T&T: Playing hard ball

PM Owen Arthur would be doing Barbados a greater service by doing nothing.

Flying fish, frozen fish and beer are among several items from T&T that will now be subject to monitoring licences by the Barbados Government, adding to the tensions created by an already-heated fishing dispute.

Prime Minister Owen Arthur announced the measures yesterday in a press conference carried live on Barbadian radio and television from Government headquarters in Bridgetown.

Arthur said the list of T&T goods subject to the sanctions would be provided for the Barbadian public tomorrow.

Barbados media reports said Arthur’s announcements came a few hours after he said he received an early morning telephone call from Prime Minister Patrick Manning.

The reports said Manning and Arthur proposed that they meet on Tuesday to restart stalled fishing talks.