The Government of Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday said that it is not currently pursuing challenging Guyana’s local content laws but rather, is trying to understand how both nations can collectively benefit from the resources in the sector.
“There has been a lot of interest in this particular matter. There has been interpretations. What the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has tried to do, is not to view it through negative lenses but to understand what Guyana is trying to do. From that standpoint, we have not aggressively taken any positions to put the Guyanese objective under any litmus test,” Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minis-ter, Keith Rowley, said when asked by Stabroek News at a State House press conference if his government has mulled asking the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) for a legal interpretation of the law.
Rowley instead said that his country will work within the framework of a Memorandum of Under-standing Trinidad concluded with this country on Sunday, and that whatever decisions are made will be in keeping with CARICOM’s founding Treaty of Chaguaramas.
“We do intend to rely on the cooperation that is written and embodied in the MoU and also understand that whatever our intentions are, those intentions are codified in the Treaty of Chaguaramas. So there is no need to start getting at each other’s throat and start misrepresenting the intentions and creating a negative environment. We believe that the Treaty of Chaguaramas is sufficiently robust to deal with all of these matters”, the Prime Minister said as he sat next to Guyana’s President, Irfaan Ali.
Rowley added: “And if interpretation is required in a court of law, that is normal in these matters. How many times you see in the United States, the administration taking the government to court or states taking the government to court? …What we hope does not happen is individuals going off on a frolic of their own and seeking to control the narrative into a nothingness for us,” he added.
Rowley said that the public must judge for themselves persons who create varying negative narratives for their own objectives. For both sides, according to Rowley, decisions will be made in the best interest of the peoples of both countries.
“Try and [sieve] out who is talking, what they are saying, and focus only on the value of what they are saying. Not every skin teeth is a laugh,” he quipped. “Both of us, who are leaders, have to listen to everybody and be guided in the best interest of the entire population,” he added.
President Ali then took the opportunity to defend the legislation as he emphasized that it was not created to shut any one or country out but to maximize participation for this nation’s people.
Maintaining that the law is not in violation of any CARICOM Treaty obligation, Guyana has said that it will abide with all commitments made. “I think the results are what must guide us. It is not to lock anyone out. It is to ensure Guyanese participation. Let us look at the results and [we] will realize one day how the results have brought us closer,” Ali posited.
Following the last CARICOM Heads of Government meeting, in February last, Ali had reported that no country raised the issue of Guyana’s Local Content legislation potentially being in violation of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. He had said that a representative from the Caribbean Private Sector Organization (CPSO), who was blistered by the local private sector, had even tried to explain that they also did not have an issue.
Guyana’s Private Sector Commission and business persons were critical of the CPSO, following a leaked email from the organisation in January, revealing that it was of the view that Guyana’s Local Content Act might, in parts, violate the CARICOM-founding Treaty of Chaguaramas and it would approach both the government here and CARICOM on the matter. Head of the Guyana Oil and Gas Energy Chamber, Manniram Prashad, had even met with CARICOM Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett, and asked that the regional body de-recognise the CPSO.
President Ali said that that persons will also see that the building of partnerships and bringing businesses and fusing of business models are some of the objectives of the law, which was designed by his government to ensure a win-win situation and ensure maximum participation as the new sector is developed. “For me, it is not you against us or me against you. If you approach life to be a sole winner, in the end, you’ll be the loser,” he reasoned.
Meanwhile, following the press conference here, Rowley expounded on energy cooperation between the two countries when he told reporters at a press conference on arrival in Port of Spain that the state-owned National Helicopter Services Limited was providing support for the Spanish exploration company, Repsol which is presently conducting geotechnical research offshore of Guyana.
“Our National Helicopter Service, which is the helicopter service that we use here in Trinidad and Tobago in our system, on Saturday confirmed its third – not it is the first or second but its third contract to begin to service the Repsol fields offshore in Guyana… so we are in at this level,” he said.
According to the Maritime Administration (MARAD), Repsol has been conducting survey activities in the Kanuku Block since January and those surveys will close next month.
Rowley said that the country’s long involvement in oil and gas production is finding services which it could support. He pointed out that support will not be limited to any one sector. “We will ensure that our relationship with the government and people of Guyana and the businesses, are such that the people of Guyana participate in whatever is going on and they look to us…our manufacturing sector, our business sector, our insurance sector, to participate with whatever is going on in Guyana and the rest of CARICOM,” he said.
He maintained that he will not be a party to any trivial agendas based on hearsay and will keep how he interacts with this country positive. “Don’t let the negative comments from ‘who are of little faith’ (suggest) that there is an insurmountable barrier. The relationship between Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana is probably better now than it has ever been,” he said.
On his relationship with Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo who came in for flak from some persons for his “Trinidad is falling apart” comment last month, Rowley said that the two shared a good relationship. “As far as him and me, I will tell you that we get along very well. Don’t let other people’s comments and stories lead you…we may not see eye to eye, but we have a responsibility to conduct ourselves in a way that will better the people of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago,” he added.
