President Christine Kangaloo unexpectedly called for the independence Tobago has been clamoring for, saying the moment had come for it to be done once and for all. This has Tobagonians buzzing.
For years, people have been working to give Tobago autonomy. The Tobago Self Government Bill 2021 and the Tobago Island Government Bill 2021, which would amend the constitution, will be discussed during the current legislative session.
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When Kangaloo made her first trip to Tobago and met with Farley Augustine, the chief secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, she said that it was time to move legislation ahead to grant Tobago autonomy.
She claimed, “I believe the time has come for there to be a new, and it is hoped, a final legislative push to secure autonomy for Tobago. That time is now and history will not absolve us if we, those who sit in this time in our nation’s history, do not do that which is required to secure Tobago’s autonomy once and for all.”
The measures are now in committee and need a special majority in Parliament to pass.
Kangaloo reminded lawmakers of their need to make the legislative intervention even if she lacks the constitutional authority to do so in order to ensure that Tobagonians’ identity and personal goals are recognized and encouraged.
Kangaloo highlighted the fact that the subject of Tobago’s autonomy has been a hot topic for far too long and that the government has recognized its importance by keeping the legislation from the last legislative session and adding them to this one.
She did, however, point out that advocacy activities must be stepped up if essential legislative interventions are to be undertaken.
Kangaloo noted, “I believe that at this juncture of our country’s history, our task, the signal importance of which has escaped neither the Chief Secretary nor me, is to fight to keep the question of autonomy on the national agenda and to strain every muscle in us to struggle for its achievement and attention until it is advanced and achieved.
She further added, “Attempts to do so have been more insistent, more consistent, and more feverish than in recent times. One has only to look at the recent history of these attempts to recognize that the rhetorical questions … ‘If not now, when, and if not us, who’ have already begun to be answered.”
The President emphasized that failing to ensure Tobago’s autonomy would be detrimental to the history of the nation.
“That is why I said the time is now and that history will not absolve us if, at this juncture of our country’s history, we fail to secure autonomy, for us to be equal by legislative means. Having arrived at where we are in this long and arduous struggle, what is now required is for us to push our representatives both in the assembly in Tobago and in the Parliament,” Kangaloo claimed.
She added, “Today, I give you the assurance that I will continue to lend my own voice to the rising chorus of all who see better constitutional arrangements for the people of Tobago.”
President Kangaloo said that the renewed push for autonomy is not an effort to separate Trinidad and Tobago from the rest of the world. She was adamant that an attempt is being made to make things better.
She noted, “It is important to remember what it is that we are struggling for. We are not struggling to break each other down. And we are certainly not struggling to break our union apart. Quite the opposite. What we are struggling for is to make our union better. And in the end, what we must always remember is that what we are struggling for is a better Trinidad and Tobago.”
She asserted that these issues are constantly at the top of her mind and heart as she confronted Tobagonians about the issues affecting them, including the sea and airbridge and economic development.
“Because I have not mentioned these and other matters one by one does not mean that I do not care about them. I care about them all,” she stated.
