Panday unclear about maritime activity

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday said yesterday he was not sure what the flurry of activity by Barbados and Guyana to settle their maritime boundaries was all about. Last week, reports emerged of a maritime treaty signed secretly between Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur and Guyanese President Bharrat Jagdeo on December 2, 2003. That treaty is reportedly in the final stages of ratification and a motion to conclude the treaty is expected to be moved by Guyanese Foreign Minister Rudy Insanally in that country’s Parliament soon. Bar-bados is claiming that a 1990 TT-Venezuela Maritime Delimitation Treaty is harmful to its maritime rights and has referred the matter to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The Barbadian government revealed that maritime energy reserves (and not fishing) are at the heart of its dispute with TT. Prime Minister Patrick Man-ning said TT is prepared to go before UNCLOS to settle the matter and its treaty with Venezuela cannot be unilaterally repudiated without causing a major diplomatic row with Latin American nations. Guyana has also taken Suri-name to UNCLOS to settle a longstanding maritime dispute and held talks with Venezuela concerning access to petroleum supplies. Panday said he was not sure what all this activity was about but it appeared that Caricom nations are only now beginning to recognise the importance of maritime boundaries and proper management of their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs).

The Opposition is supporting Government’s position on the protection of TT’s sovereignty and natural resources. Meanwhile, Arthur and Jagdeo yesterday declared that their nation’s maritime treaty is not a conspiracy against TT. In a Stabroek News report, Jagdeo said: “I spoke to Prime Minister Manning and I said we are not part of any conspiracy, but Guyana will defend its interests in relation to the TT-Venezuela Treaty of 1990.” In a Barbados Advocate report, Arthur gave the assurance that these series of ongoing maritime disputes “will not destroy the spirit of Caribbean unity” or affect wider Caricom interests such as the regional integration movement and the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME). From the beginning of the TT-Barbados dispute, Manning has been saying that long-term Caricom goals must not be affected by secondary issues and Arthur shares this view as well. St Vincent and the Grenadines PM, Dr Ralph Gonsalves has also expressed optimism that the TT-Barbados dispute would be settled amicably.