One year ago Environment Tobago along with the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (with CANARI as project leader) were awarded a grant to
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effectively utilise the Freedom of Information Act (1999) to access information on environmental matters, thereby enhancing transparency and accountability.
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participate in policy and advocate for inclusive environmental governance.
The full details of the grant are provided on this CANARI webpage and the following illustrates the timeline
These exercises absolutely fit ET’s concerns; that environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level. Over the course of 2025 stay tuned to this space as we document our progress. Let’s stick a pin tho: Go back to basics - to quote calypsonian Trinidad Rio.
The title of this post asks the question, which is largely moot since legal access to Freedom of Information (FOI) is written into Trinidad and Tobago law. The real problem is that the teeth given to FOI - which afford a normal person power to query actions of government/state actors and institutions, hardly sees use.
The underlying logic of the EnviroRightsTT grant (alluded to up top) asserts that if training and capacity to access information is passed to civil society, then paths to knowledge on desired matters would improve relevant outcomes.
State of play
Even as civil society Trinidad and Tobago takes (baby) steps to infuse environmental law into the regulatory framework, we may want to hedge the bet - sustainable development may not be a thing for this generation. Indeed if we truly want to see the rights based approach to governance we must innovate as well as copy. An underpinning consideration here - there are many, that can hinder SD, is our economic dependency on the oil and gas industry. It may be some time before we retool and reskill the population.
For now though, law means little in a community where money and politics ride side by side with greed, religion and tribalism. In fact Tribagonians love everything except (for sure) civic responsibility.
Further to this there are those extra burdens coming in. As the realities of climate change take control of our day to day. Unless we as a people learn to press for freedom of information in matters that can affect environmental health (and therefore humanitarian issues) our hopes for Quality Of Life, global competitiveness and all that jazz, are minimal.