BARBADIAN Attorney General Mia Mottley yesterday revealed that rights to maritime energy reserves and not fishing was at the heart of its dispute with Trinidad and Tobago and her government will advise all energy companies that all areas TT and Venezuela plan to explore are in dispute.

Mottley said an August 12, 2003 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between that TT and Barbados clearly outlines procedures for arriving at an agreement on the delimiting of hydrocarbon reserves across the delimitation boundaries of both nations.

"It is unfortunate that we have had five rounds of maritime discussion, four rounds of fishing discussions and at no stage during these discussions including last year when this MOU was signed did they (TT government) bring to the attention of the Barbados government in good faith, that one of the very things that was the major stumbling blocks for reaching an agreement was in fact being acted on in a commercial way pursuant to Article 7 of the same agreement," she lamented.

Mottley then disclosed: "The government (of Barbados) will also be issuing today (yesterday), through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, letters to all the major oil companies indicating Barbados’ notice of invocation of a dispute settlement mechanism in relation to maritime delimitation and fisheries between Barbados and TT." She added that Barbadian PM Owen Arthur remains willing to meet with Prime Minister Patrick Manning to resolve the matter.