BY YVONNE WEBB www.guardian.co.tt

Grenada Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell has made a pitch for T&T and Barbados to share resources, instead of carrying on with their current maritime boundary fight.

He was speaking to reporters in San Fernando yesterday, following a brief visit for the funeral service for his half-brother, Godfrey Antoine, who perished in a fire at Claxton Bay last Friday.

Antoine was cremated at Belgrove's crematorium following a short service, which was attended by Mitchell, his mother Muriel and several of his siblings.

Asked to comment on the dispute between T&T and the Bajans, Mitchell said Grenada had made the point over and over again, "that the region needs as much co-operation as possible, and clearly, whatever dispute exists we expect that it would be settled with a sense of understanding of what is important for Caricom."

He said his government and people had a close relationship with T&T.

"We have been working with them on maritime boundaries delimitation discussions like Venezuela, and that is continuing quietly behind the scene," he said.

"We are continuing to push forward in that direction, because clearly, there are enormous possibilities for resources in our waters in the Caribbean and we obviously need to share it.

"I think it is precisely what we have to do."

Mitchell said he was sure Caricom officials were working behind the scenes to resolve the issue which had affected trade between Barbados and T&T.

Asked if the dispute would impact on the Caribbean Court of Justice, he said: "The CCJ is something that the region needs and requires as a matter of basic fundamental principles for the region.

"I don't see any issue getting in the way of stopping what we consider as a necessity for the independence of the region as a whole.

"So I expect there would certainly be continuous movement in that direction.

"The whole Caricom integration is a necessity and no one issue should interfere with what we consider as absolutely essential, particularly in the context of the globalisation we are now dealing with.

"We have to do everything possible to unite."