 The FOTC felt that the government was not being honest and transparent in its dealings with the local people.Government on the other hand took the view that the intervention of FOTC and others was undesirable to the government’s agenda and this attitude was encapsulated in a comment made to an FOTC representative by Senator Julian Francis, Minister of Communication and Works at a Chamber of Commerce Meeting that “lay people should stay out of certain issues”.In a four-hour meeting between Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and the FOTC late 2003 the Prime Minister stated categorically “there was absolutely nothing that Friends of the Tobago Cays would be able to contribute that would sway his decision.”

The FOTC’s proceeded to conduct meetings with various stakeholders, including those in the Grenadines, the Government, Service Clubs and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce.