Chairman of the Tobago Chamber of Commerce Demi John Cruikshank is calling for the immediate resignation of the Minister of Works and Transport Rohan Sinanan, after the minister yesterday insisted that a barge would be used to transport goods to Tobago.
The Tobago Chamber received word of the decision at 4 pm yesterday as they were holding their monthly committee meeting.
Sinanan had visited Tobago last Wednesday to meet with various stakeholders on the cargo ferry issue and the idea of the barge was totally rejected. During the meeting, Sinanan had accepted the stakeholders’ decision.
Yesterday, however, the minister backtracked on this and submitted the same idea as a solution. The stakeholders were told a barge with an eight foot wall will be used to ship goods to Tobago after the Super Fast Galicia leaves Trinidad and Tobago on April 21.
Speaking to the media at the chamber’s head office in Scarborough last night, Cruikshank said the minister’s decision was disrespectful to the people of Tobago.
“The chamber totally, totally disregards that proposal by the minister. The minister was told by us and the other associations on Wednesday last week that at no point in time we are going to accept a barge situation coming to Tobago,” he said.
“You now cut down the transportation of the cargo to Tobago from three and a half hours to four hours, to 12 hours. A barge will take approximately ten to 12 hours to get to Tobago with goods and we are saying it is a disrespect to the people of Tobago to even consider, because we told him and we made it clear to him that a barge is not acceptable at this point in time ... The bottom line, in the meeting, we made it clear to the minister motorised barge, tug barge, any type of barge system, we are not willing to accept.”
Cruikshank said it was also proposed that the two fast ferries will also be utilised to carry up to approximately 7000 kilograms in cargo. But this, he said, is still inadequate to meet the needs of Tobagonians and stakeholders are now keeping their legal options open.
In light of yesterday’s decision, Cruikshank called for the immediate resignation of Sinanan and for Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to visit Tobago urgently to meet with stakeholders on the issue, which has been described as an “impending crisis.”
“As important as the highway from San Fernando to Point Fortin is important to the people in Trinidad, the inter-island cargo situation is the lifeline between Trinidad and Tobago and we are not willing to accept, as the business community in Tobago, anything less,” Cruikshank said.
He added, “It is a number of things, the air bridge is not working, the hotels are at 20 per cent, the lowest occupancy in years, the Easter is not looking good for us, we have no fast ferry working, we have problems with the air bridge working, there’s a water crisis looming in Tobago, so I am saying that the Prime Minster, as the head of Trinidad and Tobago, needs to come Tobago, sit with us and work out a way forward, because at this point in time people businesses are up for grabs because they can’t make their normal monthly instalment and even pay their salaries on time.”
