Trinidad and Tobago's oldest newspaper, The Guardian, gave a rather convoluted and flaccid response to our recent reminder to that country's Prime Minister Patrick Manning that it demands more than verbal declarations for him to regain the confidence of Jamaica and engender trust in Port-of-Spain's commitment to a CARICOM Single Market and Economy.

At issue essentially is Trinidad's reneging on an undertaking to supply Jamaica with liquefied natural gas (LNG) for an energy-conversion project critical to Alcoa's proposed US$1.6 billion investment to double the capacity of its Jamalco alumina refinery here.

At first, Port-of-Spain dithered on providing natural gas at the price at which the commodity is sold on the domestic market - except for the cost of liquefaction and transportation - which would seem to be the inescapable pricing arrangement in the context of a seamless regional market. Both sides agreed to disagree on the pricing mechanism, but the Trinidadians gave the assurance that it would meet Jamaica's request of 1.5 million tonnes of LNG a year, or a mere five per cent of its annual gas output. Then it said it had no LNG to sell. Mr. Manning recently said that Trinidad and Tobago would honour the commitment he has not said when.

In the meantime, the Jamalco expansion project is in danger. This is in the context where Jamaica, with its troubled economy with sluggish growth, is Trinidad and Tobago's largest and most lucrative market. Port-of-Spain enjoys a US$500 million trade balance with Kingston.

That is a very relevant fact of which this newspaper - not the Jamaican government - reminded Mr. Manning. For, as Mr. Manning should be aware, it is a viable and economically strong Jamaica that continues to be a vibrant market for Trinidad and Tobago.

It makes sense to us, as it should to Mr. Manning and Port-of-Spain's private sector. It should also make sense to The Guardian which, incidentally, is part of a group of companies that finds a market in Jamaica.

Alas, The Guardian resorted to jingoism to make an inconsequential case for a myopic economic nationalism. The newspaper disingenuously sought to ascribe our argument to the Jamaican government and to claim it was an attempt by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller to divert attention from corruption and criminality in Jamaica ahead of a general election.

Regrettably, The Guardian posits the discussion in the context of the quarrels, more than four decades ago, over the West Indies Federation, when Portia Simpson Miller's party, historically, has been among the strongest in the region for Caribbean integration.

While The Guardian appears to have eschewed global reality, it did display a possibility for redemption, suggesting that the leaders of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago should talk about what is in the best interest of the region. We suppose that means Jamaica should continue to fill the coffers of Trinidadian firms.

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