Morris rallies support for autonomy bills: Put Tobago first

MINORITY LEADER Kelvon Morris is urging the Farley Augustine-led THA to support the Tobago autonomy bills currently before Parliament.

At a media briefing on October 21 at his Scarborough office, Morris said the Tobago Self-Government Bill and the Tobago Island Government Bill aim to grant the island the autonomy it has long been seeking.

Morris said he remains disappointed that the current THA administration has not moved to support the bills through a motion in their past three years in office.

“And therefore, it takes the leadership of the minority for us to come to the House and have a serious discussion on this matter. And in this discussion, we are asking our colleagues to take off their political hats and simply put Tobago first.”

On October 24, which is Private Motions Day in the Assembly Legislature, he will lead the motion. He is calling on the House and all Tobagonians to support the bills, as he highlighted one key benefit – the ability to secure a guaranteed 6.8 per cent allocation of the national budget for Tobago.

“And the beauty of this is that it would be entrenched in the Constitution, so nobody can arbitrarily decide to just take that away from Tobago. That will become part of the Constitution and therefore it is a a guaranteed allocation.”

He also pointed out that granting the THA law-making powers is another key reason why full support for the bills is essential.

“These laws will be made right here in Tobago, assented directly by the President. No longer will the Cabinet become a conduit for Tobago to govern itself. This bill takes away Cabinet domination. No longer are we restricted or confined to section 75 of the Constitution.”

The bills have been stalled in Parliament since 2021. The Prime Minister recently announced that they will be revisited once the national budget is passed.