Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 08/Jan 17:02

Dennis: TPP made Roxborough/Argyle suffer

PNM Tobago Council leader Ancil Dennis has called on the people of Roxborough/Argyle to reject the Tobago People's Party (TPP) in the January 12 THA elections. At a political meeting in Roxborough on January 7, Dennis said the electoral district has suffered since voting for Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) leader Watson Duke as its representative in the 2021 THA elections. The PDP is not contesting the upcoming THA elections, instead choosing to endorse the TPP. The PDP won the last THA elections 14-1 but a public feud between Duke and Chief Secretary Farley Augustine resulted in 13 assemblymen leaving the PDP and forming their own party, the TPP. In October 2022, Duke accused the Augustine-led THA of "punishing" Roxborough/Argyle by stymieing the development in the area. "A decision has been made to suffer the people in the district. Suffer them deliberately," Duke had claimed. Dennis repeated that message on the platform. He said, "Take a close look at what transpired over the last four years and really ask yourself who neglected the people of Tobago. From all the way Bacolet to Charlotteville, you have the worst roads in the county, not only on the island but in the country, and the conditions of the roads in Tobago has earned the current Secretary of Infrastructure the name of 'Pothole Trevor.'" He said people in Tobago East should have better infrastructure considering the Chief Secretary is from Speyside, Deputy Chief Secretary Dr Faith Brebnor is from Belle Garden and Duke is from Roxborough. He questioned whether the tint on Augustine's car was too dark that he could not see the condition of the area when he passed to go to work. [caption id="attachment_1200947" align="alignnone" width="683"] PNM candidate for Roxborough/Argyle Shonae John, centre, jumps up with PNM supporters at a meeting in Roxborough on January 7. -[/caption] "Although they mash up he (Duke) party and made him irrelevant as they came into power, he was the founder of this team, he was the one that discovered them, he was the one that gave life to their political careers. "Notwithstanding that, he was disrespected by them, he was sidelined by them. I don't care two hoots how they want to treat Watson Duke but I care how they have treated Roxborough/Argyle. "I don't know if it was some attempt to punish Watson Duke but you the people of Roxborough/Argyle have suffered immensely at the hands of the current THA administration." He claimed the Roxborough Administrative Complex does not provide many of the services brought by the PNM. If elected, he said PNM would return all the services there in 100 days. He promised refurbishment of the Cyd Gary Complex in Roxborough and the establishment of an indoor cricket training centre. He claimed that at the Roxborough Hospital, which was built by the PNM at a cost of $98 million, not one person from Roxborough was hired by the new THA administration. He recalled an Argyle man who visited the facility complaining bitterly that only people from Speyside were hired. "You must reject that treatment. You must reject that disrespect. You must ensure that on January 12 you join (Roxborough/Argyle candidate) Shonae John." He said the PNM has a plan to revive agriculture in Argyle and Lammy Road, noting that when he was chief secretary "we came to the community and we committed to starting the farmland in Lammy Road...We gave them the documentation for the land. I stand here as a disappointed man that none of those farmland development projects – whether Lammy Road, Belmont Road, Friendship Estate, Indian Walk Estate, or Richmond Estate, none of them has been completed under this administration." He said agriculture in Tobago East has been abandoned and recalled the tenure of PNM assemblyman Hilton Sandy, saying he worked hard for Roxborough/Argyle and Tobago East. At a political meeting ahead of the 2013 THA elections, Sandy came under fire for saying a "Calcutta ship" was coming to Tobago. "That ship is waiting to sail to Tobago; they are waiting to get the results of this election, if you bring the wrong results. Calcutta ship is coming down for you," he said. He later denied the comment was racist, instead labelling it as political picong.   The post Dennis: TPP made Roxborough/Argyle suffer appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.