Bajans afraid

THE DEPLOYMENT of Trinidad and Tobago’s armed forces to protect the waters off Tobago has caused Barbadian fishermen to ignore their Attorney General’s advice to fish in the disputed area between the two nations.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning announced the deployment at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall. President of the Barbados National Union of Fisherfolk, Angela Watson, yesterday called on all Barbadian fishermen “to keep their distance from Tobago until they know something definite in terms of an agreement.”

Reports out of Barbados state that fishermen are currently “exercising a bit of caution” as far as fishing anywhere close to Tobago. On Wednesday, Barbados AG Mia Mottley encouraged Barbadian fishermen to continue fishing within the disputed area and warned of reprisals if any fisherman was arrested by TT authorities.