TRINIDAD, BARBADOS CONFIRMED WHAT WAS THEIRS
DENIS KELLMAN’S COLUMN - THE DEBATE
APRIL 26, 2006
Last Saturday, a stage 2 Negrocrat used the playground of the other newspaper to display a level of arrogance based on an excerpt published by the same paper. This fed-up Dem who believed that I am a little child looking to be fed by someone else, suggested that a Parliamentarian should be censored by his equal. These persons are always waiting to see if I am going to put my foot in my mouth. It is clear that this person has a problem with this writer, or he or she would have called the writer to clarify the misinterpreted statement.
It is rather interesting that these same persons would be fast to cry out when the party is protected and personalities left hanging. Somebody should have told the writer, that I am not only a seasoned Parliamentarian, but a long standing supporter of over 35 years of association. It is also known that I am only known to one political party and anything I say conforms with the philosophy of the party.
The writer wants sensible people to believe that the work done by the great leaders of the past with Carifta, Caricom, and CMCF was wasted because there was no court to guide their decisions. This writer who seems to have a special interest in this court should tell the public why he or she thinks that litigation is better than revenue and foreign exchange.
It is also clear that the writer does not read on Fridays and should be introduced to The Debate on Friday in the Advocate Newspaper. Had the writer being reading to increase his or her knowledge, the writer would not have missed this: “The formation of the CCJ is the best example of how to work the E in CSME. The same way the Governments came together to find and implement the CCJ, they should have used the formula to create economic activity to generate foreign exchange and revenue to run the CCJ and all other Independent bodies. The cart has been placed before the donkey and the only way that the CCJ can be relevant is if it is amended to manage the E in CSME, otherwise, the large sums invested in the CCJ would have been wasted.”
The debate in the Caribbean about whether the Attorney General of Trinidad should resign has far reaching consequences for both countries, because Barbados gave the impression that it was negotiating rights for its fishermen and seeking to protect its minerals rights. Trinidad, on the other hand, negotiated to keep its fishing rights and to claim additional mineral rights. In the end, Trinidad was able to retain what was theirs by maintaining the fishing rights, but was not able to claim minerals that belonged to Barbados. People are now claiming that the win win is only a confirmation that both countries had rights and that these rights have been confirmed. It is being said that if the Trinidad Minister wants to exploit our resources, he has to negotiate with us and if we want to fish, we have to negotiate with them to share their fishing rights. Neither Trinidad nor Barbados did not lose or win anything. They just confirmed what was theirs.
What was interesting was that both Prime Ministers behaved like Statesmen, while others behaved like jackpot winners, only to find that they were rejoicing about what was theirs. This has caused the constituents in both countries to behave as if they had achieved something more that what they started with.
We in the Caribbean must be careful how we create false hope among our own, because this can create animosity among our people at a time when we should be coming together to create the E by helping the Guyanese to take back over their country that has been blessed with the resources that can be found there. We must ensure that Guyana belongs to Guyanese and not the Brazilians or Venezuelans. The coming together of the Caribbean can occur in Guyana. The E is not about currency, but about the economy using resources to export. There is no need for a common currency, but there is a need for a common approach to the resources of Guyana.
World Cup 2007 taught the Caribbean to use money to create the right climate and we should now use the CCJ and World Cup approach to solve the E and then deal with the CSM.
What is needed is a practical approach to correct the problems of the Caribbean and our solutions will not be in books. We have to appreciate that our problems are unique and practicality is expected because theory can only show us how others have dealt with theirs. Ours must be dealt with differently, and we must do everything to ensure that the Caribbean is seen by the international players as an effective and competitive market.
I have read that Brian Charles Lara has turned down the Captaincy for the West Indies Cricket team. This must be reversed and the leaders of the Caribbean must have a meeting with him to point out the importance of World Cup to us and request to him to captain the team until the completion of World Cup.
Peace, love, unity, humility, wisdom and understanding.
(Denis Kellman is the Parliamentary Representative for St. Lucy, Barbados)