The citizens of Trinidad and Tobago have welcomed the People’s Partnership Coalition led by Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the country’s first woman prime minister who captured the majority of votes in the May 24 general election, heralding an era of “New Politics” in step with others in the world demanding change to their political establishments. We welcome Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar to the echelon of Caricom leaders, and look forward to brighter days ahead for improving the long-standing, but yet fragile relationship between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidadians view the current violent events in Jamaica with understanding, having experienced similar challenges to state authority from as far back as 1937 with the labour riots led by TUB Butler, which eventually gave birth to the trade union movement in Trinidad and Tobago. The next challenge occurred in 1970 when, amidst strikes and protests, 15 Black Power leaders were arrested. In support of those arrested, a section of the Trinidad and Tobago Regiment mutinied, led by officers Raffique Shah and Rex Lassalle who held hostages captive in the Teteron Bay barracks.

The next insurgence occurred in 1990, with an attempted coup d’état by the Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr to overthrow the government. This led to widespread rioting in Port of Spain, the prime minister and other members of parliament were held hostage for five days before their captors surrendered. The Muslimeen were given a government amnesty which was challenged in the courts, but all 114 members were set free. In an unusual twist, the UK Privy Council subsequently declared the amnesty invalid but decided not to re-arrest the offenders. It is alleged that a resurgent Jamaat al is once again threatening the republic’s stability.

A priority issue to be addressed as early as possible with the new PPC government is the trade imbalance between Jamaica and Trinidad. This and other factors have resulted in Jamaica incurring a significant trade deficit with Caricom, in the region of US$1.6 billion in 2008, with the major part due to Trinidad. This inequitable situation has resulted from a number of adverse influences affecting the terms of trade, chief of which is the preferential price of energy available to the republic’s nationals. For the longest while, Jamaica’s manufacturers have found it difficult to compete with Trinidadian imported goods which enter the Jamaican market duty-free at very competitive prices. Conversely, Jamaican exports to Caricom amounted to a paltry US$66 million in 2008.

Jamaica’s current balance of payments problem provides a unique opportunity to raise tariffs for 18 months in accordance with the provisions of GATT 1994 and the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, with both being WTO compliant. Such measures, however, are fraught with an abundance of red tape which requires careful navigation through the various councils of the WTO and COTED before implementation may be possible. The Jamaican government appears reluctant to consider such action as “hope springs eternal” that a negotiated solution may evolve, particularly with the initial focus of the new PPC government. Meanwhile, Jamaica’s manufacturing and linked export sectors continue to lose domestic market share.

In 1993 manufacturing contributed 18.4 per cent of GDP and 11 per cent of exports originating within the customs territory, and also employed 11 per cent of the total labour force when there were 1000 companies islandwide, each employing at least 10 workers. In 2002 manufacturing contributed 15.4 per cent of GDP employing 82,800 workers. Currently, the sector contributes 8.5 per cent to GDP and employs over 80,000 workers.

Another “old chestnut” has been the inconsistent dialogue that continued sporadically with the previous PNM regime, concerning the prospective supply of Liquefied Natural Gas to fuel Jamaican industries, in particular the extractive industries in the minerals mining sector. Last year experienced an increase in global competition for LNG, that should have prompted further talks with Trinidad which was then in need of additional customers, but the status quo remains despite a forecast of a 50 per cent increase in global LNG over the next three years. In 2004 Jamaica and Trinidad signed an agreement for the supply of one million tonnes of LNG per annum over a 20-year period starting in 2009, but that never came to pass.

There is a wave of growing concern about the present state of Caricom and its faltering steps towards the CSME, and the threat of fragmentation involving plans to create sub-groups which promise beneficial economic and political integration by 2013. This unsettled atmosphere illustrates the need to reform the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that has already started, but needs to be accelerated with the widest regional consultation.

The following is a relevant quotation by Sir Shridath Ramphal from the Sunday Observer of August 9, 2009: “The avoidance of ruin involves a will by the ‘closer union’ countries on the one hand, and the other, to organise to make the new Caricom work better than the old one did. In practical terms, that will mean a special role for Jamaica in restructuring Caricom. In Georgetown, Prime Minster Golding gave every indication of a readiness to try.” Ramphal also cited former Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson’s remarks: “Mature regionalism will remain a pipe dream unless authority is vested in an executive mechanism which is charged with full-time responsibility for ensuring the implementation within a specified time frame of the critical decisions taken by Heads.” A Caribbean Commission is just such a mechanism.