T&T: CARICOM standing firm on proper use of hydrocarbon, says Rowley

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) oil and gas producing countries have rejected efforts being made by the international community to get them to abandon investments in the hydrocarbon industry amid suggestions that it contributes to harmful climate change experiences.

Dr Keith Rowley — speaking at a news conference before his departure for Suriname, where CARICOM leaders will hold their three-day 43^rd annual summit from Sunday — said Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago are not in agreement to halt efforts at exploiting their natural resources for future socio-economic development.

He told reporters that energy issues would be among the priority agenda items during the summit, adding there are now three CARICOM countries “that are seriously involved as energy producers.

“CARICOM and our interest indicate that we are to stand firm in resisting any external solution to be imposed upon us that our involvement in hydrocarbon business is bad for climate change, therefore no new producer should be encouraged into the business.

“CARICOM rejects that position because that has to come from people who are comfortable where they are and must not tell us now if we have those resources we are not [to] find them and bring them to market.

“We — Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname — we have agreed that our position is that as long as those resources are within our territory whether on land our in our maritime jurisdiction, we will exploit them.

“We believe that LNG [Liquefied Natural Gas] is the cleanest fuel and we believe oil still has a place on the international market and just the same way that other developed countries are using their resources, we will use ours and do so responsibly, but we will not be driven out of our market which we have only come to know as making a tremendous contribution to our economies and our people,” Rowley told reporters.

Prime Minister Rowley said that the “intractable problems and terrible conditions” in Haiti will also be a major talking point, adding the French-speaking country is one of the most populous within the 15-member regional grouping “and its governance structure, its institutional collapse is something of concern to us.
“CARICOM has been trying to play a role even before it reached the stage CARICOM has been trying to play a role in guiding Haiti away from this outcome. We were unsuccessful in being taken very seriously by the government of the day.

“Unfortunately some very disturbing developments have taken place in Haiti and now the situation in Haiti is very, very worrisome and would and must form part of CARICOM’s discussions and it will,” he added.

Rowley said that the visit of the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres underscores the importance of the regional integration movement to international political and economic development, adding “it is a signal of a recognition of our international importance while being small we insist we are not insignificant and that our interest will not and ought not to be ignored.

“So we look forward to that and we also expect that there might be other guests who will visit us who have some significant interest in ensuring that CARICOM remains the platform of diplomacy from our island nations and that our region remains a zone of peace,” Rowley told reporters.