Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers res-ponsible for Information, Communication and Tech-nology (ICT) have reiterated their support for a full resumption of service by the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) in the shortest possible time, a release from the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown stated yesterday.
Antigua and Barbuda Information and Broadcasting Minister, Guy Yearwood called on his colleagues meeting at the Jolly Beach Hotel in Antigua yesterday to find positive solutions to revitalise the CMC, the release said. CMC had been looking for financial assistance for a full restart but CARICOM has balked at this as it wants more information first and a business plan.
Yearwood was quoted in the release as calling for "solutions which the ministers can report to the Heads of Government who have a deep interest in the future of the CMC."
The ministers noted also that the region had suffered from an absence of regular news and information flow as a result of the temporary closure of the CMC since January 2002.
During the opening session, the release said, Yearwood underscored the importance of the meeting, saying that it provided an opportunity for the ministers to comprehensively discuss the way forward for the ailing media corporation.
And he observed that "although the Caribbean Media Corporation has resumed a limited news service to the region, and despite the fact that we are still able to follow the fortunes of the West Indies cricket team, this important regional organisation remains in the intensive care."
The release noted that in April this year, the CMC began a "phased resumption of partial services" in print, radio and television news dissemination, utilising only a staff of seven. The CMC has also commissioned a Business Plan, using the services of Caribbean Business Enterprise Trust (CBET), and a draft is expected by June.
CARICOM Heads of Government at their last meeting in February in Belize had mandated that a management and business plan be prepared for consideration for the follow-up meeting of ministers of information, the release informed.
Jamaica's Information Minister Colin Campbell expressed hope that the phased resumption of services by the CMC would lead to a sustained strategy for the growth of the organisation. Further, he urged that the ICT meeting facilitate and promote a Caribbean strategy prior to the implementation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) agreement and the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), the release added.