Anthony Hylton was never shy about his argument that Trinidad and Tobago had engaged in "discriminatory pricing" with regard to the energy it supplies to its Caribbean Community partners, contrary to Article 7 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas that established CARICOM as a single, seamless market.

Indeed, in an article in this newspaper on Sunday, the former energy minister and point man on Jamaica's energy-conversion project reiterated his claim and the advantage he believes that Port-of-Spain's action gives to its domestic manufacturing sector over its counterparts in other CARICOM jurisdictions.

On a closely related, but separate matter, Mr Hylton revisited his own failed efforts earlier this decade to have Trinidad and Tobago supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Jamaica, and the dispute that raged between the two countries over whether LNG was a substantially similar product to the natural gas, and what should be the basis of its pricing.

It is unclear from the former minister's article if, at the time of writing, he was aware of the declaration by Patrick Manning, the Trinidadian prime minister, of his intention, as a matter of "national priority", to have LNG delivered to Jamaica.

Alumina refineries revival

The availability of cheaper and cleaner natural gas, Mr Manning suggested, would allow for the revival of Jamaica's alumina refineries that are now mostly shuttered because of the global recession.

If, indeed, Mr Hylton knew of Mr Manning's offer, he obviously placed no great store by it, obviously recalling Port-of-Spain's reneging on an undertaking to supply 1.1 million tonnes of LNG a year, which effectively killed a planned US$1-billion expansion of Jamalco refinery of Hayes, Clarendon.

Mr Hylton has made two proposals to ensure "compliance" by Trinidad and Tobago with CARICOM treaty obligations:

That the Jamaican state or a private entity takes Trinidad and Tobago to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) - operating in its original jurisdiction as interpreter of the Treaty of Chaguaramas - demanding specific performance under Article 7, which prohibits "discrimination on the grounds of nationality".

Or, that Jamaica persuade Venezuela to conclude an agreement with Trinidad and Tobago for the exploitation of natural gas from their common border area. It is Mr Hylton's belief that the failure to secure such an agreement, which Kingston was attempting to broker, led Port-of-Spain to pull out of the earlier supply agreement.

Discriminatory pricing

This newspaper, as suggested in these columns previously, is sympathetic to the claim of discriminatory pricing of energy by Trinidad and Tobago. We believe that the matter, including whether LNG is a different product from natural gas, is worthy of review at the CCJ. It is also our view that the case for non-discrimination is buttressed by Article 51 of the treaty that underlines an industry policy for CARICOM whose goal is the "cross-border employment of natural resources, human resources, capital, technology and management capabilities for the production of goods and services on a sustainable basis".

Our preference, however, would be for a formal outline policy on energy, specifically attached to the treaty, as is the case with agriculture and industry. As Mr Hylton pointed out, work started on such a policy, but it became bogged down by disagreements.

Prime Minister Golding should have it put back on the agenda at next week's summit of CARICOM leaders in Guyana.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.