Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally called for further consultation with Tobagonians by the Joint Select Committee (JSC) on the Constitution (Amendment) (Tobago Self-Government) Bill, 2020.

During debate on the adoption of the report of the JSC in Parliament on Monday, Rambally said the Opposition members of the committee had called for further consultation several times as the proceedings continued. He said the day the committee was supposed to go to Tobago, covid19 restrictions were announced which made it difficult.

“In dealing with the results of predecessor committees and reports, it was stated multiple times that consultation was not done with the people of Tobago. We wrote letters in April and May that we wanted to go to public consultation, because we saw people speaking out, especially after the THA elections. It wasn’t the Opposition members who called for extra time, it was the people of Tobago. We are not satisfied with the 195 responses collected, especially as most were collected via a prepared survey.”

Rambally said the UNC was not against Tobago self-governance but they thought the report and the bill were averse to the aspirations of the people of Tobago and betrayed their will. He said Tobagonians were being hoodwinked into thinking the report and the bill represented a panacea to Tobago when it came to self-governance, but presented more problems than solutions.

Rambally said in addition to what they saw as the lack of consultation, the Opposition also had questions about specific provisions of the bill.

“Why was this governance model chosen? Why didn’t we go the way of demarcating maritime boundaries? On what basis were the legal opinions chosen which were included in the report. There needs to be a breakdown of some of the technical issues so the average man on the street could understand it better. Not everyone may agree with it but they have to be able to say they were properly consulted.”

Rambally said a minority report presented by the Opposition members of the JSC said the consultation process was unfair and did not reach enough people. He said the committee should adjust its own remit to be more inclusive.