Near the conclusion of the 20th Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government on Friday evening, March 13, CARICOM chairman, Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow, identified the global economic and financial crisis and the harmful effects of that fiasco on the Caribbean region as the issue of top priority discussed over the two days of business meetings, held at the Radisson Fort George Hotel in Belize City, Belize starting Thursday morning.
“There is a commitment on the part of everybody to ensure that whatever negative effects may evolve for the Caribbean from this international financial situation, we are determined to put our heads together to solve those problems. We see the financial situation as a Caribbean problem – not the problem of any one country,” said CARICOM Barrow.
He also highlighted the “…urgent need for additional funds to be freed up, to enable the region to cope with this global financial crisis.”
The issue of the next highest importance is the pace and progress of the integration movement, and third is crime and violence, and national and regional security, Prime Minister Barrow informed us.
Taking time out from what he described as “an extremely heavy agenda,” Prime Minister Barrow spoke at a press briefing held on Friday evening, accompanied by Prime Ministers of Trinidad & Tobago, Patrick Manning, and St. Kitts/Nevis, Dr. Denzil Douglas. Also updating the media was CARICOM Secretary-General, Edwin Carrington.
Prime Minister Barrow expressed confidence in the strength of CARICOM and the region’s political will to overcome the challenges of the integration movement.
In light of the challenges facing the region with the implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed last October between the countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions, and the European Union (EU), CARICOM leaders agreed to form a unit to coordinate the implementation of the EPA, which would assist Belize and other signatories to the agreement.
Meanwhile, the region is also negotiating a trade and development agreement with Canada, and the upcoming 5th Summit of the Americas, to be hosted in Trinidad & Tobago on behalf of CARICOM, will provide an opportunity for heads to meet with their Canadian counterparts ahead of the meeting to further talks.
Manning announced at Friday’s press conference that Belize Prime Minister Dean Barrow will be one of five regional leaders to address the 5th Summit of the Americas, which will also bring U.S. President Barack Obama to the region in a highly anticipated meeting of the 34 countries of the Western Hemisphere.
Even as there was much talk about the global financial crisis and the impending summit, serious concerns were also expressed over the dire crime situation, and national security – one of the key issues that will no doubt be on the front burner as the Summit approaches.
Manning, who is in charge of that portfolio for the region, spoke Friday of a crime and security agency dubbed RIBBIN – the Regional Integrated Ballistics Information Network. That network, explained Manning, would enable experts to match cartridges with bullets, enabling law enforcement agencies to trace a bullet to a gun.
The leaders also agreed to the reinstitution of the regional witness protection program.
Dr. Denzil Douglas, St. Kitts/Nevis Prime Minister, highlighted the special challenges facing young people across the region. He proposed at this week’s meeting of leaders an international conference for May/June this year to look at the scourge of gang violence and other forms of crime bedeviling Caribbean youth.
“We do not manufacture guns, as far as I know, in the Caribbean community, yet we continue to be impacted by the tremendous illegal flow of small arms into the region, mainly because of our porous border and because, I believe, this is involved in the continuing trade—international trade—in guns and drugs generally which have been impacting our community negatively and thus now impacting our young people who are becoming more and more involved in alien activity of gang culture and thus see more and more threats from gang violence and gang crimes,” Douglas eloquently asserted.
Dr. Douglas announced that his counterparts had given their full endorsement to the conference on youth and crime.
Friday’s session ran into the night, hours longer than had been anticipated, but that wasn’t the end of the mission for the CARICOM officials.
On Saturday night, they engaged the people of San Ignacio Town in a town meeting at the Sacred Heart Secondary School in discussions on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and regional integration.