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Dr Rita Pemberton

Tobago’s independence journey was preceded by a wave of optimism after the declaration of Chief Minister Dr Eric Williams that he assumed full responsibility for the future progress of the island.
This came after the first turbulent years in the relationship between the islands after the imposed union in 1889 and 1899, and seemed to provide a new direction.
In keeping with the declaration, a five-year development plan, estimated to cost $9,600,000 for infrastructural development, was launched. This promised to take Tobago out of the development wilderness and associated economic doldrums in which it had been mired for the first half of the twentieth century.
In 1957, Dr Williams said, “Tobago’s development is necessary to illustrate to the West Indies and the world outside our capacity for self-government and taking care of our own affairs.”
To its people, this was a signal that the years of neglect, against which James Biggart and APT James had so vociferously campaigned, were finally going to be over. Independence, which stimulated national pride, offered much hope.
But over the six decades, Tobago’s experiences varied from the initial hope and expectancy to distress and disappointment.
The declaration of independence was barely a year old when Hurricane Flora released its fury, destroying everything in its path and undoing the measures the new government had implemented.
The Development Fund was immediately replaced by a programme of reconstruction which centred on restoring services, providing relief to homeowners, road reconstruction and the constructing new government buildings. The restoration work was a boon to the unemployed, who enjoyed the extended bonus of overtime work because of the urgency of putting the island back onto a path to development.
This proved the bane of agriculture in Tobago.
Hurricane Flora created a disaster zone. In addition to destroying lives, homes and buildings and interrupting all government services, the hurricane was most deleterious to agriculture.
Forest trees were stripped of their undergrowth and many were damaged. Cocoa and coconuts, the mainstays of the economy, as well as the subsistence agricultural sector, were particularly badly hit. Trees were decapitated, splintered or uprooted, and the immortelles which provided shade for cocoa trees were blown down. Not only were all the standing trees and crops, both young and old, destroyed, but the blast from the 110-mph winds left everything parched and brown.
Rejuvenating the agricultural sector was very difficult because of the destruction of young plants and the unwillingness of the younger element of the population to endure agricultural work.
Agriculture was seen as too laborious and the low remuneration could not compare favourably with what could be earned on government jobs for shorter work hours.
The Williams government established a Crash Programme, later reformulated as DEWD, Special Works, URP and CEPEP, to generate employment and offered limited working hours. These programmes did not offer possibilities for sustained development, but became convenient for the young generation. Government became the main employer, a situation which would later present serious challenges.
The relationship between the two islands soured over political matters in the second decade of independence. During the 1970s the frustrations of the beneficiaries of state-funded education morphed into open disgust at the lack of adequate job opportunities. Employment in the public service was limited and the highest level that could be attained in Tobago was Clerk IV. Those desirous of promotion in the public service and head teachers who sought promotion to supervisors had to relocate to Trinidad. There were no training institutions on the island and people seeking advancement and training also had to relocate. These included people seeking jobs in the police and fire services, nursing and teachers who sought access to teacher training programmes.
The inconvenience of accessing basic services from Trinidad was considered an annoying imposition, the burning problems with interisland communication had become intolerable and there was popular dissatisfaction with government’s policy directions.
In tandem with similar developments in Trinidad, disgruntlement came to a head and Tobago was the scene of Black Power demonstrations in 1970/71. The island remained plagued with employment issues as the expectations of the beneficiaries of state-provided education were not met. They boosted the Black Power movement which shook the island in 1970/71.
In addition, the call for a more effective development plan led to anti-government protest and a call for autonomy which occupied the last five years of the decade. The island’s representatives in Parliament, ANR Robinson, Dr Winston Murray and Pamela Nicholson, sought to have a more Tobago-centred administration.
The PNM lost the two Tobago seats in the 1976 election and in a reprisal action, Williams closed the Ministry for Tobago Affairs, which had the power to pay government workers. The island was thrown into distress as employees went without pay for over six months.
The embittered population threw its support behind the party organised by Mr. Robinson, who piloted the programme for autonomy for Tobago. Viewing it as a move to secession, the now embittered Prime Minister, sought to impede its progress and preserve the union. However, Robinson, Murray and Nicholson were able to circumvent the obstacle course which was created, and the THA Act was passed in 1980, although Robinson opposed the exclusion of a number of clauses.
From 1980-1996, the THA was administered by the DAC, which instituted the Tobago Heritage and Blue Food Festivals in a move to reinvigorate and preserve the cultural traditions which had been the strength of the population through the post-emancipation years. Both these events have endured in popularity to the present day.
The third decade was consumed with the fight for a THA with more powers to administer the island effectively. This continued until the THA Act was amended in 1996. Despite this, there remain concerns over the restrictions on the autonomy the THA possesses.
The last three decades have been dominated by the contest between the Tobago-based PNM and the opposition forces of island-bred parties who wrestled with what constitutes the best policy direction for it. The PNM held administrative control from 2000-2021, surrendering to the PDP in the elections of December 2021.
There continues to be dissatisfaction with the limited powers of the THA, and there is a bill before Parliament but the matter is yet to be determined.
Across the 60 years, some longstanding problems have been resolved. More secondary-school places have become available to the island’s children, and more opportunities for training created.
Inter-island communications have improved with the acquisition of two new ferries, the APT James and the Buccoo Reef; agriculture has been restimulated; and the quality of the major and some minor roads from one end of the island to the other has been improved.
The island’s tourism sector has been stimulated and the business sector has grown through programmes to develop business enterprise. Most government services are available, new hospitals have been established, quality sporting facilities have been introduced and the island’s sportsmen and women are now visible on national sporting teams.
The entire island is electrified and provided with access to pipe-borne water.
However, the social problems that beset Tobago remain challenges to any administration and there is considerable angst over the unresolved autonomy.
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