Caption: British High Commissioner Harriet Cross speaking with AZP News at her office in St Clair
By Prior Beharry
AFTER four years as the British High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago Harriet Cross says farewell.
She was the first woman to hold the post and feels she has brought a new perspective.
The outgoing high commissioner recently spoke with AZP News at her office in St Clair about her time in T&T.
She was joined by her husband Phil Saltonstall, who left his beer brewery in Yorkshire, to join her as the Residence Manager. But being an absentee manager and spouse of a diplomat has its challenges.
Cross explained, “In any country, it’s tough to be a small business owner, so you are constantly trying to innovate to support your staff and your customer base.
“It’s challenging to do that from a distance, but we’ve got a great team in the UK. And what’s really positive is my husband Phil is able to manage remotely his business, which means that he can be with me in T&T, which is really good.”
Phil has been very supportive of Cross as he is often seen as a busybody making sure everything is in place during functions at the High Commissioner’s official residence in Maraval.
Cross said, “He’s a good consort. He’s been really supportive. And I think again, regardless of whether you’re a man or a woman, it’s challenging to be the spouse of a diplomat. Because you sort of have quite a lot of unpaid work that you do whether that’s going to receptions, whether it’s hosting people at your home, doing all the removals because at the moment Phil is packing and sorting and all of that that comes with being a diplomat. So it’s a tough job.”
Asked if she had a greater appreciation of him after this posting, she replied, “Yeah. Don’t tell him that but it is true.”
T&T food, music
Cross took up her post during the Covid-19 pandemic and first tasted doubles (flat bread with curried chickpeas) with her predecessor Tim Stew at 2 am on Ariapita Avenue.
She said, “That was a really nice introduction to life in Trinidad and Tobago partly because of course, it was doubles and also it was 2 am on Ariapita Avenue, which is a classic time to be eating doubles. That was really nice.”
One of her other standout experiences was having roasted breadfruit in No Man’s Land in Tobago.
“Just cooked over an open flame with some oil on. That was beautiful and I never had breadfruit before I came here. So that was a really nice experience.”
As a vegetarian, she also loves Indian cuisine such as South Indian doses and paratha roti with curry chana (chickpeas) and pumpkin.
She also admires the various religious cultures in T&T.
Cross said, “What I really like as well is that people are happy. So say, for example, somebody like me, I could wear a sari for Divali and that would be encouraged. In some places, there’s sensitivity about cultural appropriation.
“You’ve got to be careful about not taking on other people’s religions or cultures but actually here because of the mixture, it’s really welcomed. And I really like that and the fact that your scheduled of public holidays covers, all of those.”
She loves Soca music and fancies Kes and Patrice Roberts. She attended a Kes concert at the Queen’s Park Savannah. She has been spotted a few times dancing to the beat of Soca music.
Cross has been to Panorama and is amazed by the logistics of a steel band.
She said, “That is just incredible when you see the logistics of a steel pan, never mind what you’re listening to, but to see it in front of your eyes coming on and off and the flag wavers, the jumping up and down and the energy of the steel pan. Really suits my own energy.”
Cross likes most of the big steel bands but is impressed with the musicians who perform with the Musical Instruments of Trinidad and Tobago (MITTCO) – a steel band manufacturer.
Yemen
In 2015 in Yemen, as the Deputy High Commissioner, she had to flee under civil unrest.
Today, the Houthis are one factor causing civil unrest in that country and Cross shared her thoughts.
“It’s very much part of the bigger strategic picture now in relation to Iran’s relationship with the rest of the world because Iran backs the Houthis. So part of that a big power play is happening in Yemen.
“The war is still ongoing. The UK continues to support robust action against the Houthis who are supported by Iran.
“I just hope there will be a solution to be found sometime soon. I’m not sure that what that will be.”
Brexit and trade
Four years ago when she arrived, Cross told AZP News Brexit has made T&T more important to the UK.
She said, “So I think that that continues to be true, the UK does less trade with the EU and more trade with the rest of the world as a result of Brexit. That’s certainly true.
“The role of the Commonwealth both in terms of values, but also trade is also really important.
“The new Labour government has just come into power, in the last few months and they’ve said that growth is one of their absolute priorities, including in terms of international relations, not just internally.
“So whenever we’re looking at foreign relations, the lens, we have to look at it through is growth.
“We’ve got a three-person trade team that sits in the British High Commission here in Port Spain. And they focus on green energy, healthcare food and drink, but they also look at barriers to trade.
“So what is stopping the UK and Trinidad and Tobago from doing more trade together?
“It might be legislation and it might be transport links, it could be any number of things. So we’ve got somebody actively working on that.”
She said the trade between T&T and the UK amounted to about £750 million annually in both directions.
Cross said UK exports to T&T were £327 million and the UK imports from T&T amounted to £388 million in the past year.
She said her trade team hits their trade targets every year and spoke about a recently concluded UK Caribbean trade forum in London, attended by WASA, NIPDEC and Trinidad and Tobago Trade and Investment Promotion Agency.
Cross said, “They spoke to a lot of UK businesses to encourage them to come and do business in T&T. I am really hopeful that that will create a bump in the trade statistics.
“We’ve also very recently signed an MOU with the Ministry of Finance. Now, that was with our UK Export, Finance Department. Yes, with the aim of boosting UK investment in things like infrastructure, security healthcare again.
“So, I think there’s a lot of opportunities coming up in some ways when you do a diplomatic posting when you’ve done four years, in some ways, you inherit some of the things, your predecessor did and then you and some of those come to fruition and then you lay the foundation for your successor to inherit.
“And I think in terms of bilateral relationships, particularly UK T&T, it’s a long-term thing and some countries are really good at looking long-term. And I think we’re trying to do more of that ourselves.
“So there’s lots of things that maybe I won’t see come to fruition in my time, but my successor will. I’m really proud of that in terms of public creator.”
Diversification help
Cross has also focused on renewable energy.
She said T&T often talks about economic diversification and cited as an example, the move into green energy.
“So that’s where the UK having heard Trinidad talked about wanting to do this. We’ve said we’ve done some of this in the UK because the UK is an oil and gas producing country, Scotland in particular, and Scotland is really made that transition to green energy, quite effectively – wind primarily, but also green hydrogen is something else that the UK does well.”
She added, “Carbon capture and storage. So we came to the government but also found a section in T&T and say this is what we’ve done, here’s some expertise. What would be most useful to you?
“We’ve also looked at legislation because sometimes in the transition to green energy, a lot of stuff needs to happen behind the scenes to get the legislative infrastructure, right.
“So whether it’s getting green energy on your national grid, whether it’s about how much you sell that green energy for and there’s quite a lot of that work to be done.
“So we’ve worked with Ministry of Public Utilities, for example, on some of that background work. We are bringing a wind energy expert who’s absolutely brilliant.”
At a former posting in New England, Cross worked with Dr Alan Lowdon and has brought him to Trinidad to look at potential renewable energy prospects.
She said, “They’re also doing a huge amount of work on green energy and we are making contribution towards that.
“I think there is great potential because T&T has the infrastructure to deal with green energy and the way that you’re not starting from a zero base… you’ve got the infrastructure to do that. So I think it’s actually really exciting but again, it needs investment. It needs people with the right skills.
“So I think training young people at school, and straight out of school, in some of those skills is really important. So that’s something else that we’re looking at.
“And just finally the adjust transition so that people don’t get left behind as part of that too. And we’ve also brought experts here to talk about that.”
What’s next
And her next posting?
“I can’t tell you yet, unfortunately I have been appointed in a new position and will be announced in January and I’ll head out there in April.”
Being the first woman told the post of high commissioner meant that she brought a different perspective.
“So I think it’s, I think it’s important that I am the first woman, because I think it’s, it’s surprised me that there had not been any women before me.
“And I’m, I’m really proud of that fact. And I think in some ways you sometimes I make different connections with people because I’m a woman. So whether that’s about the connections on gender-based violence, we do quite a lot of work on that.
“Now, my predecessor who was a man also did as well. But, I think sometimes I just look at things through a slightly different lens.
“So and I’ve got great relationships with some of the most brilliant women in Trinidad and Tobago know, some of your judges, brilliant women, business women.
“You know, you’ve got some really strong, female ministers in Trinidad and Tobago as well and politicians across the political spectrum.
“And so that’s something that I’ve really enjoyed doing is, is speaking woman-to-woman with some of these people and again, you get a different conversation.
“I think this is where the role that I’d love my successor to play is that if you can get men talking about those issues as well. That’s really why you’ve where you’ve succeeded first. I mean, I think menopause is a really good example of where we’re only really in the UK where we’re not, we’re not quite at the beginning of getting women to talk to women about it.
“But, but we’ve made a bit of progress, but in many countries and I’d say, Trinidad and Tobago is one of those, you, you are at the start of having those quite difficult conversations.
“I think is it’s about having a robust economy as a really good example, it’s not just about women’s health.
“If women are better supported in in the, in the workplace, whether it’s periods or menopause, then you’re going to get more out of your staff and you’re going to have higher productivity and better economic outcomes. So it all it all builds into the bigger picture.”
And Cross message as she leaves T&T.
“I want to leave the message that the UK continues to be a good friend and strong business partner for Trinidad and Tobago that that we want to engage and, and share learning and, and our approach to the rest of the world because I think we’ve got a lot in common and there’s there’s still a lot of a lot of good work that we can do together on the international stage and but also in terms of our bilateral relationship.”
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