By Vernon Daley, Staff Reporter
South African President Thabo Mbeki (left) greets Dr. Edwin Carrington (right) Secretary-General of CARICOM, shortly after he was presented with the Order of Jamaica by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson yesterday at the opening ceremony for the 24th meeting of Heads of Government of CARICOM at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay, St. James. Looking on is Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer PRIME MINISTER P.J. Patterson yesterday gave an urgent warning to fellow Heads of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), that they could no longer continue to talk about the goals of regional integration without moving to implement decisions agreed on.
The Prime Minister, who is the new chairman of CARICOM, hinted that residents of the region were growing impatient with the failure of the 30-year-old regional group to deliver real improvement to their lives.
"The people of the Caribbean have invested their trust in us. They are now demanding a dividend from the edifice of integration; tangible results which improve their well-being," the Prime Minister told hundreds of guests who attended the opening ceremony for the CARICOM summit at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Montego Bay.
Among the Prime Minister's audience were President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, and President of the Republic of Chile, Ricardo Lagos.
JUSTIFY ITS EXISTENCE
Throughout his presentation, Mr. Patterson repeatedly emphasised the need for the 15-member regional group to justify its existence by delivering material and non-material benefits to the people of the region.
"We cannot continue to talk and fail to implement. We now need to take steps required to make our decisions, declarations and commitment binding on Governments so as to reassure our peoples of our resolve to fulfilling the objectives and goals of the integration movement," the Prime Minister added.
With CARICOM now celebrating 30 years of existence, Mr. Patterson said the time had come for evaluation, review and adjustment of its institutions to make them more capable of responding to the need for speedy actions and decision-making. This was an apparent reference to the recommendations of the special prime ministerial committee, which has looked at governance within the proposed Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) set to come into being by 2005.
The report of the group of Prime Ministers has not yet been revealed. However, there are suggestions that it contains radical proposals for reforming the integration movement.
FUND CARICOM'S OPERATIONS
Raising the matter of financing for the operations of CARICOM, the Prime Minister said he hoped the summit would adopt proposals, first made by the West Indian Commission, to ensure the automatic transfer of resources to fund the operations of the regional group.
"In the long term, this would eventually replace annual national budgetary contributions," he said.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister made a veiled reference to recent action taken by the United States to suspend military aid to 35 countries, including six CARICOM members.
The U.S. made the move because of the refusal of the countries to accede to a request by the U.S. to exempt its nationals from being brought before the International Criminal Court.
"This meeting could not be taking place at a more critical time, as we witness the emergence of a unipolar force within the global village; at a juncture when major perils exist for small countries who simply seek to exercise their hard-won rights of political sovereignty," Mr. Patterson said.
Heads of Government are expected to discuss the U.S. action over the next few days.
Following yesterday's ceremony, Prime Minister Patterson conferred the Order of Jamaica on Secretary-General of CARICOM, Dr. Edwin Carrington, for his contribution to regional integration.
