Georgetown : The opening ceremony of the high level 35th Caricom Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda last evening saw current Chairman Dr Ralph Gonsalves, outlining several issues affecting the region that will be discussed over the next three days.
These include climate change, economic and immigration issues and challenges affecting the region, all of which will be addressed via Caricom’s Strategic Plan.
Addressing fellow Heads of Government and regional officials, the St Vincent Prime Minister, who formally handed over the grouping’s chairmanship to Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne, called for hard, smart and productive work to overcome the challenges facing the region.
Dr Gonsalves noted that a large portion of the region’s populace is facing economic hardship and this cannot be denied. The solution, he said, was not one to be addressed by individual members, but by a combined effort from the Caricom group. “There is no magic wand” to fix these challenges, Dr Gonsalves noted. The task ahead for Caricom over the next five years, according to Dr Gonsalves, is not easy, but they could be overcome. “Our fore-parents faced far more serious challenges and overcame them so we can do the same”.
Accepting the Caricom chairmanship, Prime Minister Browne declared that his government and country was fully committed to regional integration as a vital component to regional development. Challenges such as unfair trading practice, reduced foreign aid, the insistence of the opening of local markets by developed nations must be addressed. He reiterated the growing call for reparation for the scourge of slavery, and resultant stymied development, and the need to harmonise efforts to achieve maximum benefit for all of the Caricom member states.
The changes in the global economy, the incoming Caricom chairman added, strengthen the need for regional integration and the firm establishment of the single market and economy which he described as “a work unfinished”.
He also pledged his support for the Caribbean Court of Justice and added that he will hold a referendum in his country to determine the way forward, as it was unfair that the final appellate court, based in Britain, should be governed by those who were their former colonial masters. He called for the strengthening of the Caricom Secretariat and removal of barriers to integration such as work permit requirements, and said it was time for “a coalition of the willing” to achieve the stated goals and overcome the challenges facing the region.
During the meeting President Ramotar, the holder of Caricom’s agricultural portfolio, will lead discussions of the region’s need for better food security, climate change preparations and joint ventures in the agricultural sector.
Guyana’s Head of State has explained that, with the regional food import bill averaging US$3B, the need for the region to enhance its food security, cannot be over-emphasised.
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