Progressive Democratic Patriots Political leader Watson Duke says Tobago must have the right to decide on Tobago issues. At the PDP’s weekly virtual campaign on Wednesday, Duke said that’s with Tobago being responsible for six miles of sea, it should be making its own decisions regarding the re-opening of beaches.

Tobago sought administrative responsibility for marine waters extending 11 miles off the low watermark, more than the current 6 miles, in the Tobago House of Assembly (Amendment) Bill, 2021
which was proclaimed into law on July 26th.

Duke was addressing the issue of beaches being closed since May to mitigate covid-19 spread. Duke stated that the current PNM government should not be able to control the visiting of Tobago’s beaches.

He said, “It makes no sense for us to have a Tobago House of Assembly and then you are not responsible for it.”
Duke added that once the PDP is voted into office, beach-going will be addressed as there is no evidence that this contributes to the spread of the virus. “ We fixing the beaches after Dec 6 because it falls within Tobago,” he declared.
He further stated that areas such as tourism and housing will also be fixed after the December 6th THA election and added that discussions will be held with these sectors.

Duke explained, “We must have a conversation with those stakeholders and we must allow these persons to map a way forward for us because that is what governance is about.”

He said this will create a hybrid solution to fix tourism the same must be done with education, this he described as participatory democracy.
Emphasizing that everyone will have a voice he said, policies must be shaped; policies shaped by the people.