SXMElections.com

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad--The Trinidad and Tobago government says it will not pay the US $36,000 used to hire a private jet to bring the leader of the radical Jamaat al Mulsimeen group, Yasin Abu Bakr, back to the island from Jamaica where he had been denied entry.

National Security Minister Gary Griffith, speaking at the end of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Thursday, said that Port of Spain had denied a request from Jamaica for payment of the fees.

"I was very clear that Trinidad and Tobago will not bear the costs of that private flight," Griffith, said, adding that the cost of the flight was US $36,000.

The Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) in Jamaica in a statement said Bakr "was refused leave to land under Section 4(1)h of the Immigration Restriction [Commonwealth Citizens – Ed.] Act."

The section states, "The following Commonwealth citizens (not being persons deemed to belong to the Island as defined by sub section (2) of section 2) are prohibited immigrants ... (h) any person who, from information or advice which in the opinion of the Minister is reliable information or advice, is deemed by the Minister to be an undesirable inhabitant of or visitor to the island."

The PICA said the decision to refuse leave to land "is in the interest of national security, given the present threat posed to public safety." Bakr has denied being any threat.

Griffith said the Trinidad and Tobago government had no involvement in the decision taken by Jamaica in deporting Bakr, denying also that the Ministry of National Security here had supplied information to Kingston.

Griffith said that he supported the actions of the Jamaican authorities, reiterating that they were far from "muddying waters," an apparent reference to a statement made by Jamaica's Foreign Affairs Minister A.J. Nicholson that Griffith should "refrain from continuing to muddy the integration waters" as he responded to comments that the influx of thousands of illegal Jamaicans into the oil-rich twin island republic is putting a strain on its resources.

Griffith said that notwithstanding the Caribbean Community Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allows for free movement of certain categories of Caribbean nationals across the 15-member regional grouping, "it must be clearly understood that matters of national security must take precedence for the safety and security of all." ~ Caribbean360 ~