( L - R ) Golding, Manning

Jamaica on Monday, again said an unequivocal 'no' to Patrick Manning's push for a political union among members of Caricom.

Manning, on a five-nation tour to secure buy-in from Caricom partners to the proposed union between Trinidad and Tobago and three Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) countries, made his first stop in Kingston on Monday for a private meeting with Prime Minister Bruce Golding, but apparently made no headway in allaying Jamaica's concerns.

"Mr Golding reiterated that Jamaica would not participate in any political union," said Jamaica House, in a statement.

"Notwithstanding this, he acknowledged the right of sovereign nations to do so ... "

Formal alliance

Trinidad, St Lucia, Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines, have agreed to a formal alliance by 2013, an agreement struck at a mini summit in Port of Spain on August 14.

The pact would immediately raise the stocks of the OECS, and its power base in Caricom, if, as agreed, Trinidad joins the group by 2011.

Golding, in a statement out of Jamaica House, indicated he would continue to press for the matter to be placed on Cari-com's agenda for discussion at the level of the Heads of Government.

Kingston fears the sub-grouping's priority could derail Caricom's agenda to integrate economies under the umbrella of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), and have implications for the structure of the grouping in which Trinidad is one of the richest and biggest traders.

Economy

Trinidad's economy was valued at US$18 billion in 2006; Jamaica's at US$10 billion, according to the World Bank's 2008 report on the world's economies.

The implications of the union, Golding said, have to be assessed carefully and in that regard, the Jamaican PM said he awaited the study to be under-taken by Professor Vaughan Lewis and Cuthbert Joseph on the modalities required to create the new alliance political union.

The study is to be completed by year-end.

Monday's meeting also included foreign ministers Kenneth Baugh of Jamaica and Paula Gopee-Scoon of Trinidad.