Act N° 6 of 2021 - The Tobago Island Government Bill of 2021 - Trinidad and Tobago

1) Notwithstanding section 13 of the Exchequer and Audit Act, all revenue collected in Tobago on behalf of the Government and payable thereto in respect of activities undertaken or discharged in Tobago shall be paid into the Tobago Fund. 

(2) Upon the coming into force of this Act, any company, financial institution or a person operating a business in Tobago shall pay in Tobago all taxes, fees, duties, levies and other imposts in respect of its operations in Tobago. 

(3) Monies credited to the Tobago Fund in accordance with subsections (1) and (2) shall be set-off against the annual allocation appropriated by Parliament to the Tobago Fund. 

 

All expenditure incurred by the Tobago Island Government shall be paid out of the Tobago Fund. 

The Secretary with responsibility for finance shall make Financial Rules as are necessary for the proper management of the finances of the Tobago Island Government which Rules shall be approved by the Tobago Legislature. 

Parliament shall appropriate for the use of the House of Assembly for any financial year no less than 6.8 percent of the total sum appropriated by Parliament in that financial year or such other percentage to be determined by the Fiscal Review Committee and approved by the Parliament by Resolution.

(1) There shall be a fund to be called “the Tobago Fund” which shall consist of – 

(a) such monies as shall be appropriated by Parliament for the use of the Tobago Island Government; and 

(b) such other monies as the Tobago Island Government may lawfully collect, borrow or be granted. 

(2) Monies appropriated by Parliament for the service of the financial year of the House of Assembly shall be credited to the Tobago Fund in quarterly releases in advance en bloc.

 

1.    Agriculture 

2.    Community Development 

3. Construction and maintenance of public buildings and the maintenance of 

the residences of the President and Prime Minister 

4.    Co-operatives 

5.    Culture and the Arts 

6.    Customs and Excise 

7.    Education including Curriculum Except- 

National Accreditation System 

8.    Emergency Management Services 

9. Finance, that is to say the collection of revenue and the meeting of 

expenditure incurred in the carrying out of the functions of the House of Assembly

Except- 

Banking (Central and Commercial) Financial Intelligence

Foreign Exchange and Exchange Control Macro-economic policy 

National Insurance National Pension Scheme 

Taxation 10. Fisheries 

11. Food Production

12. Forestry

13. Health Services

14. Highways and Roads 15. Housing 

16. Industrial Development

17. Infrastructure, including air and sea transport, wharves and airports and 

public utilities 18. Labour 

19. Land and Marine parks 20. Library Services

21. Licensing

22. Marketing 

23. Museums, archives, historical sites and historical buildings and 

emeteries

24. Office of the Chief Secretary Except-

Commission of Enquiry

Constitutional Matters’

Protocols for State

Public Holidays

Children’s Authority of Trinidad and Tobago 

25. Office of the Secretary of Legal Affairs Except- 

Anti-Money Laundering, Counter Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/PF) 

Appointments to Quasi-Judicial Bodies Children’s Attorney

Constitutional Reform

Construction of court facilities for the Judiciary The Criminal Justice System 

Intellectual Property

International Office of Child Rights

Law Reform Commission

Law Revision Commission

Legal Service Complaints

National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of 

Terrorism Committee

National Biosafety

Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel Office of the Chief State Solicitor

Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions Office of the Solicitor General 

Registrar General

Central Authority

Council of Legal Education Environmental Commission

Equal Opportunity Commission

Equal Opportunity Tribunal

Hugh Wooding Law School

Industrial Court

International Law and Human Rights Unit Legal Aid and Advisory Authority Sentencing Commission 

Tax Appeal Board 

26. Planning and Development 

Except-

National Framework for Sustainable Development National Monitoring and Evaluation

National Statistics

National Trust 

National Development Plan 

National planning and development 

27.    Plant and Animal Quarantine 

28.    Postal services and collection of revenue therefrom 

29.    Public Utilities 

Except-

Meteorological Services 

30.    Social Welfare 

31.    Sports 

32.    State Lands 

33.    Statistics and Information 

34.    Telecommunications 

35.    The Environment Except- 

Environmental Management Authority 

National environmental conservation 

36.    The Tobago Legislature 

37.    Tourism, including amenities and levies 

38.    Town and Country Planning 

39.    Valuations 

40.    Works 

41.    Youth Development. 

42. The Tobago Executive Council shall have exclusive administrative jurisdiction in relation to the list of matters set out above within Tobago and such part of the territorial sea of Trinidad and Tobago comprising those areas of the sea having as their inner limits the low watermark of Tobago and as their outer limits, a line measured seaward from that low watermark, every point of which is at a distance of eight nautical miles from the nearest point of that low watermark. 

 

(1) Subject to subsection (2), the Tobago Executive Council shall have the power to borrow locally and internationally such sums as the Tobago Executive Council considers necessary for the discharge of its functions. 

(2) The Tobago Executive Council may borrow – 

(a)  for any purpose relevant to its functions under any written law; 

(b)  for the purpose of the prudent management of its financial affairs; 

(c)  for the purpose of any investment as approved by the Tobago Executive Council; and 

(d) for any other purpose approved by the Tobago Legislature,subject to the approval of the Minister with responsibility for finance, which should not unreasonably be withheld. 

 

2. Borrowing of moneys, or obtaining grants of moneys, for the purposes of the Tobago Island Government and the making of grants and loans for  those purposes

(1) There shall be a fund to be called “the Tobago Fund” which shall consist of – 

(a) such monies as shall be appropriated by Parliament for the use of the Tobago Island Government;