Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister, Senator Anthony Hylton, has stepped in to ease what appears to be a war of words, which has developed between Jamaica's business sector and Trinidad and Tobago.

Both the Jamaica Manufacturing Association and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce have been critical of the twin island republic for failing to make good on a promise to provide Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to Jamaica.

No need for criticism

But yesterday, in an interview with The Gleaner, Senator Hylton said there was no need for this criticism of a CARICOM partner.

"I don't believe that it is necessary for us to be engaged in self-flagellation or, for that matter, to threaten any aspect of the regional integration movement because Trinidad has said it explicitly, that it is prepared to cooperate in this arrangement (with Venezuelan) to bring maximum benefit to Jamaica," he pointed out.

Mr. Hylton said that the agreement that was recently signed with Venezuela could turn out to be the best arrangement because the MoU signed with Trinidad in 2004 only guaranteed 1.1 million tonnes of LNG per annum.

Jamaica, however, needs 2 million tonnes to satisfy its LNG needs for the expansion of the ALCOA refinery plant.

"What is on offer (with Venezuela) could be a superior arrangement, and we need not lose sight of that," he said.

Clarification

On Tuesday and yesterday the Trinidad and Tobago Government took out full-page ads in both daily newspapers as it tried to clarify the situation.

The statement said that Trinidad's natural gas reserves did not allow the country to honour the agreement with Jamaica.

The statement further said Jamaica was encouraged to approach Venezuela within the context of the PetroCaribe agreement to explore the possibility of procuring natural gas supplies, which can be processed into LNG by Trinidad and Tobago for supply to Jamaica.

Mr. Hylton, however, insisted Jamaica had approached Venezuela on its own, knowing initially that it would need additional supplies.

He, however, noted that Trinidad and Tobago still has a role to play.

"We are not getting LNG from Venezuela, what we are getting from Venezuela is natural gas and I think that has been confused in the media," he explained.

"Trinidad has indicated in a tripartite arrangement to take the natural gas and process it for us for a small fee."

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com