Tobago
Narissa Fraser
Environmental Management Authority (EMA) Managing Director Hayden Romano says the authority is in discussions with the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) about building a sea stage.
Last week, Romano told Newsday infrastructure projects, including an offshore stage in Rockly Bay, Tobago, were being carried out without environmental clearance certificates.
Chief Secretary Farley Augustine had assured the public that the stage is “environmentally safe” and will be a permanent structure which can host “future public street parties (and) cultural items on the street”.
Asked about the lack of EMA approval, THA Infrastructure secretary Trevor James had said, “What we are trying to do is to organize a carnival in a few weeks…We in the assembly are trying execute these jobs in a short amount of time, and sometimes as a state agency, we believe it can be challenging to go through every single step required. If this has to be done, then we will not be able to accomplish everything that we have decided to do.”
Tobago’s inaugural carnival officially kicks off on Friday and will conclude on Sunday.
The parade of bands is scheduled for Sunday.
Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) political leader and former Deputy Chief Secretary Watson Duke has criticized THA for undertaking the project without EMA approval.
In an interview with Newsday on Wednesday morning, Romano said that while there have been no approvals for the scene yet as “these things don’t just happen with the snap of a finger,” THA met with the EMAs last Friday.
“…And they promised to bring us back some information about what they had done.
“So we’re still waiting on that and when we get that, that will determine how our investigation will proceed.”
Despite the lack of EMA approval, work on the project has continued.
