In this period of economic recession gloom in our Caribbean Community it could be risky, politically and otherwise, for people in influential positions to be publicly candid or, in the language of an earlier local radio talk show, Tell It Like It Is.
To his credit, when he intervened in a threatened disruption of good relations between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago, that’s exactly what Robert “Bobby” Morris did last week while attending the 33rd CARICOM Summit in St Lucia – frank talking.
Morris, the former long-serving deputy general secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) and currently this country’s ambassador to CARICOM, was quite candid when he warned, in a SATURDAY SUN interview, against “misplaced hostility” towards Trinidad and Tobago.
He was speaking against the backdrop of rising tension in relations between Barbados and Trinidad – the CARICOM member state that dominates trade advantages with most, if not all community partners as a consequence of its well placed, energy-based economy.
Trade and fishing disputes have long been recurring features in Barbados/Trinidad relations, irrespective of administrations in Bridgetown and Port of Spain.
What sparked the new and quite serious threat in bilateral ties was the disclosure last month by Banks Holdings Limited, the high-profile conglomerate, that its regionally well known milk products and juices were being blocked from entry into Trinidad and Tobago over a prolonged dispute involving labelling.
Prior to that development, Barbados was preoccupied with resolving another issue that has often soured relations with Trinidad – the negotiation of a long-sought fishing protocol. Well, even before Ambassador Morris was ready to disclose the good news that the fishing protocol would “soon come”, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart had a message of his own.
On the eve of the CARICOM summit, Stuart opted to make clear that he was not in St Lucia “to fight with anybody” but wished to emphasize that given its “massive interests” in this country, Trinidad should know that it “cannot be rubbing Barbadians the wrong way . . . .”
Fair enough. But Morris’ interpretation of private corporate interests’ disenchantment, or worse, with Trinidad authorities blocking PHD milk products and juices reflected his own satisfaction with negotiations to overcome hurdles.
Morris spoke positively of Trinidad and Tobago’s evident willingness to cooperate and stressed appreciation for Trinidadian economic investments in Barbados that were helping to provide jobs.
“My job”, he emphasized, “is not to join the emotional bandwagon but to be more analytical.”
He noted, as CARICOM’s Secretary General Irwin LaRocque had earlier done in Jamaica (which is currently hurting from a major trade gap with Trinidad), that in a free trade market, “countries that have larger capacity and more resources will clearly tend to dominate trade.”
And so it is. Goodwill, not confrontation, is therefore required.
• Rickey Singh is a noted Caribbean journalist.
