Duke: Charles making Tobago dependent

THA Minority Leader Watson Duke has blamed Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles’ administration for a decline in tourists to Tobago.

Duke, political leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP), made this claim on Tuesday during a news conference at James Park, Scarborough.

Duke claimed in 2015, an estimated 452,000 travelled by boat from Trinidad to Tobago. He claimed this figure dropped to 418,000 in 2016.

“But in the year 2017, the year Kelvin Charles, our Chief Secretary, ascended to the throne. the year after the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley ascended to Prime Minister, the ‘supremacist team’ would have caused less than 202,000 persons to come to Tobago,” he told reporters.

Saying this was “no small feat,” Duke added: “So, when you see business suffering, when you see places closing down, when you see people getting frustrated with life in Tobago, it is because 202,000 persons did not make it to Tobago in the year 2017 and counting.”

Duke said the situation caused the island’s economy to become stagnant.

“It is said that every person who comes to Tobago will spend at least $1,000. And if they were to spend at least $1,000, I am talking $202 million that was not injected domestically in our economy.”

He asked: “So, where is Kelvin Charles in all of this? His role as chief is to grow the economy. His role is to make the economy more sustainable, but instead he has made us dependable.”

Duke argued that if no one came to the island, “then Tobago is unable to turn the wheels of our economic survival around and around and around.

“It is pure stagnation here and this is what we are dealing with. It more looks like a cesspool of ideas, PNM ideas that are running out.”

Duke further claimed the air bridge has not supplemented the shortfall on the sea bridge.

“Over the three-year period, 2015, 2016, 2017, the amount of additional passengers the plane took up was 77,000 It still left us with 202,000 unable to travel consistently.”

Duke said Tobago is in a dire situation.

“If Trinidad – and God forbid – is unable to supply us with food, hospitals, air and sea transportation or even any level of governance. If Trinidad is unable to provide us with these things, we would be unable, first of all, to assist ourselves in the island.”

He added: “Even if nothing is wrong with Tobago, we will be unable to sustain life in Tobago until Trinidad recovers. More importantly, in a twin island, if something goes wrong with one of the twin, the next available twin should help.”

Duke said Tobago is unable to help Trinidad.

“We can’t even send a box of cigarette in Trinidad for a man to keep cool. We can’t even send a box of yard fowl in Trinidad because of the problems on the air and sea bridge.”