THA to debate Buccoo Marine Park draft bill

A DRAFT bill governing the operations of the Buccoo Marine Park will be debated in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) next week.

Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis made the announcement on Wednesday at the post-executive council media briefing at the Victor E Bruce Financial Complex, Scarborough.

“It is my hope that after it is passed by the assembly that it will get to the Cabinet and that at some point in the very near future become law so that we in Tobago, can manage the critical Buccoo Marine Park and other sensitive spaces that are valuable to us here in Tobago,” he said.

Dennis recalled when he became chief secretary in May, he immediately sought to address the operations of the marine park. He said the beaches and marine park were closed at the time and a decision was taken to implement a user policy for the marine park. Dennis said several meetings were held with stakeholders – reef tour operators, boat owners, jetski operators.

“By the time the marine park was reopened after the first lockdown we had identified a path and a process for the effective and sustainable management of the marine space.”

He said he had told Tobagonians and stakeholders that to manage this space and other sensitive marine spaces effectively, legislation was needed. Now, he said, "after a long three months of hard work by our legal professionals within the THA" and by staff from the Division of Food Production, Fisheries, there is a draft bill.

Dennis said THA Act 40 of 1996 gives the assembly the authority to establish bills, which once approved by the assembly, goes to Cabinet and then Parliament to become law.

At the briefing, the chief secretary also said he was disappointed by some of the pictures he saw of people on board reef tour boats flagrantly disobeying the covid19 guidelines.

“Because the reality is that if we fail to act appropriately, chances are we will once again have a spike in the number of cases and then we will have no choice but to take the necessary actions to protect lives and to preserve our people in this country.

“And, therefore, if we continue to operate contrary to the guidelines and contrary to the advised protocols, then we will likely lose the benefits and lose the gains that we were able to have over the last couple of months.”