BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Commonwealth Secretariat in London has recently announced that it is providing legal and technical advice to the government of St. Kitts and Nevis as the Federation is preparing to embark upon maritime boundary negotiations with its neighbours.
According to the Director of Maritime and Civil Aviation Affairs, McClean Hobson, the providence of legal and technical advice from the Commonwealth Secretariat is as a result of a request made to the organisation following the “Maritime Boundary Symposium in St. Lucia”.
Hobson stated that he and maritime lawyer Agatha James-Andries are robustly pushing the issue of Maritime Boundary Delimitation on behalf of the government and people of St. Kitts and Nevis. And that the urgency in addressing the long-standing issue arose from the 49th Meeting of the OECS Heads held in the BVI, in which the leaders were implored to push the process of Maritime Boundary Delimitation.
He informed that the Commonwealth Secretariat had published an article on Wednesday, October 28 in which Joshua Brien stated that the settlement of maritime boundaries between St. Kitts-Nevis and neighbouring islands is crucial to the continued sustainable development of the Federation.
“The Caribbean is riddled with unresolved maritime claims, which has impeded coordinated and effective ocean management in the region. The settlement of maritime boundaries between St. Kitts and Nevis and neighbouring countries will be crucial to the continued sustainable development of this small island nation,” Hobson quoted Brien as saying.
Brien is a Legal Advisor in the Special Advisory Division, Economic and Legal Section and heads the Maritime Boundary Programme at the Commonwealth Secretariat.
The Marine Affairs Director said that Maritime Boundary Delimitation is a long-standing issue that the twin-island must not take lightly.
“It’s about time that we claim what belongs to us. St. Kitts and Nevis is not just about land mass…it includes our maritime spaces. At a time when resources are dwindling, we must be seeking for ways to increase our resources. If this means clearly defining our maritime boundaries in order to increase resources (such as maritime resources), then so be it.”
He pointed oput that one of the main issues over the years has been the arrests of the Federation’s fishers for fishing in the waters of neighbouring islands, such as St. Eustatius.
“This,” he declared, “should be no more with the implementation of clearly defined and charted maritime boundaries.”
Hobson further declared that there are many objectives his department has set out to achieve, and one of them is “to build capacity for entering maritime boundary delimitation with neighbouring countries such St. Eustatius, St, Maarten, St. Barthelemy, Antigua/Barbuda and Montserrat”.
He explained that the October 28 article also noted that the government of St. Kitts and Nevis is determined to settle its maritime boundaries as soon as possible, so as to provide a secure basis for the management of marine and ocean resources.
It added that the establishment of agreed maritime boundaries has implications for the management of ocean resources such as fisheries and seabed resources, and for the conduct of law enforcement activity to combat piracy and drug smuggling.
According to the Commonwealth Secretariat, the establishment of maritime boundaries is a matter governed by international law, and in particular, the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Convention is a multilateral treaty that establishes a framework of rules and principles to govern all ocean space. The Convention has been ratified by more than 157 countries, including some 47 Commonwealth member countries.
The Convention provides that where rights to ocean space (the water column and the seabed) of coastal states overlap, the countries concerned should seek to delimit maritime boundaries by agreement on the basis of international law in order to achieve an equitable result.
Hobson explained that maritime boundaries are established between states by agreement, and such establishment is important in order to settle overlapping claims as well as to provide a settled basis for the exercise by states of rights and jurisdiction over areas of ocean space.
