Carrington pushes for CARICOM passport as millennium project
A CARICOM passport common to all member states could be in circulation as early as next year if the community's chief official has his way. The cover of the passport would read Caribbean Community and it would bear the coat of arms of the country which issues it. The official is also impatient for arrangements to be concluded that would allow the freedom of movement in the region of media workers, sportsmen and musicians. Briefing members of the media on Friday at an end-of-year press conference at the CARICOM Secretariat, Secretary-General, Edwin Carrington, urged members of the media to mobilise Caribbean public opinion to push their governments in this direction. He said that the CARICOM passport could be issued to applicants for new passports next year as a millennium project. Commenting on the introduction of a CARICOM passport, Carrington said that the issue was first raised when the CARICOM Heads met in Chaguaramas in October. He said that a prototype was unveiled to allow each Head to see what the passport would look like. Carrington explained that the passport would be patterned on that of the European Community, and that "it is envisaged that this common document would strengthen the case of the community and give all citizens a common bond with which they could identify." He explained that a number of issues would need to be ironed out such as whether the colour would be the same for all member states and what common information should be included in the document. Dealing with the question of free movement, Carrington said that the arrangements for journalists were still to be satisfied despite being under consideration for five years or more. Also, he stressed the need for mechanisms which would remove the discretion of immigration officers in deciding the shack-shack player was a musician, appealing for the hazy uncertainty to be ended as he took on the role of journalist to press his point. Jacqui Joseph, an official of the secretariat who was involved in implementation of the decision, said that the absence of national accreditation mechanisms at the required level was what had hindered the complete implementation of the free movement decision. She said too that the ministries of culture of the various territories were expected to help with the identification of bona fide culture workers. This latter mechanism will address the problem of identifying persons associated with cultural activities such as stage hands and lighting technicians who accompany the musical bands. Adviser on the Single Market, Desiree Field-Ridley, in addressing a related matter said that Single Market instruments provided for the movement of university graduates and other skilled persons and investors and for their social security benefits to accompany them. She explained that three member states--Jamaica, Barbados and Guyana--had the relevant legislation in place. Some others, she said, like St Vincent and the Grenadines had legislation which would allow the relevant minister to issue an order once the government had decided that it was ready to do so. Most of the others needed to amend their legislation to accommodate the additional categories identified in the Single Market instruments. On a related issue, Legal Adviser to the Secretary General, Duke Pollard, explained that the two remaining protocols amending the Treaty of Chaguaramas should be finalised by the next Intersessional Meeting of the Heads of Government scheduled for March. He said that a meeting was to be held here next week to look at the protocols which deal with dispute settlement and competition respectively and that would be followed by a meeting of the full Inter-Government Task Force in January to finalise the documents for the signature of the CARICOM Heads. Pollard explained, too, at the prompting of the secretary-general that it would take six months to consolidate the nine protocols amending the Treaty of Chaguaramas into one document. The amendment of the treaty is to allow for the establishment of the Single Market. The Caribbean Court of Justice which should come into being by 2001, will have an original jurisdiction related to the interpretation of the treaty.
|