President of the Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Diane Hadad is urging the Government to meet with employers with a view to subsidising the salaries of their employees.

With covid19 restrictions and a state of emergency (SoE) in effect, Hadad said it will be extremely difficult for entrepreneurs and average citizens to support themselves under the current circumstances.

In an interview with Newsday on Thursday, Hadad claimed the effects of the SoE could potentially crash Tobago’s rapidly deteriorating economy.

“Economically, this is quite a crash, and it has reached the stage now where Government, if responsible enough, needs to recognise that it has no choice but to now step in as father and take care of the children of the nation,” she said.

“You have a total collapse of the movement of people and income, and at this stage, after 15 months into this, we really can’t have the same conversation.”

Saying there must be “a serious intervention,” Hadad believes the Government’s plan to offer 25,000 hampers and a $1,500 grant to vulnerable citizens will not fix the problem.

“None of those formulas are going to work in the now. And therefore there needs to be some serious work done in terms of going through employers and subsidising some form of salary payment to employees.

“That is the only way we can get to some level of stability for economics in terms of people feeding and eating.”

At present, Hadad said, many businessmen and ordinary citizens are “backlogged” with utility bills, loan payments and mortgages.

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