Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 11/Jan 08:54

To a better Tobago

On Monday, 42 candidates will contest the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections, seeking a seat of governance among the 15 available. Among them, voters won't find the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) party formed by Watson Duke, which catapulted Farley Augustine to power as Chief Secretary on the island. All bitterness over the fractious split that led all the elected officials save Mr Duke to form a new party, the Tobago People's Party, seemed to have left the PDP leader, who announced that he had chosen to support the man he described as "his younger brother." The decision creates a new Caribbean math for politics on the island, all except one left none in tomorrow's election for the PDP. Mr Augustine has been stepping carefully forward in his relationship with the UNC-led government, sounding notes of independence, but also aware that his relationship with the Central Government is only likely to improve in joint opposition to the PNM. The promised replacement for the MV Cabo Star, a mainstay of freight movement between Trinidad and Tobago, has been briskly sought and leased and is expected to arrive just six days after the Cabo Star goes out of service. The MV Blue Wave Harmony is being touted as an improvement, with incrementally greater capacity and enhanced refrigeration capacity and upgraded facilities. While the PNM in Tobago has aggressively picked at the scab left by the running gaffes that followed the establishment of military radar at Crown Point and issues of autonomy, Mr Augustine is thinking big, unveiling a four-year plan for the island's development and a 20-year vision board for its future. Some of these plans are overly ambitious, with minimum wage goals that are currently out of alignment with the economic reality in Tobago, but planning for better hotel accommodation and increasing tourism are sensible and achievable goals that align the country's workforce with its infrastructure and potential. Tobago's land distribution and size make achieving food security unlikely, but homegrown food from local farmers dovetails neatly into the kind of environmental tourism and sustainability markers that upscale visitors are seeking when they travel. They have enough plastic and processed food at home and Tobago's blue food is a good match for its blue waters. Four parties and 42 candidates have made their case and offered their plans to Tobago's voters, the campaigns were aggressive, but remained firmly within this country's traditions of free and fair elections. If the hyperbole became colourful at times, it underlined the passion that Tobagonians have for their home. The Council for Responsible Political Behaviour commended the parties for "upholding the integrity of the campaign." The proof of their effectiveness on the campaign trail comes on Monday, where a strong turnout and robust participation in the electoral process will offer the strongest possible mandate to the party that is chosen to execute its vision for Tobago. The post To a better Tobago appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.