Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 28/12/2025 04:28

Desire, demand, deceit: Land in Tobago

The most advertised features of Tobago, and consequently the most well-known, glamourise both its idyllic nature and the centuries-long competition for it. However, these descriptors cast a glorified veneer over the dark realities behind the actions of those who sought ownership, and the painful lived experiences of its residents. It was the European desire for global control which stimulated the European presence on this tiny island and transformed the lives of the First Peoples for whom Tobago was home. So stiff was the European competition for spaces to control that, despite their encounters with the resident First People, the descriptions their agents relayed to their governments said the island was uninhabited and open for European possession. This led to the first consequence of European desire in Tobago: dehumanising the Indigenous people, who were considered “inferior,” and the European determination to remove them to make room for their “superiors,” who would make better use of the island. There were bitter wars as the First peoples of Tobago and their relatives and allies from other Caribbean islands defended their territory, but ultimately, they lost to the superior European war machinery, and the survivors were forced off the island. Thus the first step in desire was achieved: occupation. The question was, by whom? Desire for land to produce items for profit stimulated fierce conflict among the Europeans –Courlanders versus Dutch, Dutch versus French and French versus English – until the island was finally ceded to Britain in 1763. This allowed Britain to claim it and make use of its land resources. There was great demand for Tobago’s land, and the new owners proceeded with haste to create an island plantation to produce items that were highly valued on the European market. Since “land without labour is useless,” plantation production needed labour, so Tobago was included in the British trade in captive Africans who were brought to enslavement in Tobago. They formed a body of another set of “inferior subject people” whose ascribed role was to obey the commands of their “masters.” It was the second act of dehumanisation on the island, and was buttressed by claims that it was their predestined lot in life to serve and obey their masters in this life, with hope for betterment in the next. This deceit was the cover for the greedy search for profits without adequate reward to the labourers. Landowning became the critical factor for attaining the profits that both the imperial government and the plantocracy craved. Having been removed from a culture steeped in agriculture, enslaved people brought with them an affinity for cultivation, which was fed by the need to produce more of their own food during the crises stimulated by European conflict in the region, particularly the war of the American colonies for independence from British rule. After Emancipation, the freed Africans also desired land. For them, landowning was important because there were few alternative forms of employment on the island, and also for providing homes away from plantation control which would afford them an independent existence. In addition, they recognised land could provide them with a chance to become involved in the island’s decision-making machinery. Fearing the loss of its labour force, the Tobago planters engaged in subterfuge, in a determined effort to prevent the emergence of a class of black landowners. They sold land they did not own, they refused to give buyers receipts, they sold useless land – swampy, rocky, hillside or otherwise inaccessible land. The result was a quagmire of land-title problems for which resolution has not been found up to the present day. After the demise of the sugar industry, tourism was considered the best alternative for Tobago, with its white sandy beaches, scenic localities and “unspoilt” rustic nature, and was touted as the best avenue for development. However, the plans in Tobago did not reveal the possible negatives of an unbridled tourist industry. In addition to the insatiate demand of the resident population, this industry stimulated a new demand for land, which came to have new meaning for areas near beaches or in scenic locations. This gave an advantage to former plantation sites and stimulated hikes in land prices, which were commonly quoted in US dollars, way above the reach of the average Tobagonian. What was worse was the development described in a local newspaper in April 1995 as a “Grab for Tobago Land.” This referred to German tourists who saw opportunities in Tobago, buying up land to the detriment of locals. In addition, the tourist business was controlled by German-based outfits which organised cruises to and tours around the island; the profits haemorrhaged into German pockets, with minimal spillover to Tobagonians. In some instances, locals were negatively affected, as plantations were fenced to deprive them of access to the beaches, and land traditionally used as pasture was blocked from local use. Great anxiety existed in Tobago about foreign land ownership. The Minister of Finance revealed to Parliament that between November 1990 and September 1995, 145 foreigners obtained Tobago land without the required licences, 126 for residential purposes and 19 for business and trade. The minister also noted that the number of approvals increased from 20 per annum in 1990/1991 to 49 in 1994, and were concentrated in St Andrew, St John and St Patrick, the areas closest to the air- and seaports and the locations of the best facilities on the island. The businesses established by Germans, which included restaurants and scuba-diving operations, were sometimes staffed with their countrymen rather than offering employment opportunities for Tobagonians. This new desire for land put Tobagonians at further risk of land deprivation, at a time when there was a growing demand for land among a new generation. The government’s failure to provide controls to anticipate and prevent such occurrences deceived the population, which had expected positive outcomes from the new development strategy. The history of land in Tobago is a story of desire fed by European greed; deprivation and dehumanisation of the First Peoples and the Africans, justification for which was provided by the sheer deceit of classifying people as inferior/superior; and the rising demand for land among the resident population, which viewed landowning as basic and essential to its development. The post Desire, demand, deceit: Land in Tobago appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.