By Lindsay Mackoon, Gleaner WriterPORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad:
PRIME MINISTER Patrick Manning has insisted that the fishing impasse between Trinidad and Barbados won't sour relations between the two Caribbean nations.
"It is for me a small matter and I do not propose to allow it to interfere in cordial relations in the region," he told a news conference last Thursday.
But the PM said: "There is a battle and there is the war."
Manning indicated that the matter has been referred to the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Secre-tariat. Asked specifically if CARICOM was to be used to resolve the dispute, the Prime Minister de-clared: "No, no, no. We're not inviting anybody into our affairs as yet."
Both countries met late last year to hammer out an agreement and negotiations are to resume shortly.
Manning insisted that he was not about to engage in a public squabble with Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur, stressing: "It could get worse ... take it from me, it could get worse."
Last week, Manning said he had raised the fishing issue with Arthur during the Common-wealth Heads of Government Conference in Nigeria in early December. But the Barbados leader denied that such discussions ever took place.
"The matter has to be resolved at some stage. It has the potential for great discord and we are trying to avoid that," Manning told reporters.
When Barbados fishermen are caught operating illegally in Tobago waters, they are arrested and hauled before the courts. They are fined and their catch confiscated.
Such action have drawn strong protests from the Barbados government. Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Orville London, is pressing for an agreement.
The waters around the holiday island abound with the 'flying fish' which some regard as a delicacy.
