Breakaway Chamber formed

TOBAGO is kicking its business activity into high gear as a Tobago Business Chamber is soon to be launched.

On Friday, attorney Martin George declared "it is time to flip the script" as he made the announcement from his Bacolet office while addressing members of the media.

George, who described himself as a nominal director of the entity, said having spoken to several notable members of the business community on the island, a consensus was reached that it is time to incorporate and form Tobago's very own Chamber.

“Given that mandate, I took the initiative and I went ahead, and I have to present the certificate of incorporation for the registered, legal entity that is the Tobago Business Chamber.

“This is the only legally registered entity that can be described as a Tobago Business Chamber. We have our by-laws, we have our articles of incorporation, we have our list of directors, we have a registered office, we have our stamp, we have everything that a proper organisation has,” he said.

“We are creating a new day, a new dawn. There are several persons who have already indicated their interest and they are going to be signing up. We are going to be launched in the new year… we are going to be bringing on board the persons who have felt marginalised, those who have felt left out, those who have felt that this was an exclusive body and they couldn’t have a place; the taxi drivers associations, the fishermen association, the agricultural associations, we want to get them on board and participate in a meaningful way because these are all the facets of Tobago’s business that we need to have developed,” he said.

He envisions the Chamber’s work as transformative.

“You have to move beyond the constant narrative of complaining and always grousing, that is all we have had for 45 years; and beyond the complaints and the grousing, you have not seen the positive tangible aspects of their improvement. You want to nurture young persons, you want to teach them how to develop their skills, teach them how to develop a proper business plan, teach them how to prepare a proper application for loans – that’s what a Chamber does.

“It’s not just a question of you running to television and complaining about the boat… it appears that all that they’ve been able to do is just have this constant negative narrative and we need to flip the script. We need to start showing the positive side of Tobago, we need to encourage investment, we need to encourage business persons from Trinidad – and from abroad – to invest here, we need to bring the wider diaspora back and let them participate,” he said.

George recently resigned from the position of Vice Chairman of the Tobago Division of the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Commerce which he said legally does not exist.

“I had pointed out that there is no registered entity known as the Tobago Chamber of Commerce… They have no certificate of registration, no certificate of incorporation for these persons who comprise what is known as the Tobago Division of the Trinidad-based Westmoorings-located, Chamber of Industry and Commerce. If you check out the TT Chamber’s website, they indicate that there actually was a Tobago Chamber years ago in 1936, but then in 1973 they merged with the Trinidad Chamber and then simply became a Tobago Division of the Trinidad Chamber.

“So, for the last 45 years, our best and brightest of business persons who have associated with this Division have not really been a Tobago Chamber, they have simply been a Division, basically like a tail being wagged from the Trinidad head office located in Westmoorings. I would like to publicly go on record as thanking the Trinidad Chamber for carrying Tobago on its back for 45 years, because that is what they have been doing,” George said.

He said having raised the issue, there has been a level of dissatisfaction in the state of affairs within the public domain.

“It seems to suggest that Tobago is not able or not capable of forming its own entity or forming its own business chamber, and this is not right, this cannot be correct. You have so many other Chambers of Commerce and business organisations in Trinidad which have been able to form and organise themselves, get registered, get incorporated, get certified and carry out the business of the people in a manner that is valid, effective and legitimate, and that is the main issue here. If you are functioning as a Tobago Division of a Trinidad Chamber of Commerce or a Trinidad-based Chamber of Commerce, you are not a Tobago Chamber of Commerce and that is something that I think the people of Tobago ought not to be satisfied with,” he added.

George is of the view the creation of this Chamber on the island would signal heightened business activity on the island which would benefit the wider community. He said its formation points to a unity among the businesses, and an ability to organise and act on those shared values for a brighter, more prosperous future.

The entity currently has three nominal directors and, according to George, when it is launched in January, they would have a board comprising eight directors and a management committee. He said 13 businesses have signed on and 22 others have expressed interest.