Maritime treaty between T&T/Grenada is bad for Grenada

The leaders of Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada are scheduled to sign a treaty in port of Spain Wednesday outlining the maritime boundaries between the two countries.

Trinidad and Tobago's opposition leader has objected to the signing on the eve of an election.

Kamla Persad-Bissessar said in a media release Tuesday that the matter should be on hold so that there could be greater citizen consultation when a new government is in the place.

The Grenada opposition also opposes the signing of the treaty but for different reasons.

While it has also complained about a lack of consultations, the New National Party (NNP) headed by former PM Keith Mitchell is angry because it believes that the treaty gives away too much to Trinidad and Tobago.

Mitchell believes that the treaty is particularly flawed because it leave no room for adjustments to be "incorporated into the treaty and in particular the most critical item, the boundary line, cannot be adjusted.”

The NNP said in a media release that Trinidad and Tobago entered the negotiations with “complete knowledge of the area’s oil and gas potential while Grenada knew nothing."

It said Grenada was at a adisadvantage because the Mitchell government had refused to deal with a Russian company that would have carried out "the necessary detailed and extensive exploration and provided this country with the relevant information to the highest degree of accuracy."

It added, "Grenada had to give up maritime space to Trinidad and Tobago to achieve an agreement effectively shifting the boundary north of the median line towards Grenada without knowing the consequences."

The opposition party has questioned the reasons "behind the haste to sign such a treaty that could be extremely detrimental to the people of Grenada...

“The Opposition calls on the public to pay particular attention to this issue as the treaty cannot be reversed,” the statement added.

The accord follows discussions between the two countries for more than a year on the how the waters and any natural resources in the area should be shared.