Not for the first time in recent weeks, calls have been made at the highest levels of the Central Government and Tobago House of Assembly for a transformation in attitudes.
The changed attitude is said to be needed if Tobago is to remove itself from the status of island-society absolutely dependent on funding from the Treasury of the Central Government of T&T.
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, a Tobagonian in touch with the economy and culture of the island, reminded that it would be inconsistent with logic for Tobago as a society and economy to be calling for greater autonomy, but at the same time becoming even more dependent on funding from the Central Government.
The reality now is that the political economy of Tobago blaming the Government in Port-of-Spain for the undeveloped state of Tobago is not on; the party in the Central Government and the THA are the same.
Since its creation in the 1980s, the THA, has blamed whichever party is in office (many times with good reason so to do) over the low levels of funding for any development programme to kick the economy into life. What is needed here is a shift in the budget requirements from recurrent expenditure to hire large numbers of people to allocations for development infrastructure for the THA to facilitate investment and job creation.
There is no time better than the present to bring down the employment rate of those dependent on the THA from the high of 60 per cent of jobs on the island; that is surely not sustainable.
Tourism, agriculture and a light industrial base, one that will not be in conflict with the kind of environmental-led tourism initiative required, must be one focus that is needed. Chief Secretary of the THA, Orville London, has thrown in his deep concerns about the quality and sustainability of jobs on the island and where that would lead to in the future.
He knows that increasing the numbers employed with the THA is a road which will lead inevitably, given the economic and financial circumstances of the present, to disaster as the Central Government is forced to cut back on transfers and the THA will have to reduce the numbers on its payroll.
There have been plans to develop the Cove Industrial Park for more than a decade. What little has been achieved there has made no significant impact on changing the nature of the Tobago economy.
Tobago starts off with the gift of the environment, great weather all-year round, minus a few storms, and a culture that is viewed by many as rich and exciting and one in which visitors will love to share.
It cannot be that Tobagonians would invite tens of thousands of visitors to their island and not be able to feed them. Agriculture must therefore be an integral element of a plan to expand and develop the economy on the island.
The beach environment is one which has many possibilities for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to grow beyond handicraft, bene balls, crab and dumplings and the braiding of hair.
The transport industry must also gain size and sophistication to include on-island tour operators; at present over 90 per cent of the tour operator business is based in Trinidad. With the expansion over the last couple years in cruise ship arrivals, on-island tour operators are vital.
The private sector in Tobago and in Trinidad must “step up to the plate.” Internal self-government, as Prime Minister Rowley has warned, comes with a price of self-responsibility.