Everybody (well almost everybody) is quite pleased with the drubbing that the PDP gave to the PNM in the recent Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections. And most people are pleased that young (he's 36) Farley Augustine has become the new boss of the THA (his correct title is Chief Secretary).
But it is probably a safe bet that nobody has really thought past the fact that "the new broom" has come in with promises to stop the t'iefing and to make things more efficient. Pay attention: in the 2021/2022 Budget debate in September last the PNM government allocated the record amount of $60 billion for the THA. So everybody thinks that Farley will have some nice dollars to spend. They would be wrong! He won't have a cent unless and until it lands in the THA bank account. Personally, I expect Colm to give him just enough to run his show, but no more than that!
An allocation in the budget is just that: an allocation. It doesn't mean a thing until the money actually is transferred. So although in theory Mr. Augustine will have a lot of money at his disposal, in practice he will have nothing unless that which the erstwhile Finance Minister gives him. And do you think that Colm will be generous or will he cry poverty?
And don't forget about the boats ... and the planes. Even at the best of times the ferries were breaking down. Do you think that theses ferries (under the control of the PNM) will be better maintained than they were before? do you expect that the planes to Tobago will also be properly maintained?
No. It is not unreasonable to think that a vindictive PNM government will turn the screws (not so softly) on Tobago and that it will take all of Mr. Augustine's ingenuity to try and keep his boat (pardon the pun) afloat.
The Opposition will have to ask questions and put the pressure on in Port of Spain, but they don't have a lot in this particular affair. They can't expect to win in Tobago and without the PDP offering them something there won't be much for them to be motivated to help in any way. Frankly, it looks like Farley is on his own here. All right thinking souls will wish him luck because it will mean that the people (of Tobago) will win. But, honestly, knowing how things really work it looks to be most unlikely that the people of Tobago are going to get any real relief any time soon. I'll be the first to sing 'thank God I was wrong'! But I genuinely fear that I am not.
I said that Tobago had been allocated $60 billion in the last Budget. This is incorrect. I believe that the real figure was $2.5 billion
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