Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar has for­mal­ly pro­posed re­fer­ring Trinidad and To­ba­go’s dis­pute over the reap­point­ment of Cari­com Sec­re­tary Gen­er­al Dr Car­la Bar­nett to the Caribbean Court of Jus­tice (CCJ), while Ja­maica is urg­ing re­gion­al lead­ers to strength­en en­gage­ment with Port-of-Spain, warn­ing that the con­tro­ver­sy has ex­posed di­vi­sions with­in the re­gion­al bloc.

The is­sue was among those be­fore Cari­com Heads of Gov­ern­ment, who met be­hind closed doors in St Lu­cia yes­ter­day. The heads-on­ly re­treat was sched­uled to run from 10 am to 3 pm, but Guardian Me­dia un­der­stands dis­cus­sions con­tin­ued sev­er­al hours be­yond the planned end time.

Per­sad-Bisses­sar out­lined T&T’s po­si­tion in a 22-page let­ter dat­ed Ju­ly 3 and ad­dressed to all Cari­com Heads of Gov­ern­ment.