00:00The family is removed from the ancestral lands to make way for this magnificent airport.
00:07I am sorry. I am sorry that you were only compensated based on the property values from years ago
00:16rather than what it will cost for you to rebuild your home today.
00:21I am sorry that having surrendered your lands, you will then ask to pay the THA an arm and a
00:28leg
00:28for the lands upon which to resettle. I am sorry.
00:32Many of those uprooted from their homes to make way for the new terminal
00:38were present at the official opening on Tuesday.
00:41One such resident, Daniel McDougall, told TV6 News he accepts the apology of the chief secretary.
00:49I really, really believe that the chief secretary is sorry. I believe he's sorry.
00:56So you accept his apology?
00:58Yes, I do. Yes.
00:59Mr. McDougall was observed brush cutting to the front of his home
01:03when we visited his new residence at the Shervin Housing Development.
01:08He told us while the majority of his three-bedroom home is completed,
01:13he has some concerns as he and others were not fairly compensated.
01:19In fact, he had to find additional monies to complete his home.
01:24Yes, I was there. Yes, I was there.
01:26How do you feel about the new facility?
01:29Well, I'm feeling, well, comfortable.
01:31And I know that the present government working with the Tobago House of Assembly, present THA,
01:41there's room for improvement.
01:43And I believe that that improvement is going to come.
01:46What are some of your concerns?
01:49Well, firstly, I'm looking at the residents, the position of the residents at Shervin here and at Cove.
02:03I'm also definitely not pleased with the allocation given to the residents when we were moved.
02:16Another resident who wished not to be identified told the TV6 News she became emotional
02:22when the Chief Secretary offered an apology to them
02:24at the opening of the East Terminal of the A&R Robinson International Airport.
02:30So I must give him, I don't know, kudos for really thinking, you know, and apologizing
02:37because as Tobago, I think he understands very well what we went through.
02:42Because all the support we were promised, nothing material, no support.
02:48She said, another resident who was allocated a plot to build his home recently died,
02:54while others died before receiving their just due.
02:59Today, her home at Shervin Housing Development remains incomplete.
03:04I see one gentleman one evening after he got the letter, he got a heart attack.
03:11And he died, and there was one incident where he had two brothers in a week time.
03:17Elderly people, they died within a week, about three, four days because of the pressure.
03:22One of them rarely said they would have to bury him down here, and he died.
03:26He actually died.
03:28The people who orchestrated this thing, it's not that we didn't want change, you know,
03:33but it's how it was done.
03:35Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
