By Clint Chan Tack, Newsday TT

OPPOSITION LEADER Basdeo Panday yesterday condemned Barbados for trying to harm Trinidad and Tobago's economy by telling energy companies drilling in local waters that these areas are in dispute. Speaking with reporters at Whitehall after meeting with Prime Minister Patrick Manning, Panday said Thursday's utterances by Barbadian Attorney-General Mia Mottley proved "there is more to the dispute than fisheries and it may well have to do with oil, gas and maritime resources." Mottley said Barbados would be informing all major oil companies that all areas covered under the 1990 TT-Venezuela Maritime Delimitation Treaty, which TT and Venezuela plan to explore, are in dispute. She also disclosed that maritime energy reserves and not fishing are at the heart of the TT-Barbados dispute.

"It may be that oil companies may be reluctant to begin expenditure on exploration. If indeed it makes the oil companies reluctant to carry out drilling operations, of course its going to affect the economy to its detriment and I think that's unfortunate," Panday said. He added that after yesterday's talks with the Prime Minister, the Opposition now has "a clearer understanding" of the situation with Barbados. "We stand firmly for the preservation of our national integrity and our national sovereignty. Anyone that comes within our 12-mile limit is violating the law, and the law should be enforced. We will support any action taken in defence of TT, in defence of its natural resources, in defence of the citizens of TT," Panday declared. On Thursday, Manning announced that the Coast Guard and Defence Force had been placed on high alert to take defensive action against anyone who violates its territorial waters. Reports out of Barbados indicated that Barbadian fishermen are steering clear of waters close to Tobago.

"I believe that TT should not be guilty of escalating the problem. I advise that we proceed according to the law, and we don't make explosive and inflammatory statements. At the same time, we should inform the nation of what is happening because the Bajans seem to be winning the war of words and probably the battle of the minds," the former prime minister said, and called for a mobilisation of the entire population to defend TT's national sovereignty. Panday said maritime delimitation issues could be handled by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Barbados was trying to kill any chance of the matter being solved bilaterally by taking this route. He added that the UN could not solve fishing problems between the two nations and recalled that a commission had been set up by TT and Barbados to settle such issues.