Tobago fishermen: PM should have addressed nation ahead of Beryl

PRESIDENT of the All Tobago Fisherfolk Association Curtis Douglas says he is surprised the Prime Minister did not address the country ahead of the passage of Hurricane Beryl.

The effects of the category four hurricane were felt in Tobago from shortly after 1 am on July 1.

The island was under a hurricane warning, while a tropical storm warning was in effect for Trinidad.

In Tobago, the Met Office downgraded the alert to a tropical storm warning at around 11 am.

Douglas told Newsday, “From where I sit, I am surprised the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, being a Tobagonian, didn’t address the nation, given the fact that we were under a natural threat and were forecast for some damage.

“He has not come out as a Tobagonian nor as a Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago to address the nation and to pray that we get over this. I am quite disturbed about that.”

At a news conference at Fairfield Complex, Bacolet, on June 30, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said he had not discussed the weather system and its potential impact on Tobago with Dr Rowley.