Conceptualization – 1974

An Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Law of the Sea, which was chaired by Mr. Lennox Ballah, recommended to Cabinet in 1974, the creation of a special organization to deal with the present and future needs of Trinidad and Tobago, as they pertain to marine affairs.  Cabinet accepted the recommendations and sought the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).   The UNDP supported the idea and indicated that the broad spectrum of activities encompassed by the proposed organization could not be easily duplicated by the other island nations of the Caribbean.  As a result the UNDP viewed the potential for expansion of the Institute’s activities to the entire Caribbean region as worthy of support.