Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Farley Augustine says he does not have the time to respond to the call of Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) leader Watson Duke to reconcile.
Speaking to media after the commissioning of the Office of the Financial Services Ombudsman (OFSO) in Scarborough on Friday, Augustine said his administration had “serious work” to deal with, and he had yet to respond to Duke’s call for reconciliation.
Duke made the call approximately one week ago during a news conference at the Progressive Democratic Patriot’s (PDP) headquarters at Port Mall in Scarborough. He told reporters he had written to Augustine asking that they reconcile their differences in the interest of Tobago’s development.
Augustine said: “I have absolutely nothing against Mr Duke. I see him as a colleague of mine, I see him as a member of the Tobago House of Assembly that ought to be respected in such a light.”
But he said his team will not be distracted from their job.
“I am sorry for his significant loss in Port of Spain, I am sorry that Trinidad did not love him the way Roxborough loved him.
“I am noting that he is now preaching the language of humility given that he has been humbled in Port of Spain. All the best to him but at this point, the government of the island has serious issues to treat with. “We can’t be distracted by people and their feelings or people and their indecisiveness and all of that. We have serious challenges to overcome.”