Warning about a threat to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), five eminent Caribbean personages may have been reacting prematurely to what is only a straw in the Trinidad and Tobago wind.

In their three-page statement, former Jamaica prime minister PJ Patterson, former Caribbean Community secretary-general Alister Mc Intyre, former Commonwealth secretary-general Sir Shridath Ramphal, Dominica's President Nicholas Liverpool, and University of the West Indies Vice Chancellor Sir George Alleyne warned that issues have arisen in T&T "which could threaten the very existence of the CCJ".

They called on the T&T Government to "distance itself" from what they described as threats to the existence of the CCJ, referring to the maintenance costs of the headquarters as borne by the T&T taxpayers. It may be that some persons have linked Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar's July Caricom Heads statement that this country is not the region's ATM, to a recent Express news report on the multi-million-dollar upkeep costs of the CCJ. The statement even claimed that the costs listed were misleading, though the five signatories did not say where the sums reported had been incorrect.

An intervention on regional matters by these five personages — recipients of the Order of the Caribbean Community — should be taken seriously and respectfully. But the fact is that the People's Partnership administration has made no official statement about the CCJ. Indeed, up to Wednesday when questioned on the matter during the ministerial retreat in Tobago, Mrs Persad-Bissessar offered no official position on the question of whether the CCJ should replace the Privy Council as T&T's highest court.

This, however, is an issue that T&T will have to deal with at some point.

The operational costs of the CCJ are paid from a Trust Fund of approximately US$100 million. T&T makes the largest contribution of US$31.6 million, followed by Jamaica with US$28.7 million, then Barbados at US$13.5 million, Guyana US$8 million, and the OECS countries and Belize paying US$2.2 million each.

What is not in doubt is that T&T gets scant value for its money. This is simply because, when in Opposition, the Basdeo Panday-led UNC, which had started this process while in government, refused to support the constitutional amendments needed to replace the Privy Council with the CCJ. The court was ceremonially inaugurated in 2005 in Port of Spain, and serves as a final appellate institution for just three Caricom states (Barbados, Guyana and Belize), and for all members as the court of original jurisdiction in resolving trade and other disputes.

The Persad-Bissessar administration should correct this historical error as soon as its agenda allows, thus ending fearful speculation in circles as exalted as the Order of the Caribbean recipients'. It is high time to rectify a grievous anomaly: that the very country which hosts the CCJ headquarters, and which contributes most to its funding, nevertheless, rejects its utility and authority. —See Page 19