By COREY CONNELLY Sunday, October 14 2012

“Those who did the crime will do the time.”

So said Minister of Tobago Development, Dr Delmon Baker, yesterday in relation to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s decision to halt two mega projects on the island in the face of alleged financial impropriety on the part of the Orville London-led Tobago House of Assembly (THA).

Addressing People’s Partnership (PP) supporters at the party’s rally at Old Market Square, Tobago, Baker supported Persad-Bissessar’s call for an investigation into the construction of the $250 million Tobago Aquatic Centre and the $320 million Shirvan Administrative Complex.

“Those who did the crime will do the time,” he said to loud applause from the crowd.

The Prime Minister, during her contribution to the budget debate in the Parliament last week, had called for multi-million dollar projects to be investigated by the Ministry of Finance, Attorney General and Integrity Commission. London has since stated that Persad-Bissessar had no authority to stop projects on the island.

During his address, Baker also alluded to a rumour which he said was being perpetrated by the PNM.

“They are saying that if the TOP wins the election, East Indians will come and buy out Tobago’s land,” he told the crowd.

“Who is East Indian and who is negro?” Baker asked.

“No matter our race, class, creed, we are one people. That is the love.”

The Tobago West MP described the forthcoming THA elections as one of the biggest political battles in the history of Trinidad and Tobago.

Baker said during the last 12 years, the people of the island had experienced much hardship under the PNM-led THA.

He claimed young people were unable to access scholarships, jobs in the CEPEP and URP and other initiatives to “lift our people out of dependency”.

“The PNM is out of ideas, out of intellect, out of vision,” Baker added.