Farley hits back at PM: 'You don't know THA Act'

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary has hit back at the Prime Minister, saying Dr Rowley does not know the standing orders of the THA.

Farley Augustine's comments come days after Dr Rowley accused him of several things in the ongoing war of words over the investigation into a voicenote, in which THA officials can be heard allegedly discussing using state funds to finance propaganda.

Augustine addressed the issue on the Tobago Channel Five’s Hi5 Reloaded programme on Monday, saying there was no breach at the special sitting of the Assembly in which he made allegations against high-ranking government and police officials.

Last week, the Prime Minister said Augustine abused the THA Assembly Legislature and he is seeking legal advice and will leave no stone unturned.

This was a day after Augustine, in a special sitting of the Assembly, provided a video with a man who claimed to have had meetings with the prime minister. The man also claimed he was offered money to sign an affidavit implicating Augustine in grievous misconduct.

Augustine also accused the prime minister of weaponising the police against political enemies, including himself.

“I can say without fear of contradiction that the Prime Minister does not know what he is talking about.

"The prime minister needs to read the THA Act again. I would advise the minority leader to give him a copy of the standing orders of the THA and he would see that it’s proper and in order."

He added, “The prime minister, I would say, does not know what he is talking about in that regard.”

He said the Assembly Legislature is Tobago’s parliament and it shares similar privileges.

“A whistleblower, as it were, brought information to me on two occasions – the truth is initially I disregarded what he brought to me, and I note that the prime minister when he went with email gate, he said that he waited six months before bringing it to parliament, I don’t think I needed to wait six days because although I was initially disregarding the thing.

"For me, there were two intersections that allowed me to make a decision to take it to the house which was the rightful place to take it.”

He said he already gave instructions to his lawyers with the expectation there would be a full independent investigation in this matter.

Questioned about a rift between the office of the chief secretary and the office of the prime minister, he said that is not his focus.

“I don’t know if I spend time thinking about the state of that, my focus is Tobago’s development. I am chief secretary for the Tobago House of Assembly and I recognise that the Tobago House of Assembly re section 27 of Act 40 of 1996 gives the THA exclusive administrative control over several areas listed out in a fifth schedule for execution. Those are my concerns.”

He said people are still sending proposals showing their willingness to invest in Tobago, as he noted that investor confidence has not decreased by the apparent“rift.”

“Confidence level in Tobago has not been higher. In the last two months, we put out a request for proposals, a very general one, so investors locally and or internationally can pitch proposals for Tobago of the possible investments they would like to do in Tobago.

"And I can tell you that within those same two months, we have had people sending in those proposals valued in excess of US$500,000,000.”

He added, “They are seeing a Tobago that is emboldened. They are seeing a Tobago that has decided that it would not walk in the shadows of anybody and if Tobago is to become the greatest little island on the planet – which means that for us to become the greatest, it means that we would have to become greater than our neighbours and that won’t always rub them the right way but that is the least of my concern.

"My concern is about making Tobago the greatest little island on the planet and we have not seen a dip in investor confidence in Tobago.”