Former prime minister Owen Arthur today called for “quiet diplomacy” in the handling of the Sanique Myrie incident, warning that it must not be allowed to tarnish relations between Barbados and Jamaica.
“I do not want this matter pertaining to foreign relations appear as though I am castigating Barbadian officials, but just put it this way, that I feel the Foreign Ministry should understand the role of diplomacy in solving problems and that that is the first thing that you use,” Arthur said in an interview with the Nation Newspaper.
Arthur, who is also the Leader of the Opposition, suggested that Minister of Foreign?Affairs Senator Maxine McClean might have rushed to judgement on the matter when she stated publicly that Myrie’s claims that she was cavity-searched at Grantley Adams International Airport last month were unfounded.
Arthur believes Bridgetown has more to lose than Kingston, given its heavier dependence on regional exports, and further cautioned the Freundel Stuart administration that it cannot afford to have the matter “spiral out of control”.
The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) leader acknowledged that the matter of immigration had been a hot potato even when he was in Government but said he was careful not to support “bad treatment as an official position”.
CMC
