Tobago’s push for greater autonomy fails at final hurdle | Trinidad and Tobago

A new attempt to give the Caribbean island of Tobago more self-governance has been defeated in what local politicians described as a major setback in a decades-long battle for more political and economic independence.

One of the Caribbean’s top tourist destinations, Tobago is part of the twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago, whose economy is mainly based on oil and gas production.

The two islands are governed by a central system, but Tobago, which has its own house of assembly, has been pushing for a larger share of the national budget and greater autonomy – including the ability to pass its own laws.

On Monday, a bill to widen the powers of the Tobago house of assembly was brought to parliament after years of political wrangling, but was blocked by opposition members who said they shared concerns raised by Farley Augustine, the head of the Tobagonian government and leader of Tobago’s People’s party.

Augustine, who has been pushing for a “federal type” arrangement, described the government’s proposed amendments to the bill as “inconsequential nonsense”.

Accusing the government of “majoring in minors” by focusing on changes to the titles of leaders in Tobago rather than what he considered to be more important aspects of the bill, he said in a Facebook post: “Today they went back to 2020 and spent time on the most basic and really unimportant change while refusing to treat with important matters such as: creating a real federal type system; defining and delineating the boundaries of the island of Tobago; creating equality of status between the two main islands; and enshrining the rights of Tobago to pass laws over all the matters that affect the lives of the people of Tobago among others.”

Augustine has now reportedly pledged to take his fight for Tobago’s self-governance to the international community with a letter of complaint to the United Nations.

But Trinidad and Tobago’s prime minister and leader of the People’s National Movement (PNM), Keith Rowley, said he was shocked at the opposition to the bill, which was the result of years of consultation with all sides.

Senator Ancil Dennis, Tobago council political leader for PNM, said that the proposals in the bill reflected the will of Tobagonians, adding that they had been made after dozens of consultations with the people of Trinidad and Tobago and a range of experts, including legal and maritime specialists, and scrutiny by joint select committees with representation from the ruling and opposition parties.

The bill would have boosted Tobago’s annual share of the national budget from a minimum of 4.03% to a minimum of 6.8% – an increase of approximately $1.5bn (just under US$221m), Dennis said. He added that it would have removed the requirement for Tobago legislation to pass through central government scrutiny and approval.

“This bill that failed would have put us in a position where Tobago would have had our own legislature, with our members in that legislature being able to debate and pass the bill. And the next step was simply for the president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to give us assent … similar to what the king does in the UK – just a formality,” Dennis said.

“It’s extremely disappointing, having been on the cusp of history – having been on the cusp of significant improvements to our 28-year-old arrangement, which is woefully inadequate, which falls woefully short of the expectations of the people of Tobago – that we have failed to get that improvement,” he said.