The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) is seeking to extend its court action against the Central Government for encroaching on its reforestation programme to other areas including community development, education, CEPEP and fishing. It is also seeking the court’s interpretation of the Assembly’s involvement in the Green Fund and its authority over Tobago’s forests.

Chief Secretary Orville London said he had met with the Assembly’s attorneys on Tuesday to discuss the “cynical encroachment on the authority of the Assembly”.

He said the encroachment included the Ministry of Tobago Development organising its own programme in the communities, the promised spending of $8 million in educational activities in Tobago and the transfer of the Tobago CEPEP allocation in the 2014 budget to the national CEPEP.

He said the Assembly has also had challenges regarding appointments to State Boards and agencies, the latest being its nomination to the Appeals Board of the Town and Country Planning Division. He added that his information was that the Tobago nomination went to Cabinet but “it didn’t come out so its obvious that once again we have been blanked”