself how much fish facility we could build with that.
“The Red House where Shamfa (Cudjoe-Lewis) and Ayanna (Webster-Roy) for ten years and talk stupidness, they spent $441 million on one building. Tell me, one building value more than the $60,000 strong in Tobago. Ask yourself that.
“We getting $205 million, all 60,000 ah we for every village, every town, every hamlet on the island. Compare $441 million to $205 (million).”
He also mentioned the Curepe Interchange as an example of a project in which a significant sum of money was spent.
“The Curepe Interchange cost them $221 million, more than the Tobago budget. So one interchange, one traffic management plan actually value more than the development of the entire island of Tobago.
“When they come around, ask them if you value less than an interchange and a place to drive car. Ask them if we don’t want highways too. Ask them if you don’t want interchange to manage the traffic coming out of Scarborough.”
Augustine scoffed at former La Horquetta/Talparo MP Foster Cummings’ recent announcement that a new school was to be built in La Horquetta at an estimated cost of $200 million.
“Meanwhile in our budget, our allocation to build a new Scarborough Secondary is $500,000. Ask yourself, which secondary school can be built for $500,000. You can’t even build a private home for $500,000 these days, much more an entire secondary school for a population of just under 1,000.”
He said Cummings, Minister of Youth Development and National Service, should be ashamed to talk about constructing a school in La Horquetta for $200 million.
He lamented that out of every $100 spent in TT on development, Tobago only gets $4.03.
“If we lucky, we get $4.30. Is that what you worth? Is that equity? Is that justice. How can we sit here and agree that as a country, for every $100 we spend on development, we can’t even spend $10 in Tobago. We can’t even spend $5 in Tobago.”
Augustine said since becoming Chief Secretary in December 2021, his budget requests have been reasonable.
“The Tobago population is just over five per cent of the national population. Oh gosh, give we a little five-something per cent of the budget. We eh begging for much. We eh even saying give us the maximum that the DRC (Dispute Resolution Commission) has said. We eh even asking for 6.9.”
He said the TPP’s candidates David Thomas (Tobago East) and Joel Sampson (Tobago West) will have to push for a bigger allocation for the island in the Parliament if they win their seats in the April 28 general election.
