Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Orville London and Minority Leader Ashworth Jack will meet on Thursday (28th April 2011) to discuss the demand by Tobago Development Minister Vernella Alleyne-Toppin that she should be involved in the selection and appointment of the Board of Directors of the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA).

The meeting takes place at the Office of the Chief Secretary, Calder Hall Administrative Complex starting at 9.30 a.m.

London wrote Jack earlier this month inviting him to the meeting to discuss claims by Tobago Development Minister Vernella Alleyne-Toppin that her Cabinet appointment had placed healthcare in Tobago under her remit and was therefore authorised to recommend the appointment of the TRHA directors to Cabinet. She even wrote London inviting him to a meeting to discuss the matter and giving him until Good Friday to submit nominations to her.

In his letter to Jack, London recalled that when the matter was first voiced by Minister Alleyne-Toppin, that he (Jack) raised the matter in the House of Assembly on June 22 2010 making it very clear that he would support the right of the THA to select the members of the TRHA Board and would speak to the Prime Minister to ensure the issue was clarified. Both the Regional Health Authority (RHA) Act and the THA Act of 1996 placed healthcare in Tobago under the jurisdiction of the THA.