Two prominent Tobagonians—former head of the public service Reginald Dumas and political analyst Dr Winsford James—are expressing concern over President Anthony Carmona’s non-selection of any Tobagonian among his nine Independent Senators.
James, in an interview yesterday, said the matter was “disturbing,” while Dumas said it was “offensive.”
James is disputing the President’s claim that geography was not a criteria for the selection of the senators.
President Carmona said last week that his choice was “not based on parochial, insular or geographical considerations.”
The President made the comment at the opening of a two-day retreat at his Office in St Ann’s for the new Independent Senators.
It was made in the wake of a claim by Tobago House of Assembly (THA) chief secretary Orville London that none of the nine Independent Senators were from Tobago.
James said yesterday despite Carmona’s claim, he used geography in his selection process because “they did not come from Barbados, nor did they come from Jamaica. As far as I know they came from Trinidad.”
He said he “did not know that the President can avoid geography in the appointment of his Independent senators.”
James insisted: “Tobago is part of the geography that he must have in mind and if the President couldn’t find anybody in Tobago to select, we wonder about his sense of geography.”
He said the President’s decision to revoke the appointment of Tobago senator Victor Wheeler prior to the dissolution of the last Parliament “raises issues.”
He noted that the President could not be challenged in a court to provide any explanation for his actions. James said, however, questions must still be asked about the reason or reasons for revocation of Wheeler’s senatorial appointment.
James said he felt “it is the lack of sensitivity into whether the President is not aware that this is a two-island state.”
He said he wanted to know if the President was unable to find anybody suitably qualified in or from Tobago to be an Independent Senator.
“The matter is disturbing,” James insisted.
James said London’s initial comment was not about geography but “Tobago as a place where people form a community. I think Orville London was focussed more on the ethnicity of the matter than the geography.”
And former head of the public service Reginald Dumas said while he agreed that a senator should not be chosen simply because he came from Tobago, the way President Carmona expressed himself “was unfortunate.”
He said the development reflected badly on Wheeler and other senators dropped from the last Parliament. He said it raised the question of what was Carmona’s definition of suitability.
“The person who is President of Trinidad and Tobago ought not to be making statements like that, “Dumas added in a brief interview yesterday.
“A statement like that is offensive where Tobago is concerned. I am very upset by the President’s remarks,” he added.
Dumas said the President’s remarks about balcony, house and pit were “extraordinary because I didn’t think in 2015 Movie Towne had a balcony, a house and a pit.”
Dumas said that remark was “old-fashion talk and it is also elitist talk.”
He insisted: “That is not the way you should express yourself because you are giving the impression that his people are better than the others. It is not the language that one expects from a person who is President of an entire country.”
Dumas said Carmona “should watch his words very carefully because he is managing to cause offence not merely in Tobago but across the country.