Georgetown: The need for structural solutions was amplified as the ideal means of addressing several of the problems that face the Caribbean Community. Primary among the issues is that of security which according to Chairman of the 29th Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council of Ministers, Winston Lackin, is affected by the Region’s limited financial reach. “We do not even have the financial means to assure security in our Region and we know how important security is.”
He pointed to the fact that security is not only linked to “our survival and the survival of our economies…if we look at what the position is even our office in Haiti is affected by the lack of finances and so the time has come for us to come together.”
The Suriname Minister of Foreign Affairs said that so financially challenged is the CARICOM Secretariat that this is a necessary and urgent need to change the way business is undertaken. As such it was outlined that decisions be made by the Ministers of the Caribbean that would be directed to the respective Heads and be deliberated on at the upcoming Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community in Parimaribo, Suriname on March 8 and 9, 2012.
Security has always been among the issues high on the agenda which was evident even in 2001 when the 22nd Heads of Government Conference was held in the Bahamas. At that forum concern over the new forms of crime and violence posing a threat to the Region’s security was highlighted. The forms of crime were recognized as having implications for individual safety and the social and economic well-being of the Region as a whole. This state of affairs saw the Heads agreeing to establish a Regional Task Force on Crime and Security to examine the major cause of crime and to recommend approaches to deal with the inter-related problems of crime, illicit drugs and firearms as well as terrorism.
The Task Force chaired by Mr. Lancelot Selman of Trinidad and Tobago comprised representatives from each of the Member States, the Regional Security System, the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police, the University of the West Indies and the Regional Secretariats.
In examining the wide range and complex issues surrounding the causes of crime, the Task Force considered among other factors: poverty, unemployment, social marginalization and inequality, the illegal drug trade, corruption, the trafficking of firearms, deportation of criminals and the ineffectiveness of the existing criminal justice systems.
In addressing the challenge some of the considerations were “…Are the values we embrace in society in contradiction to our laws? Are traditional methods of policing effective in crime prevention?” The Task Force it was noted had grappled with these and many other questions in formulating its recommendations which saw the formulation of a report containing over 100 recommendations. These were reviewed by a joint committee of Attorneys-General and Ministers, with responsibility for national security, and was presented to the Conference of Heads of Government at their 23rd Meeting in Guyana in 2002.
However, Lackin at Tuesday’s Council of Ministers meeting revealed that having perused the agenda of the 29th Council of Ministers meeting he observed that more than 99 percent of the issues have been there for a long time and “we are not finding solutions for them… When we look at our organization we see institutions that we have put in place that are not functioning because of finances.”
“We have to do things differently; we need to change our ideas and our behaviour and the way we have been doing business…We can’t even ensure security in our Region and it is directly related to our population’s survival…We can’t control our own institutions so it is time for us to come together and change the way of doing business.” As such Lackin expressed optimism that the conclusion of the meeting would see decisions being taken to change the functionality of the Caribbean Community.
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