T&T AID TO JAMAICA

UNCLAS PORT OF SPAIN 000859

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

SAN JOSE FOR USAID/OFDA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PGOV PREL TD
SUBJECT: T&T AID TO JAMAICA



1. (U) SUMMARY: The Government of Trinidad and Tobago's (GOTT)
TT$20 million (US$3.2 million) in assistance to Jamaica for
post-Hurricane Dean recovery efforts has attracted both criticism
and commendation in T&T. While opposition criticism is fueled by
upcoming elections as much as anything else, it illustrates the
political obstacles that stand in the way of regional integration
even in T&T, despite the perception that T&T is the biggest winner
from increasing business interlinkages within the Caribbean. END
SUMMARY.


2. (U) On August 23, Foreign Minister Arnold Piggott announced that
Cabinet had approved TT$20 million in assistance to Jamaica for
hurricane recovery efforts; this followed reports of an August 19
phone call during which Jamaican Prime Minister Portia
Simpson-Miller informed T&T Prime Minister Patrick Manning of the
extent of the damage. Half the money will come from the CARICOM
Petroleum Fund established by T&T in 2004; the other half will come
from the GOTT's Contingencies Fund.

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CHARITY OR REGIONAL COOPERATION AND SELF-INTEREST?
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3. (U) With Parliamentary elections expected by year's end in T&T,
opposition politicians and some sectors of the electorate have
criticized the GOTT's aid to Jamaica, arguing that the money could
be better spent for the indigent in T&T. However, others have
pointed to the strong links between the Jamaican and Trinbagonian
economies, including the fact that Jamaica is T&T's second largest
export market after the U.S. and that a number of T&T's major
corporations have considerable investments in Jamaica, such as
Guardian Holdings Limited, Trinidad Cement Limited and the Republic
Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (RBTT). Thus, they argue, it is in
T&T's self interest to ensure Jamaica's economic recovery. For the
GOTT's part, while Foreign Minister Piggott justified the aid by
saying that negative developments in one CARICOM nation affect the
entire regional body, he also made a point of the fact that T&T is
assisting Jamaica at this time even as Jamaica and other CARICOM
members increasingly look to Venezuela rather than T&T for petroleum
supplies.


4. (SBU) COMMENT: Against a backdrop of recent Jamaican and
Barbadian criticism of T&T's economic dominance within CARICOM, this
local debate highlights the political obstacles to regional
integration. The GOTT's strategy for sharing its energy
sector-derived wealth with its Caribbean neighbors through
mechanisms like the CARICOM Petroleum Fund appears to garner little
appreciation from beneficiaries while drawing denigration
domestically. This will make further economic integration
difficult. END COMMENT.

AUSTIN