Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, has renewed requires Trinidad and Tobago to ascertain a dependable mechanism to pay Vincentian farmers in international foreign money, insisting the problem is a long-standing one which should be addressed for regional commerce inside CARICOM to operate pretty.
Talking Wednesday on NBC Radio, Gonsalves emphasised that whereas he isn’t “selecting a combat” with Trinidad and Tobago, the present imbalance — the place St. Vincent pays over US$65 million yearly in arduous foreign money for items from Trinidad, however receives solely TT {dollars} in return for agricultural exports — is unsustainable.
“In case you get TT {dollars} and also you convey the TT {dollars} right here, what are you going to do with them? I say the factor is like monopoly cash,” Gonsalves stated, reiterating a phrase that just lately drew criticism from Trinidad and Tobago’s Vitality Minister Dr. Roodal Moonilal.
Moonilal, responding at an vitality symposium, had prompt Gonsalves’ remarks ignored the financial difficulties brought on by choices made below earlier governments, together with the closure of Petrotrin and the Pointe-a-Pierre refinery.
Gonsalves pushed again, saying his feedback have been misunderstood and brought out of context. “Usually, as Prime Minister, I don’t get into controversies with ministers… however I imagine he and his authorities will assist me to work out this downside,” he stated, including that he would ship Moonilal a full copy of the speech he delivered final month throughout the OECS Meeting.
He harassed that the problem isn’t new and referenced a 2018 speech titled Some Salient Points for Decision in CARICOM, the place he raised related issues. “It’s fallacious and unconscionable that the related authorities in Trinidad and Tobago have failed and or refused to handle satisfactorily or in any respect this burning concern which impacts our small farmers adversely,” Gonsalves stated.
He additionally rejected any alignment with requires the OECS to go away CARICOM, made by St. Lucia’s Opposition Chief Allen Chastanet, stating that regardless of the challenges, regional unity stays useful.
“I would like individuals to grasp, I wouldn’t have an issue with the individuals of Trinidad and Tobago,” he stated. “Once I’m in Trinidad, naturally I exploit TT {dollars}, however what am I going to do with TT {dollars} right here?”
Whereas acknowledging his deep private and cultural ties to Trinidad — together with household, music, and shared historical past — Gonsalves stated the commerce imbalance created by international alternate restrictions should be corrected if the CARICOM Single Market and Financial system (CSME) is to succeed.
“We will’t be unequally yoked like this,” he stated, welcoming the current appointment of former finance minister Larry Howai as Governor of the Central Financial institution of Trinidad and Tobago and expressing hope that significant reforms would observe.
“I’m saying there are some issues and we now have to kind them out,” Gonsalves added.
