JavaScript is disabled in your web browser or browser is too old to support JavaScript. Today almost all web pages contain JavaScript, a scripting programming language that runs on visitor's web browser. It makes web pages functional for specific purposes and if disabled for some reason, the content or the functionality of the web page can be limited or unavailable.

Thursday, May 8, 2025

Webster-Roy: Tobago’s autonomy was betrayed by one of our own

by

Elizabeth Gonzales
21 days ago
20250416
Gender and Child Affairs Minister, Ayana Webster-Roy.

Gender and Child Affairs Minister, Ayana Webster-Roy.

Roberto Codallo

Ayan­na Web­ster-Roy said she broke down in Par­lia­ment when she re­alised To­ba­go’s au­ton­o­my was be­trayed—not by strangers, but by one of their own.

She was re­fer­ring to Chief Sec­re­tary Far­ley Au­gus­tine, who she claimed in­struct­ed the op­po­si­tion not to sup­port the is­land gov­ern­ment bill.

Now, she’s urg­ing vot­ers not to let it hap­pen again.

“I cried in the Par­lia­ment. I went in­to the bath­room and shed some tears—not for me. No, I cried be­cause we boy be­trayed To­ba­go,” she said dur­ing a po­lit­i­cal meet­ing in Rox­bor­ough.

Web­ster-Roy said she had cham­pi­oned the is­land gov­ern­ment bill and con­sti­tu­tion­al re­form, on­ly to watch it col­lapse at the hands of a To­bag­on­ian leader.

“Af­ter all our work, af­ter all our sac­ri­fice… an­oth­er ah we boy, we get sell out.”

De­spite the dis­ap­point­ment, she said she nev­er gave up. In­stead, she walked every vil­lage in her con­stituen­cy to serve her peo­ple.

“There is no com­mu­ni­ty in To­ba­go East that didn’t feel the im­pact… I walk and I walk and I walk so much… call me Big Bird, but I walk be­cause I care about all ah To­ba­go East peo­ple.”

She re­mind­ed con­stituents that the PNM brought To­ba­go a new air­port, new fer­ries, bet­ter wa­ter ac­cess, and job op­por­tu­ni­ties for hun­dreds. And she promised even more—tax-free pen­sions, vir­tu­al health vis­its for se­niors, and greater sup­port for abused women and chil­dren.

“This is not about anoint­ing. This is about to­mor­row,” she said. “You can’t gam­ble with your des­tiny. You can’t gam­ble with your chil­dren.”

Web­ster-Roy said on­ly a strong, ex­pe­ri­enced team un­der “Cap­tain Stu­art Young” could sail the SS Trinidad and To­ba­go for­ward.

“If you’re not vot­ing PNM, you’re ob­vi­ous­ly vot­ing UNC… We are about poli­cies for the de­vel­op­ment of our peo­ple.”

Instagram


Related articles

Sponsored

Weather

PORT OF SPAIN WEATHER

Sponsored