ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC) – Grenada has made an “impassioned plea” to the new Keith Rowley administration in Trinidad and Tobago for renewed negotiations with the state-owned Caribbean Airlines (CAL), especially as it relates to the cargo flights out of Grenada.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell met with his Trinidad and Tobago counterpart in Port of Spain last week, and a government statement here quoted Mitchell as having concerns of the negative impact that the reduction in CAL flights was having on economic development in Grenada.

Mitchell said the reduction was not only in relation to difficulties being encountered by visitors travelling to Grenada  impacting the tourism sector, but also by the agriculture and fisheries sectors which were being negatively impacted through the inability to access export markets.

He noted that the productive sectors had already experienced sharp declines in prices and there were huge build-ups in domestic stocks of both fish and agricultural products.

“Prime Minister Rowley was extremely enthusiastic in his support for an urgent meeting among the CAL representatives and representatives from the Grenada government and Airport Authority, in order to immediately identify the options for expanded CAL services to Grenada,” the government statement said.

It said that Mitchell impressed upon his counterpart the urgency of expanding the CAL flights, even if Grenada would be required to provide a small subsidy and that officials from the Grenada Airport Authority is scheduled to begin meetings with CAL officials this week.

The meeting between Rowley and Mitchell, the first since the Trinidad and Tobago prime minister came to office following the September 7 general election there, also discussed a proposal for debt relief.

“The prime ministers exchanged their positions on the present debt levels of both countries, and discussed prescriptions for reducing the unacceptably high level of debt which impacted the national development of their respective countries,” the statement said, adding that the two leaders also “committed to assisting each other both in respect of policies, relief and other measures where possible”.

The statement said that Rowley “pledged his commitment to assisting Grenada with the treatment of its bilateral debt to Trinidad and Tobago” and asked St George’s “to provide a brief and start the follow up process with Trinidad and Tobago’s Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, who was also present at that meeting”..

In their discussions, the two leaders reiterated that the trading relationship between the two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries “was too significant to be taken lightly, and needed to be advanced through such mechanisms as a deepened commitment to the CARICOM Single Market and the Economy (CSME)”.

The statement said that the two countries are developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in relation to healthcare and that while they discussed the relatively advanced state of the medical services in Trinidad and Tobago continuing to be available to Grenada “it was important to determine clear procedures for Grenada to access these services in Trinidad and Tobago”.

The two leaders also agreed that the draft MOU on Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) would be examined with a view to finalizing the arrangement in the shortest time frame.

Mitchell, who has responsibility for ICT within the quasi CARICOM cabinet, said he firmly believes that ICT constitutes a key development driver and thus, it is an area to which he had accorded significant attention.