ANY secession of Tobago from Trinidad would be an ’undesired’ event that would not be in the best interest of the unity state of the twin-island Republic, Prime Minister Patrick Manning says.

’We don’t see the secession of Tobago, nor do we see the secession of Trinidad from Tobago, we see neither of those developments and, therefore, we try not to take it beyond that,’ Manning said during his visit to Tobago yesterday, where he said the Government is exploring the issue of maximum autonomy for Tobago in the context of the reform of the Constitution.

Manning made the comment after a tour of the new Scarborough Hospital site, in response to a question on comments he made in the Parliament last year that any secession of Tobago from Trinidad would have serious international maritime implications.

Manning was asked if, at the end of the day, the issue boiled down to which island would get the majority of the nation’s oil and natural gas reserves if Tobago were to ever split from Trinidad or vice-versa.

At first, he said he did not like to discuss ’hypothetical cases that are negative and eventually destructive and we don’t see the fragmentation of Trinidad and Tobago’. He then added: ’Around the world there are now standard rules by which delimitation standards are established and there are mechanisms, there is a tribunal, there is a court and all of that. So you have, in the event that such an unwanted eventuality were to take place, there are mechanisms by which those aspects will be determined, but it will do none of us any good so let’s just ignore that.’

Manning had earlier spoken about the issue of more autonomy for Tobago during a news conference at the Coco Reef Hotel, where he was joined by Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Orville London.

A reporter asked them if the THA could not have complete autonomy over the acquisition of lands by the State in Tobago, which has been a source of major contention there. It was at this point that Manning said that would have to be looked at in the context of Constitution reform.

London pointed out that many people in Tobago are yet to register their lands after they had been transferred from one owner to another, despite an initiative meant to encourage them to do so.