Tobago laws for Cabinet

CLINT CHAN TACK

CABINET will today deal with legislation designed to give greater self-governance to Tobago. Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said so at a news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s, after the end of an all-day Government retreat there yesterday. Rowley was optimistic this legislation will begin its journey today through Cabinet and onwards to Parliament in the near future.

He said the Property Tax Bill was recently laid in Parliament. Saying there will soon be “protracted sittings” of Parliament to deal with several bills, Rowley identified revenue authority legislation and local government reform legislation amongst the bills that will be going to Parliament. Reiterating that anti-crime legislation will be prominent in the Government’s legislative agenda, Rowley said Government continues its conversation with the Opposition about bringing back the Anti-Gang Bill 2017 to Parliament.

The bill was defeated in the House of Representatives last December and cannot return to Parliament for a period of six months, under the House’s Standing Orders. Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young has said Government would be willing to consider a motion to waive these particular standing orders. Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has said the Opposition would also consider this motion. Rowley said Anti-Gang legislation is urgently needed to assist the efforts of law enforcement to deal with gang-related crimes such as revenge killings.

He said Finance Minister Colm Imbert provided a comprehensive summary on the state of the economy at the retreat. Rowley said Government will continue its efforts to bring expenditure down, reduce the gap between expenditure and revenue, focus on revenue generating initiatives, maintain jobs in the country, avoid incurring expenses which cannot be met and balancing the budget.

While not identifying any specific project, Rowley identified housing, infrastructure and tourism as three sectors where efforts to stimulate economic growth are under way.

On diversification, Rowley said there are efforts to refuel the country’s industrial parks. He also said agreement is close with the private sector on certain initiatives. However he added that for the time being, most of the activity driving the economy comes from the Government.