'No rift with Barbados' says TT Prime Minister

(CMC): The Trinidad and Tobago government is maintaining that its relationship with Barbados “is as good as it has ever been," downplayed a potential rift between the two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) neighbours.

Yesterday, Bridgetown issued a statement in which it said that it was “deeply disturbed” by a jab made by Trinidad and Tobago’s National Security Minister Stuart Young who suggested the Mia Mottley administration failed to respect the twin-island republic’s border policies in its handling of the situation involving 33 Trinidadians who were stranded in Trinidad for a month.

The Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Ministry described Young’s comments as “regrettable," as it stressed that Barbados had gone through all the appropriate channels to get the group home. They returned to Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday after testing negative for COVID-19.

Relationship as 'good as ever'

Speaking at news conference, Trinidad's Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, told reporters he knew nothing of a rift involving Barbados and his National Security Minister.

“Let me start with that. The relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados is as good as it has ever been and Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados remain very close brothers and sisters.

“If there is a difference of opinion on a matter, that is not a fallout,’ Rowley said, adding “I know where that stoking is coming from” without elaborating.

Last week, Young told a virtual media briefing that while Trinidad and Tobago had closed its borders as one of its measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, citizens overseas and other non-nationals were using a particular Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nation as “a jumping point” to get into the country. He did not name the country but said that Prime Minister Rowley had instructed Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister Dennis Moses to write to that country’s government.

Young had also urged the unnamed country not to allow its “good offices to be used by those who wish to compromise our current border measures."

'We acted in the interest of a sister'

But the Barbados Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said “Minister Young inferred that the Government of Barbados was one of such countries,” adding “the reality is that, in the absence of a representative of Trinidad based in Barbados, the Government of Barbados did no more [or] less than simply convey to Port of Spain requests for assistance made by citizens of Trinidad and Tobago who were stranded in Barbados.

“In this regard, Barbados acted on the basis of a sincere regard for the welfare of the nationals of a sister CARICOM country. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados is therefore deeply disturbed that this action has been framed as a national security matter,” it said.

Rowley told reporters that ‘as are as we are concerned we have no problem with Barbados.

“And for those who think it is a problem for Trinidad and Tobago, I could tell you, you are mistaken. The relationship between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago is as good as it has ever been,” Rowley told reporters.

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