Tobago can't come before Trinidad and Tobago

THE EDITOR: While we await a riveting response from the leader of the UNC to the engaging budget of minister Imbert, we have to deal with the angst and despondency of our sisters and brothers in Tobago.

Why was sufficient money not allocated for the realisation of the autonomy dream?

I firmly believe autonomy will happen, but not in 2024. Please, let us all be real.

What is so difficult to understand? The dream of 60,000 people in Tobago cannot come before the needs and wants and dreams of 1.4 million other citizens in Trinidad.

It is just as important to fix the lives, the living and to fix the economy for everybody in TT. Nothing is for free.

Only a two-year-old could believe that you can immediately give them anything that they ask for, then throw a tantrum if and when you say no.

Think about it. Is a Tobagonian worth more in dollars and cents compared to a Trinidadian? Tobago is heavily dependent on tourism as a money-earner. But hear me: tourism died during the pandemic! Thousands of aircraft were parked around the world like cars without tyres.

Tourism is now beginning to stir and roll over but now climate change is having a deadening effect on sections of several world economies, including TT.

Is central government in Trinidad supposed to forget about keeping TT out of the arms of the IMF just because Tobagonians want autonomy?

Perhaps the Tobago House of Assembly leadership and the TPP need to confer with the PDP and others on how best to stretch the limited billions. Learn to prioritise until better can be done.

LYNETTE JOSEPH

Diego Martin