Monday’s non-agreement in Parliament of writing into law “an ACT to repeal the Tobago House of Assembly Act, Chap. 25:03, and to provide for the powers and functions of the Tobago Island Government and the Tobago Legislature and for related matters” shows that while democracy is alive and well in Trinidad and Tobago, government’s organisational skills are lacking or, obstructionist politics is in play. None of the two however are the subject of today’s piece.
The sheer volume of outcry since the Parliamentary put down of December 2nd clearly signals the Tobago population is interested in this thing called autonomy - though to be fair its meaning is fluid to many. Clearly autonomy is a conversation that means little to the average Trinidadian. It follows, drawing upon the historical record, nothing will get done on the subject so long as there is such a minimal Trinidad buy-in.
Progress may be hiding in plain sight. Moving autonomy from talk to actuality is what the targets of SDG111 signpost. Remember, the Sustainable Development Goals are expected to be rolled out in ways the local population can understand. So Tobago’s conversation on autonomy - its sentiment, desirable, whatever, is a good starting point in the context of achieving sustainable cities and equitable communities.
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Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. This process requires local or community input into decision-making. Which lends to actualising autonomy. ↩︎