The Secretary of Finance and Enterprise Development wishes to indicate that to date and, contrary to recent comments in the media, the Tobago House of Assembly has not received funding for the fourth quarter of this fiscal year as is legally required. This has created a situation where the Assembly is unable to fulfil some of its obligations regarding the payment of arrears to public officers including teachers.

The Secretary and the Assembly remain concerned with this recurring situation and continue to impress upon the Minister of Finance the need to provide to the Tobago House of Assembly that which it is obligated under the Tobago House of Assembly Act 40 of 1996 Sec 47.