LEWIS ... union would be good for the OECS. - File

Vaughan Lewis, former prime minister of St Lucia and one-time director general of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), has backed the proposed deepening of ties between Trinidad and three small island states.

Trinidad and OECS members St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada agreed on the weekend to form a political union by 2013.

Trinidad, whose prime minister, Patrick Manning, is leading the partnership talks, is to become an OECS member by 2011 to facilitate the process.

Join the new union

A statement from Jamaica House also suggested that three other countries were to be approached and engaged in talks this week to join the new union.

But Prime Minister Bruce Golding's office has warned that the new alliance could change the structure of CARICOM, which is pursuing integration under the CSME model.

Jamaica also signalled that its future in CARICOM was uncertain and would rest on the outcome of talks that Jamaica House has requested at the highest level of the bloc, usually a summit of the Heads of Government.

"Jamaica's position will be evaluated, based on those discussions," said a Jamaica House statement.

The parties to the Trinidad-OECS agreement have asked Lewis, who is now a professor and senior lecturer in international relations at the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI), and Trinidad diplomat Dr Cuthbert Joseph, to prepare a study on a possible political union involving these countries.

They are to submit their report by the end of this year.

Lewis told CMC that the proposed partnership, spearheaded by Trinidad, could only strengthen the OECS.

"The OECS has to find new economic spaces that will encompass all involved in the OECS," he said.

The OECS islands had much to gain, he said, noting that Trinidad is already a dominant player in banking, manufacturing exports and financial services in the Eastern Caribbean.

"There is upwards of 60 per cent of the OECS exports coming from Trinidad, so Trinidad has a certain interest in OECS stability. Without a particular productivity, Trinidad will not be able to sell its product and will not be able to function," Lewis added.

Jamaica said such an alliance could change the structure of Caricom.

The bloc is grounded on trade but seeking to integrate economies, through the formation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

Jamaica took the opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to integration, under the CSME model now being implemented regionwide, and to which country leaders recommitted to the framework agreement, the Treaty of Chaguaramas, at their last summit in July.

"Indeed, Jamaica is among the most advanced countries in implementing the provisions of the revised treaty, especially with regard to the establishment of the CARICOM single market," said Jamaica House, seat of the Office of the Prime Minister.

"However, the decision of some CARICOM countries to establish a political union has implications for the structure and, indeed, the future of CARICOM. The Government of Jamaica will request that the issue be brought for discussions at the highest level of CARICOM."