Trinidad, Grenada maritime deal criticised

Former attorney general of Grenada Dr Francis Alexis says Grenada did not get the best deal in the maritime delimitation agreement it signed last month with Trinidad and Tobago.

Alexis, a constitutional expert and leader of the People's Labour Movement said while he backed the need for a border agreement, the accord with Port of Spain has left St George's holding the smaller slice of the cake.

His comments follow the publication of the seven-page document signed by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas and his Trinidad and Tobago counterpart Patrick Manning last month.

Alexis, who has long been an advocate for oil and gas exploration in Grenada, said that despite his dissatisfaction with the deal, it is not a 'giveaway' of Grenada's resources.

"The deal is 38 per cent Grenada, 72 per cent Trinidad and Tobago. You could argue quite easily that for decades Trinidad and Tobago has been exploiting resources in the general area of block 21 and, therefore, at the very least we should have had a 50:50 deal not a 38:72 per cent deal in favour of Trinidad and Tobago," said Grenada's former top lawyer.

"And that's why I'm saying it's not an ideal bargain, but you can't call it a giveaway of our resources."

Alexis said the Grenada team has gained some much needed negotiating experience and he is now advocating that this experience be used in negotiations with Venezuela.

"More importantly, it is a learning process for moving onwards to where the real resources are; namely in the maritime waters between Grenada and Venezuela," he said, calling on all political parties to unite and support the commencement of negotiations with Caracas.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter David has said that correspondence has been sent to the governments of Venezuela and St Vincent and the Grenadines, for the start of the boundary negotiations.

The main opposition New National Party has also been critical of the agreement reached between Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago with former Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell and his energy minister, Gregory Bowen, labelling the accord as a "hasty affair".

But Prime Minister Tillman Thomas said he is satisfied that the negotiating team had not sold out the island's resources.

- CMC