Why Dissolve TDC Now?

Tourism Minister, Shamfa Cudjoe’s announcement to dissolve the Tourism Development Company (TDC) adds scores to the number of persons who have been left unemployed since the PNM has been in government.

Approximately 150 TDC employees are now threatened to be on the breadline pending the legal steps required for dissolution according to Cudjoe.
Cudjoe’s proposed split of the TDC into separate boards for the islands of Trinidad and Tobago brings into question the reasoning behind requiring separate boards for islands belonging to the same country. Are we not one united twin island republic?

This dissolution also brings into question the source of funding for the two proposed boards. Are the boards going to be funded via the 2017 budgetary allocation for TDC, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) or Central Government? It seems as if there will be a continued duplication of funding for Tobago tourism as both the TDC and THA receive separate funding for marketing Tobago as a tourist destination. Billions of dollars would have been spent by the THA in previous years to market Tobago tourism aside from TDC allocations for the same purpose. What would be the role of the THA Tourism Secretariat when this separate board for Tobago tourism is established?

Minister Cudjoe has been casting aspersions about the TDC since taking office in 2015 but with no solid evidence to date for support. This final decision to dissolve the TDC demonstrates that the Minister and her Ministry lack innovative ideas for marketing Trinidad and Tobago after their attempts to pump life into this dying sector with projects like “Soca on the Seas” have failed miserably in delivering results.

Cudjoe has proven herself yet again to be the most incompetent Minister of Tourism this country has ever seen.

Ms. Ramona Ramdial, MP
Member for Couva North