Farley: Autonomy push not a rejection of T&T

TOBAGO’S push for greater autonomy is not a rejection of Trinidad and Tobago, but a move towards strengthening the country, Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said on Monday.

Speaking at the Tobago House of Assembly’s Toast to the Nation 2026 on Independence Day, Augustine said Tobago’s aspirations must not be viewed as a threat to the union between the two islands.

“Independence must actually ask us something. It must ask whether we are prepared to take responsibility for the country that we have inherited, whether we are prepared to build rather than merely criticise,” he said. “And whether Trinidad can celebrate Tobago’s progress and support an audacious autonomy plan without feeling threatened by it, and whether Tobago can assert its aspirations without diminishing our shared nationhood.” Augustine said the country’s diversity must not become a source of division, pointing to its different ethnicities, religions, cultures and traditions.