2 weeks ago
6
Chief Secretary Farley Augustine. - THA CHIEF SECRETARY Farley Augustine has finally filed his declaration of assets and income to the Integrity Commission.
On July 7, Justice Frank Seepersad ordered Augustine to file his declaration of income, assets, liabilities and interests for the year 2023 in accordance with the Integrity in Public Life Act.
On that occasion, Augustine was given 30 days from the date the order was served to comply.
Under the act, all public officials, including assemblymen, must file annual declarations with the Integrity Commission.
Speaking to reporters after the launch of Courts’ Business Solutions Showroom, Gulf City Mall, Lowlands, Tobago, on August 8, Augustine said, “I have filed my declarations and I actually documented the experience. So you can expect me to show publicly the entire process of what goes into filing the declaration.”
He said several factors contributed to the delay.
“It was just a matter of time. So it meant going to all the banks. It meant going through the form and writing it up, getting it down to the office in Port of Spain. if they have questions, answering those questions and all of that.
“But I assure you, I really don’t have much to declare. In fact, I went to the Integrity Commission today (August 8) and just came back from Port of Spain. It’s just about making the time to actually sit down and do it.”
Augustine, who is also the political leader of the Tobago People’s Party, said the party will soon reveal its candidates for the upcoming THA elections.
“We are pretty advanced with our strategic planning and so when we roll, we will be rolling heavy and deep. We are excited about the upcoming season.”
Saying the season is expected to be “pretty eventful,” he added, “But certainly, we are committed to a very clean campaign and a progressive agenda as always and one that engages and excites the people of Tobago.”
The PNM Tobago Council announced in a release on July 31 that it had completed its screening of 15 candidates to contest the elections.
The Tobago Council, led by Ancil Dennis, said the names of the candidates will be released in due time.
Augustine also responded to questions about the government’s proposed stand-your-ground legislation. Consultations have been taking place in various parts of the country.
He said at some point, Tobagonians will be invited to share their views on the issue.
“I expect there will be consultations in Tobago because there are implications for us, for our tourism sector and, of course, I think Tobagonians should have a say. At the end of the day we are guided by what the public and not what Tobagonians say and feel about the matter.
“We have not held any consultations ourselves but certainly our members of Parliament will engage in some consultations because we will definitely want to know how Tobagonians feel on the matter.”
On the executive order issued by the US government, which outlines an increase in the reciprocal tariff rates from ten to 15 per cent on a range of imports, including goods from TT, Augustine said the measure will impact global trade significantly.
Referring to the opening of the Courts Business Solutions Showroom, he added, “We are here at Courts where they have published for Tobago, commercial kitchen items. Most of these items would attract some tariff on it. So the cost of goods would go up, the cost to produce goods would go up, the cost of raw material would go up.”
Augustine said prices will inevitably go up.
“In our society, we tend to essentially consume goods from the United States and the First World, so we can expect an increase in prices in our stores.”
However, he said, the measure should encourage citizens to “produce locally, to buy local, to eat local, to farm more, to eat the foods that we grew up on, to perhaps choose cassava over wheat, to perhaps go by the local fisherman and those rearing the chickens as opposed to the imported goods because that is going to make the difference in terms of how we are able to feed our families.”
English (US) ·