Augustine sworn in as THA’s fifth chief secretary

Farley Chavez Augustine has been sworn in as the Tobago House of Assembly's fifth chief secretary.

Augustine, who is a deputy political leader of the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP), along with political leader Watson Duke led the team to a 14-one victory on Monday night against the PNM.

On Thursday, the new assemblymen took the oath of office at the Magdalena Grand Golf and Beach Resort in Lowlands, Tobago.

The new assemblymen then gathered at the Assembly Legislature from 1 pm, and there Abby Taylor was nominated and selected as the presiding officer.

As the assemblymen arrived at the chamber, supporters cheered, chanted and waved as they drove onto the compound.

In the second session of the ceremony, four councillors – ­three selected by the PDP and one by the PNM – were sworn in.

They are former TT Unified Teachers Association Tobago officer Orlando Kerr, Tashia Burris and Certica Williams.

PNM assemblyman Kelvon Morris was sworn in as the minority leader, along with Petal Daniel-Benoit as councillor.

After taking the oath of office, Augustine shared a brief moment with the Prime Minister before leaving the room.

Speaking to the media after the event, Augustine said Dr Rowley told him he hopes they can work together in a cordial manner.

"He said we will both work in the best interest of the people of Tobago without any form of biases, any form of ill will or anything of that sort, and I think that was an excellent first step. And given that I’m now the chief secretary of the THA, I suspect we will get the official calls going between both sides."

He told the media he is still processing the changes which will come in his life, having assumed the position.

He touched on plans to form committees.

"The most important of those will be the Public Accounts Committee. You will recall we tried over the last four years to get it up and running.

"The Public Accounts Committee is normally headed by either a minority leader or a member of the minority, and it did not get going last time because those in the majority refused to show up. So we'll start that there."

There are also plans to establish an anti-corruption bureau after an internal audit into the THA is done.

"I am no longer interested in us just citing the examples of corruption and making political heavy weather about it. I'm interested now in us fixing it. I'm interested now in us bringing to bear, via the law, those workers, and I'm saying now any member of my team, who fall out of line.

"They will have to accept the consequences that come along with that. And the good thing is that I have political latitude. I have 14 elected members, so anyone that falls out of line I can sever that person politically from the executive."

Asked what type of relationship he plans to have with the Opposition, Augustine said he will work closely with the Opposition Leader to identify ways to improve the services given to Tobagonians.

He said funds will be made available to every electoral district for community development, despite political affiliation.

On Friday Augustine will announce the appointment of nine secretaries for each division.

He said he will be doing some slight adjustments on the divisions, but will continue in the direction set by former chief secretary Kelvin Charles.

“It is a difficult task, but I told the team prior to us winning to temper their expectations because the reality is there are only nine secretaries that are allowed – chief secretary, deputy chief secretary, and not more than seven others. And so, the team understood before we got to this point that whether we won 15 or we won more than nine, it will become virtually impossible to make every person a secretary. But we are a team."