The swirling allegations surrounding the fallout from the recent article published in the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom about the attack on Peter and Murium Green in Tobago in August 2009 has created governance challenges here. There is a firestorm of controversy over whether compensation is to be given to the Greens. They allege that the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary, Orville London, made promises to them about compensation, while Mr London has denied making any such promises. What this matter has unearthed is the question of whether the Central Government and the THA must, of necessity, speak with the same voice. Mr London is arguing that it is necessary for the two parties to hold the same view on this matter. However, it must be noted that the THA is entitled to hold a different view from the Central Government on all matters for which it has responsibility under the Fifth Schedule of the THA Act (No 40 of 1996), one of which is tourism.
This is a core reality that underlies the establishment of the THA and the future constitutional development of the island in relation to Trinidad. Mr London is perhaps dismayed by the fact that the Central Government is saying one thing and he is saying another. From a political standpoint he may find that to be disconcerting. However, there is nothing wrong with him articulating a different view from Ministers in the Central Government or even Trinidad and Tobago's High Commissioner to London. After all, the Sixth Schedule to the THA Act of 1996 specifically states that the THA shall not have responsibility for foreign affairs. In the circumstances, his complaints about Garvin Nicholas, the High Commissioner to London, speaking on the issue and speaking with the Greens may be justifiable to him, but the High Commissioner gets his directives from the Central Government.
Dangerous line of argument
Mr London has opened the door to a dangerous line of argument in respect of the ongoing constitutional development of Tobago whereby the suggestion is being made that there should be harmony between the storylines between Port-of-Spain and Scarborough. No such harmony is required. If the THA is of a different view from the Central Government, that is really legally permissible. Indeed, some members of the THA have been critical of Tobago Development Minister, Vernella Alleyne-Toppin, for some of the policy moves that she has contemplated in respect of the development of Tobago alongside the existence of the THA. Mr London may find it politically plausible for the THA and the Central Government to sing from the same hymn book on this matter, however, in this instance the Central Government has taken a different position. The entire development of the THA from its inception in 1980 has been based on the philosophy that Tobago is entitled to its own views and its own voice on its development.
That created a successful political movement for ANR Robinson in the 1976 general election when the DAC wrested the two Tobago seats from the PNM and then controlled the THA in the 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 THA elections. The PNM was only able to capture power in the THA elections of 2001, 2005 and 2009 after the split in the NAR and the emergence of other political forces. The TOP has now come forward as a uniquely Tobagonian party that captured four seats in the 2009 THA elections and wrested the two Tobago seats back from the PNM in the general election of 2010.The philosophy of the movement that started the THA in 1980 was always based on Tobago having a different view from Trinidad to which it is entitled. Mr London and the THA can indeed articulate a different position from the Central Government in respect of the allocation of its resources to resolving this controversy. Indeed, the THA can say that they are in open disagreement with the Central Government on this matter. The Central Government can give compensation to the Greens and the THA can hold firm against it and the two views can live comfortably side by side, because the reverse could also have been the position.
Tourism product badly damaged
The upshot of all of this is that the tourism product in Tobago is being badly damaged by adverse international publicity and will be further damaged by the impending television show in the UK on which the Greens will appear. Their complaints are being linked with the murder of the Swedish couple in October 2008 which also made international headlines. This kind of situation is not a good one for the People's Partnership Government to manage coming so soon after the disappointment that it inflicted on the British Government by the cancellation of the order for the three Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) last September. For many, the question must be asked why has this suddenly reared its head out of nowhere? The British Government has continued to issue negative travel advisories about Trinidad and Tobago and these kinds of vicious crimes against foreign nationals in Tobago can be very damaging to any future development of its tourist industry.