Chief Sec: THA wants legislative 'teeth' to police marine parks

CHIEF SECRETARY Farley Augustine says he has asked the government to give the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) the legislative authority to effectively police marine parks on the island.

He was delivering the feature address at the launch of the book, Coral Reefs of Trinidad and Tobago, at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex, Tobago, on June 10.

The book was written by Newsday columnist Dr Anjani Ganase, a coral reef ecologist and senior researcher at the Institute of Marine Affairs.

Augustine said the book would not only help to improve the knowledge of those charged with the responsibility of shaping policy but also strengthen their ability to govern “as effective governance depends on access to accurate and current data.”

He told the audience the THA had been proactive in that regard.

“I will let you know that one of the things I have already asked of the new government is that the Tobago House of Assembly bill that we sent down to Parliament in November 2020 asking that the THA be granted significant legislative teeth over the setting up of and the policing of marine parks in Tobago, I have already asked that that be one of the actionable items between June and December this year,” Augustine said.

“I think that is critical for us to move aggressively in protecting our marine spaces and I assure you, once this THA is given the authority, we will move post haste in ensuring that we protect our marine assets as we have them here.”

Saying the launch of the book was both important and timely, Augustine wondered whether citizens were merely paying lip service to the reference made to the blue Caribbean Sea in the national anthem or if they truly internalised its importance to their livelihoods.

“We are at a juncture in our development where, as a country, where as a people we have to make some hard decisions about how we protect our marine assets and in so doing, protect the potential of the blue economy.

"We sing everyday of our lives or every opportunity we have when we sing the anthem, about these islands in the blue Caribbean sea and I often wonder if we just see it as a geographical reminder of where we are located or whether we consider the fact that strategically our identity, our livelihoods and our future are firmly linked to the blue spaces around us.”

He said for small islands like Tobago and Trinidad, blue assets outstripped all of the other assets the islands possessed.

“In fact, for us in Tobago, while we tend to pronounce a lot on our green assets and we are looking forward to celebrating the 250th year milestone for the Main Ridge Rain Forest, many of you would be shocked or not shocked to know that our blue assets are far more valuable if we are to count it based on dollars and cents. And so the ecological wealth assigned to us by God, we have a duty to take care of it. And I am concerned that we have not taken very good care of our blue assets all of the time.”

Augustine predicted the book, which draws on 40 years of scientific research, would be in demand as a reference point, “one that I am confident will edify any reader who touches its pages.”

He added, “By making complexed, ecological information more accessible, this book empowers and increases the awareness of a wider cross-section of Trinbagonians, ensuring that eco-stewardship becomes a collective responsibility. It is all of our responsibility.”

Augustine said the THA had been playing its part to preserve the marine environment.

“We have been monitoring and have a coordinated response to the imminent stony coral tissue loss, disease. There is collaborative, modular, artificial reef system that we have piloted. We have looked at the post bleaching elkhorn coral monitoring at the Buccoo Reef Marine Park. We have been managing and looking at the sargassum influx and we have that pilot project at Speyside.”

He added the Buccoo Reef Marine Park stakeholder consultations, which preceded the THA bill that was sent to Trinidad in November 2020, also laid the groundwork for an updated policy to govern the use of marine parks.