Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce president Diane Hadad is calling on the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) executive council to approve a credit note that would allow businesses access to $60 million to recover from the impact of the covid19 pandemic.
Hadad was speaking on December 15 during a public forum hosted by the chamber – Tobago Economy in Crisis – at Rovanel's Conference Centre in Bon Accord.
She said during the 13 years of the last PNM administration, there were "very selected" beneficiaries and many in the private sector fell apart. The island, she said, spoke very clearly in the last THA elections – voting 14-1 for the PDP – and based upon the results, there was expectation that there was a demand for new beginnings. This changed within the last two months, with 13 elected PDP assemblymen resigning from the party arising from a fallout between the Chief Secretary, Farley Augustine, and the party's leader, Watson Duke.
She said she felt disappointed the conversation today are not in keeping with the leadership mandates which were used "to win the hearts and minds of our people, and even our bankers who felt finally Tobago would be doing better, they would be in a position to support us.”
Hadad said after a two-year lockdown, she can only report that, in accordance with Central Bank guidelines, the account files for private sector borrowings are being sent to Trinidad, “as possibly Tobago may go up for sale very soon.”
“To look a little closer, our roads and drains infrastructure is much to be desired. Our transport – both sea and air – are not friendly as we face airfare increases in a couple days. plus penalties.
"In case anybody didn’t catch the drift, it's not just a $400 fare – the fare and $50 penalties would still be there if you miss your flight.” The airfare increases to $200 one-way from January 1 with a $50 fee to change flights.
She added: “So to the parties moving, please understand that all those costs get down to the bottom line of you being able to freely move to operate, whether it’s your business or even your personal life, whether it’s for education or health purposes – things that are not necessarily available on the island.”
[caption id="attachment_992141" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Chief Secretary Farley Augustine is in charge of the Finance Division. - David Reid[/caption]
She also said there continues to be no cargo vessel sailings every time there is a cruise ship docking.
She said the economy is not in a good place.
“Therefore, where do we go as a private sector in an environment where there is all this instability, when you have to convince financial institutions to support you, not in good times but actually in bad times.”
She said many people who wanted to attend the forum were at their businesses “doing the work themselves” as they could not afford to hire staff.
“And therefore, that goes all the way down into whether people are unemployed – whether we are leaving th
