Chief Secretary likes post-covid19 recovery report

CHIEF Secretary Ancil Dennis has received the report of the THA-appointed economic recovery task force.

Dennis appointed the 17-man team in May, three months after the national lockdown, to chart Tobago’s development post-covid19.

The team began work on June 1 and was given six months to complete its report.

At the post-executive council media briefing on June 3, Dennis said the team was expected to identify specific policy measures that Tobago should adopt to ensure the island is given the “given the best chance of recovery and opportunity to take advantage of every opportunity that may come as a result of this pandemic.”

Dennis told Newsday on Wednesday the team completed its work last month, way ahead of its deadline, and he is reading the report.

“So far, so good. I like the recommendations. I think so far it is a solid report and I think if some of the things are implemented then it can, in fact, cause us to recover from the situation quite quickly,” Dennis said.

He said the report has also been circulated to THA secretaries and assistant secretaries as well as Chief Administrator Bernadette Solomon-Koroma and other administrators.

It will soon be adopted by the executive council, he said, “and then we will seek to implement the recommendations therein.”

The team was divided into seven sectors: finance; tourism; food production; governance; productivity and human resource, sustainability and innovation; creative economy and social development.

It included CEO, Tobago Hotel and Tourism Association, Dr Stephen Sheppard; cultural activist John Arnold; farmer Ricard Alfred; musician Khalen Jamoi Alexander; relationship expert and Newsday Tobago columnist Dr Crystal Benjamin; and psychologist Dr Alina Williams.