THA gives $2m to fishermen amid wait for oil-spill compensation

The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has allocated $2 million for fishermen awaiting compensation for losses following the February 7, 2024, oil spill.

THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine made the announcement during a two-hour media conference on January 24, responding to complaints by fishermen over the long wait for compensation.

He said the payment would be made to aid the fisherfolk until full compensation came from the International Oil Pollution Committee (IOPC). The payment, he underscored, was not compensation but rather assistance.

"That is the THA essentially saying to the fishers: 'Let we give you something to hold while we go through the process with IOPC.' In other words, we can't determine for the IOPC if their process would work or how quickly they would be able to give you the compensation, but we appreciate that you need some help out immediately."

He said the payments would begin in February to those whose claims were submitted to and approved by the Tobago Oil Spill Relief Committee.

Compensation Committee member Derrick Leith said it received 168 claims from fishermen, crab catchers and vendors alike totalling $47 million.

Using a customised version of the IOPC criteria to vet applications, he said only 44 per cent (roughly 74 applications) were approved. This meant the applicants were able to prove their losses to the committee. He said lack of documentation was one of the most common reasons people were not approved.

"There were a number of persons who claimed to be crab catchers or fisherfolk or so and did not have the requisite documents."

Additionally, he said others could not prove they were operating within the radius of the oil spill. He said fishermen needed to prove to the committee they fished in Lambeau and Scarborough, which were the main affected areas.

He said two fishermen from outside the zone were among those approved because they provided GPS data to prove they were affected.

To determine a baseline of losses, he said the committee took an average of daily catches and the frequency they go to sea from fishermen between Studley Park and Buccoo. This was applied to those fishermen who were unable to prove their losses.

Reading a letter from the IOPC Fund manager, Augustine said it was advised that fishermen should submit their claims directly to the organisation's office in Port of Spain. He said if the THA acted as a middleman to accept and pay fishermen based on applications that did not meet the IOPC criteria, it might not be reimbursed by the international body.

"They are saying, quite clearly, that if the THA plays mad and pays them (fishermen) compensation without any supporting evidence, that there are no guarantees that the THA will receive any payback or receive any funds for that."

"So we only working with those who have claims that can be substantiated."

In light of this, he also instructed the THA oil spill relief committee to work with fishermen to ensure their applications were up to scratch.

"We cannot leave the fishers alone, to submit on their own and hope that they are successful. The committee, you have the claims, you know IOPC is saying what is valid and invalid, and I am instructing you all publicly to find those fishers, call them in and help them to get their claims made to the IOPC."

He instructed the committee to hire additional bodies if need be to sit down with the fishermen and work on the applications. He said if the need arose for the IOPC head to come to Tobago, the THA and its executive was willing to pay for his flight and accommodation "to have him sit down here with the fishers and ensure that they get their claims to where their claims need to go."

Fishermen must 'be reasonable'

Augustine noted that fishermen also needed to be reasonable when applying for compensation.

"There's no fishing ban in place, so if you from up in Parlatuvier and you accustomed to heading down to Lambeau to fish and for the period we say you can't fish in the Lambeau area, well sail to Charlotteville. Sail around Speyside. Go somewhere else and fish."

He continued: "The people who live in Lambeau, who sleep in Lambeau, they were affected. Not because you were affected you are deserving of compensation. We have to be reasonable.

"Okay, for a couple months, couple weeks you could not fish in the Lambeau area, you couldn't access that area. That doesn't mean you're deserving of compensation. You could fish anywhere else. Tobago have more water than we have land. I really don't understand it."

Responding directly to criticisms from the Tobago Unifed Fisherfolk Association about the non-payment of compensation, Augustine said the THA needed to prioritise its spending.

"If you want to stand in the public square and tell Tobagonians those $47 million-plus claimed are valid and that we should just pay it, that cannot be reasonable."

He said this is especially unreasonable given the THA only received $50 million in June from Central Government to spend on the oil-spill response, despite the island's governing body's request for $153 million.

"Are you telling me we should just pay you $47 million out of that? The rest of the population cannot agree with that. And if we only received $50 million, the priority must be servicing the actual contracted work done. The priority can't be paying relief first then paying the contractors afterwards."

Secretary of Finance Petal-Ann Roberts spent 25 minutes of the press conference detailing how the THA was able to finance the response. She also gave a breakdown of all the payments made to which service providers for fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025 to date.

In all, the response racked up a bill of $76.99 million with $72.1 million being paid, leaving about $4.8 million in arrears.

The oil spill occurred after the Gulfstream barge capsized off Cove, leaking bunker fuel into the sea. This affected around 15 kilometres of the island's southwestern coastline.

The barge was being towed by the tugboat Solo Creed when it reportedly got into difficulty. The Solo Creed was unable to located until October 18, when it was arrested in Angola. The owners of the vessels are yet to be determined.