Morris troubled by Store Bay development plans

THA Minority Leader Kelvon Morris is looking on with great concern at the redevelopment plans for the Store Bay Beach facility.

Speaking with Newsday on September 3, Morris said he has taken full note of the issues highlighted by the vendors, commenting: “It is amazing that the current Farley Augustine-led THA continues to play Tobagonians for fools.”

Over the weekend, the THA Division of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation denied evicting any tenant from the facility or having a final plan for redeveloping the popular spot.

The division was responding to a Facebook post on the I Support Phillip Alexander page on August 30, which claimed the facility was being given to "the one per cent."

The post said, "Store Bay beach facility famous for Miss Jean crab & dumpling. Miss Jean and all the other vendors have been evicted. Talk on the ground is the entire facility is to be handed over to a 1% developer to turn into another exclusive Pigeon Point type club."

In a media release on September 1, the division said upgrading and enhancing the beach facility were "long overdue."

However, it said plans were still in the consultation phase and nothing was concrete.

Responding to the concerns raised by vendors at the facility, Morris said he felt the same.

“There is no real consultation in the space. Who did they consult, where has the consultation for this project been and how much would this project cost?

"Nobody seems to know, yet it is being advertised as a project to start in September. So I am quite concerned.”

He said he was only made aware of the redevelopment plans by the press release from the division.

“We saw a render of an upgrade which includes a clubhouse, and I recalled when questions were being asked, the deputy chief secretary responded under a...Facebook post by indicating that they, as the THA, do not even know if they can finance this development on their own.”

He said therefore the next reasonable question was, if not the THA, then who was going to pay.

“We only found out that perhaps the process or the identified developer is someone considered to be a 'one-per-center.' And this is the same administration that has been for some time saying that they are going to promote Tobago for Tobagonians.”

In describing it as “very anti-Tobagonian,” he said this continues to be the trend of the administration as the majority of the major contracts given out on the island had gone to contractors outside Tobago.

“This administration continues to operate in secrecy. There continues to be a lack of transparency and accountability, and even when you ask the questions, we cannot get the answers.”