Bdos: Arthur should go for Option 1

PM Owen Arthur of Barbados wants to take a hard line against T&T for interdicting and arresting Bajan fishermen in T&T's waters, and for not bringing a summary end to on-going 10-year treaty talks.

Reports in the Trinidad Press this week suggested he would impose high duties on goods coming into Barbados from the twin-island republic and insist on licences to import them.

Sources say this is the one way Barbados could hurt Trinidad in its bid to demonstrate its disgust.

Regrettably, Bajan consumers and T&T businesses will be hurt in this, but that seems to be the price Bajan politicians are willing to pay for what they regard as T&T's intransigence.

Meantime, Manning is taking stick from both the UNC and the Tobago House of Assembly which are demanding that the Prime Minister not make any concessions to Barbados and put T&T's interests first.

Says Panday of UNC,

If there is to be any arrangement that allows for a foreign country to exploit Trinidad and Tobago’s resources, such an arrangement must be arrived on the basis of negotiations fashioned on a quid pro quo basis.

On what basis do the fishermen in Barbados want to fish in our waters? And what do we get in return?

Complicating matters is this:

It was the UNC that signed the 1990 treaty with Venezuela that is said to be the major hurdle in resolving the issue. Prime Minister Patrick Manning objected to this treaty when he was in opposition but now says he was advised it would be unwise to tamper with it.

So, Barbados has a number of options it can exercise in this dispute:

1. Continue treaty negotiations with T&T outside of the media glare, and buy fish from Tobagonian fishermen. This is the do nothing option.

2. Impose duties and tariffs on T&T imports, the costs of which will no doubt be passed along to the Bajan consumer. That's the nature of business.

3. Find another provider of the goods imported from T&T. This is a good option, but there are foreign exchange cost increases which consumers will have to cope with because the Barbados-T&T exchange rate differential works to the advantage of Bajans.

4. Locally manufacture all the goods it imports from T&T. Whether or not Barbados has the capability for this is questionable. Additionally, such an option takes time, and Bajan consumers, fired up by the arrest of the fishermen, will boil down and begin to grumble when shelves remain bare and prices rise.

While PM Arthur may be frustrated with the negotiation process and the problems arising from UNC, THA, and the Venezuela treaty, the wisest course for him to follow may be Option 1. Do nothing. Sure, he'll lose some points in the short run; however, in the long run, citizens tend to vote with their pocket-books. The memory of this dust-up over the fisherman will fade, but anger over paying high prices for goods will continue.