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Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Chief Secretary Farley Augustine hold a copy of the export licence granted to the Tobago House of Assembly on November 4 at the Assembly Legislature in Scarborough. - Photo by Alva Viarruel DECLARING her government’s intention to give Tobago more control over its financial affairs, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on November 4 presented THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine with an export licence for the Studley Park Enterprises Ltd to market the island’s aggregate regionally and provide opportunities to generate some much-needed foreign exchange.
She made the presentation while addressing members of the THA during a special sitting of the Assembly Legislature in Scarborough.
Several members of her Cabinet attended the sitting, which marked Persad-Bissessar’s first official visit to Tobago since the UNC-led coalition won the April 28 general election.
The Prime Minister’s address focused extensively on the importance of Tobago co-existing harmoniously as equal partners with Trinidad, despite its geographic size.
She recognised Tobago’s decades-long struggle for a greater share of the national pie and pledged her government’s commitment to working alongside Augustine to develop the island.
Persad-Bissessar said the export licence for Studley Park was one avenue through which the island could help chart its own destiny.
“I am happy that my government, in just six months, can deliver something that you have long waited for. I am very happy that in just a month or six months, I have a very special document for Chief Farley and all of you in this THA,” she said.
“This is something that will give you the means to make money. This will give you the means to earn foreign exchange and, therefore, they can’t say, 'Poor-boy Tobago, come.'
“I hold in my hand today, Farley, Chief Secretary, this is an export licence for Studley Park Quarry.”
Assemblymen thumped their desks loudly in approval.
Persad-Bissessar then sought leave from Presiding Officer Abby Taylor to present the licence to Augustine.
“I am so happy if you could make some more money for the people of Tobago and Trinidad in foreign exchange as you use this export licence to export what is yours, the aggregate out of Studley Park. If you were doing that all this time, you would have been richer than some other places which will remain unnamed.”
Responding to the PM’s gesture, Augustine said, “I am happy that I can display and show a copy of the export licence for the Studley Park Enterprises Ltd.”
He said the application was made since 2022 under the previous PNM government led by Tobagonian Dr Keith Rowley “and one would think, as we say in Tobago, that if you have a brother in the mango tree you will eat. But sometimes you have to just depend on a stranger to give the kind gesture that your own will not give to you.”
Promise of project-based budgeting
In her address, Persad-Bissessar also addressed Tobago’s long-standing call for autonomy, saying self-determination “is not separation but participation with power.”
She said, “I say again, we must stand side by side. My government stands firm in its commitment to Tobago’s right to meaningful self-government and self-determination with a strong and united Republic.
“I do not see this as a favour being granted to you but it is a duty that is honoured and grounded in equality, in respect and shared purpose, side by side. Tobago must have the freedom to shape its development while remaining a full and valued part of the national family.”
As such, Persad-Bissessar announced moves to do away with set percentages in budget allocations for the island.
“In short order, we will develop and fair and transparent mechanism to allocate a portion of national revenues to Tobago in accordance with an agreed upon fair-share model.
“This equalisation model, in the first instance, will allow for a moving away from the current population percentage-based budgeting for development but will move instead to percentage-based budgeting for development, to project-based budgeting.”
This, she said, would guarantee larger sums from the Infrastructure Development Fund for the Public Sector Investment Programme to fund THA-approved strategic development planning.
Persad-Bissessar recalled that in 2013, in her first term as Prime Minister, she had offered Tobago eight per cent of the national budget.
“I brought a bill in my first incarnation as Prime Minister and the then Opposition, the PNM, walked out on it. Then that same opposition turned into government some years later, they offered you 6.8 per cent. Based on discussions we had with the people of Tobago, we did not support that (Tobago autonomy) bill.”
She noted the Dispute Resolution Committee’s recommendation of between 4.03 and 6.9 per cent in national allocations for Tobago.
Persad-Bissessar argued, “We must move away from that range and establish for Tobago a fair share. We can work together. The PNM has misled Tobagonians...
"Let’s be real, you do not need a bill in Parliament to give Tobago more money. We come back to right is right, fair is fair. Priority, side by side.”
The PM boasted Tobago’s budget allocation – TT$3.724 billion – for fiscal 2025-2026, was the highest in the island’s history.
“And for the first time in more than ten years, we are working to ensure that every cent that is being released, is full, on time and according to parliamentary appropriation.
“We are working to make disbursements quarterly, en bloc and in advance, in keeping with the law. Chief Secretary Farley has described this as a step in the right direction and I wholeheartedly agree.
“These actions speak louder than any promise. They show that my government’s commitment is to fairness, accountability and partnership. The business community has also welcomed this change, seeing in it a new era of prediction and trust.”
IDB loan for Riseland housing
Persad-Bissessar also announced that the Riseland housing project at Carnbee will be restarted.
She said she learnt from Housing Minister David Lee that the project was shut down.
“When I got this information from my Minister of Housing, MP David Lee, it stunned me. The documentation that he sent to me is to do with a project you are familiar with here – the Riseland project at Carnbee.
“They shut the entire project down. The IDB had funded $20 million to start the work and you know what, they shut it down and why? They didn’t get the money.
"Chief Secretary, they were moving the project to somewhere in Trinidad. They were talking monies from project funded by the IDB for Tobago to put it in Trinidad.”
Persad-Bissessar said while she does not mind things like that “because I am from Trinidad, fair is fair, equity is equity, priority is priority.
“Today, I want to announce that project is coming back to Riseland in Tobago. And we will begin with TT$20 million that is allocated for infrastructure in this fiscal year.”
Speaking to the media outside the Assembly Legislature, Persad-Bissessar was asked about critics saying her visit to the THA was politically motivated and meant to influence the upcoming THA elections. She replied simply, "I'm a a politician."
Persad-Bissessar had moments before expressed her support for Tobago and the Augustine-led Tobago People's Party.
"Two islands, one nation, let us go forward side by side. One purpose, one vision and one mission," she said.
"My friends, as the tide meets the shores of Tobago, the same tides meet the shores of Trinidad...May our shared journey remind us that the strength of the nation is not found in its borders. It's found in the hearts of its citizens who choose everyday to walk as one. May God bless TT. I thank you, but let me remind you that the anchor holds."
The anchor is the symbol of the TPP.
Earlier in the day, Persad-Bissessar and members of her government were treated to a cultural programme at the Signal Hill Secondary School.
The PM then paid a courtesy call on Augustine at the Office of the Chief Secretary, Calder Hall Administrative Complex before visiting the Central Administrative Services – Tobago, in Scarborough.
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