Carrington upbeat over Caribbean Court despite Jamaica's reluctance Stabroek News March 11, 2000 CARICOM Secretary-General Edwin Carrington is still optimistic that the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will come into being despite the apparent back-pedalling by Jamaica. Speaking with reporters at a press conference on Wednesday at the CARICOM Secretariat, Carrington said that while he was concerned that Jamaica would only be initialling the agreement establishing the CCJ when the CARICOM Heads meet in St Kitts next week, he had come to understand that in the integration process it was the surefooted who won the race. He said too that he was confident that Jamaica's prime minister, PJ Patterson, would win out in the end. The Secretary-General acknowledged that there was concern about the financing of the Court and as a consequence its independence but he said that at a meeting last month in Antigua, the committee which is spearheading the implementation of the agreement to establish the Court had agreed to an arrangement for its independent funding. This arrangement will be considered by the CARICOM Heads next week. The Caribbean Court of Justice is pivotal to the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy and would have an original jurisdiction in the adjudication of disputes between member states and in the interpretation of the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the series of nine protocols by which it is being amended. The agreement to establish the CCJ was expected to be signed by Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago which is to be the seat of the Court and Carrington said that he would need to ascertain what are the implications of Prime Minister Patterson's announcement that he would only initial the CCJ agreement. Guyana has announced its firm support for the Court in a release issued by the Foreign Ministry announcing the visit. Following their July summit last year, the CARICOM Heads announced that there would have been a public education programme to inform the people of the member states about the Court. This programme is yet to get off the ground.