Citizens' notice served on THA

THE RESULTS of the first online civil poll of the performance of the Tobago House of Assembly by Tobago's CivilNet and Council of Elders suggest that the honeymoon of the former Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) politicians and majority representatives of the assembly is over.

The poll covered a small sample of respondents, just 315 online polls were filled out on Google Forms and the effort was largely promoted through Tobago CivilNet's Facebook page, which may have limited reach to potential respondents active on the social platform.

Tobago CivilNet is chaired by Rodney Piggott and the Tobago Council of Elders is chaired by Reginald Dumas.

The poll is the first effort by a joint planning committee formed by both groups to promote good governance by instituting a citizen review of the performance of the THA.

While there was some sympathy expressed for a new group of young politicians taking over leadership of the assembly after 21 uninterrupted years of PNM-led oversight of the island, the results and comments were sobering.

Less than six per cent of the 315 respondents to the poll declared that the performance of the majority THA was excellent. Almost half described the first year of the young politicians in office as either very poor or below average.

For a new group of politicians campaigning on an emotional appeal to the island's voters, a correction after taking office and facing the reality of governance was inevitable.

The assembly's majority grouping is in a curious position, having resigned en masse from the PDP led by Watson Duke.

THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine announced in December after the split from the PDP that forming a new party was not an immediate concern and that the group formerly known as the Tobago PDP would be continuing to pursue the mandate that brought them to office.

But the politicians formerly elected under that political umbrella have registered an uncommon number of unforced errors in their first year.

From the clumsy handling of the legal displacement of tenants required for the expansion of the airport to the shockingly combative stance taken with the EMA over the unnecessary stage by the sea, there has been an almost continuous stream of hiccups, misadventures and disappointments that the charm of the THA Chief Secretary could not gloss over.

Beyond the hard numbers, the comments gathered by the online poll point to specific issues that are clearly within the THA's ability to address.

A lack of promised accountability, transparency and communication with the Tobago public ranked high among the concerns of respondents.

The former PDP candidates have more work to do to rebuild confidence in their capacity to perform as a political unit and to address growing public worries about their ability to govern.