Allyuh wicked

Sheldon Cunningham, Assistant Secretary in the Division of Infrastructure, Quarries and the Environment cautioned the Minority to be mindful of how they speak of Tobago and its current economic state. Cunningham said the members of the Progressive Democratic Patriots continuously depict a false narrative that no development was happening in Tobago.

Minority Leader Watson Duke last Monday chastised the THA Executive Council for "begging" Central Government for money annually and not being proactive to create revenue. In the budget debate last Thursday, Duke described the budget as clueless, visionless, unproductive and a product of a failed PNM administration.

However, Cunningham said the $4.72 billion request by the THA was not unreasonable since Tobago still has much more development to do.

In his contribution to the debate last Thursday, Cunningham said the assembly still continues to produce work of high quality despite its limited resources.

“It is unfair for them to talk about the budget (disparagingly), and when you see people working with others to have something done and you still sit here and allow the public to feel nothing is happening on the island – that is wicked!”

Cunningham called on the members of the opposition to be honest in what they say and do, keeping in mind there are young people paying attention and taking notes.

“We are happy to have opposition now. They are the ones who are supposed to keep us on our toes, but think before you open your mouth. You have to understand you never know what will happen in 2021, God forbid, because when we say things like these and later down you find yourself in the same position, how would you manage?"

Cunningham said if he was in charge of finance and the economy he would have requested much more than $4 billion.

“There are a lot of things that are needed on this island and we have to look at the achievement over the years and what we done to transform Tobago to what it is today. I think this administration has already begun transforming this island as we go ahead. There are so many achievements we can see in Tobago. We can watch TV, look around or ask children and they will be able to tell you, but for some reason some of us as adults cannot see the changes. We have grown. After we send the draft budget to Cabinet and it is cut and we have to see how many things we can fit into it, we can only give what we have. Even within our own communities we are hearing why this or that cannot be done."

He said any insinuation that the PNM has neglected the people of Tobago was not true.

“We are not a careless person or team who only takes care of ourselves, we take care of every community.”

He said the assembly can achieve more with the help of the opposition.