Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller kisses a student after her arrival at a special rally held in her honour at the Jean Pierre Complex in Mucurapo. Hundreds of students from Port-of-Spain and its environs flocked to the facility to welcome Simpson Miller, the first female Prime Minister of her country. - SHIRLEY BAHADUR/TRINIDAD GUARDIAN
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC:
TRINIDADIAN PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning yesterday announced his administration had reached an agreement with Jamaica to provide its Caribbean Community (CARICOM) neighbour "with a long-term supply of natural gas."
Mr. Manning made the announcement after holding nearly three hours of talks with Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who arrived here on Monday night at the start of a two-day official visit, her first, since she assumed office last month.
"What we agreed on is that a long-term supply of natural gas would be made available to Jamaica from Trinidad and Tobago with the first arrangement beginning in 2009 and at an appropriate price," Mr. Manning told a joint news conference.
While he refused to elaborate on the price to be paid by Jamaica for the commodity, Mr. Manning, who is also the CARICOM chairman, said Port-of- Spain had committed itself to use "its best efforts to bring about some kind of pricing arrangement that is mutually acceptable.
"Putting it that way, we are recognising that Jamaica is a CARICOM partner and therefore different from all the other countries that we now supply (with natural gas), and giving effect to a long-standing policy of the government of Trinidad and Tobago to have virtually most favoured nation arrangements with respect to CARICOM countries."
He said the price arrangements would "call for some will and one of the things that would be important here will be the collaboration between Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica to ensure that third parties do not benefit at the expense of us both."
NO DISCLOSURE
Mrs. Simpson Miller said she would not disclose the contents of the agreement until she discussed the matter with her Cabinet colleagues. She said, however, that she regarded the initiative as one of the efforts to further deepen the regional integration movement.
"I believe that the talks on issues of mutual interest were very fruitful," she said. "I gave a commitment to our investment in your smelter plant.
"The matters relating to energy, we are very satisfied with the discussions we had this morning and I am confident that both countries would continue to work in the best interest of our citizens and the peoples of the wider region," she said.
Manning said the agreement with Jamaica would not involve the diversion of existing supplies to Kingston, since Port-of-Spain is an international supplier of the commodity.
During the news conference, Mrs. Simpson Miller defended her decision to include religious leaders on State boards in her country, saying she made no apology for her position on religion.
"I think sometimes you have to get the facts rather than listening to people making comments. I believe that both the State and religion have a role to play, and when I spoke in Jamaica, I spoke about the need for the involvement of the churches in the process of governance.
"I do not see anything wrong with having leaders of the various religious organisations being involved in the governance of any country.
For Jamaica, the majority of Jamaicans have their own religious belief and I think over 80 per cent have a Christian belief, and so my sentiment was calling on the churches to be involved," she told reporters.
"As a political leader I am never afraid to say or hesitant that the Almighty God is my supreme master and my captain, but I never try to impose my spirituality on anybody," she said.
