Georgetown: As is customary and in keeping with the obligations of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, Caricom Heads of Government will be meeting in Barbados Thursday , for what will be the 36th meeting of the regional integration movement, since the historic treaty signing ceremony at Chaguaramas, Port of Spain, July 4, 1973.
President David Granger will be leading a delegation to the event inclusive of Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge; acting Director General of the Foreign Affairs Ministry, Jardine Waddell, and the President’s press team. He will be ensuring that the Guyana-Venezuela border controversy is on the agenda and is discussed, against the background of the latter state’s claim to two-thirds of Guyana’s territory, and its recent decree number 1787, on May 26, announcing claims also to Guyana’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
This year’s conference, which begins its deliberations today and runs until July 4, will welcome new Heads of Government in the persons of President Granger; St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Dr Timothy Harris and Montserrat Premier Donaldson Romeo, who took office in February 2015 and September 2014 respectively.
Over the following days, 15 Caricom Heads of Government and the heads of five Associate States and their delegations, a total of more than 150 persons, will deliberate over a range of items of importance to the Region.
There will be business sessions and a retreat for Heads of Government. It is expected that prominent on the agenda will be matters critical to the well-being of the integration movement, such as the state of the regional economies, security, implementation issues and the recent European Union (EU) decision to blacklist a number of Caribbean islands, some of them Caricom members, as non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.
A cultural event will also be hosted for Heads of Government of visiting countries and local officials on Caricom Day, Saturday, July 4.
The conference is the supreme organ of Caricom, and is empowered to make policies and provide guidance on matters pertaining to the integration movement and other pertinent issues. A critical aspect of its function is its mandate to enter into treaty obligations on behalf of the Community, as well as relationships between the Community and international organisations and states.
The grouping is the final authority on financial matters of the Community, therefore, and it will include decisions relative to finances for defraying the expenses of the Community. It is also tasked with establishing organs or bodies for achieving the objectives of the Community. Other key functions of this pivotal organ of the Caribbean Community are resolving disputes between Member States, issuing policy of a general or specific character to other institutions of the Community for achieving the objectives of the Community, consulting with entities within the Region or with other organisations, establishing mechanisms as it deems necessary and regulating its own procedures, and deciding on the admission of non-Member States and other entities to the Community. In its actual framework, there is what is described as a quasi-Cabinet, where each of the regional leaders is assigned to a specific portfolio. For every completed subject area, the information is transmitted for implementation in Member States.
Barbados has assumed the chairmanship of Caricom for the period July 1, 2015-December 31, 2015.
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