The just-concluded 15th Meeting of the Bureau of Heads of Government of CARICOM in Barbados has expressed particular concern over the treatment of Guyanese in their travels in the region.
The Bureau “emphatically stated that such treatment was unacceptable both in the law and in the spirit of Community,” a release from the CARICOM Communication Unit yesterday stated.
Guyanese have been harshly treated at various Caribbean airports especially the Grantley Adams Airport in Barbados.
The meeting which ended on Monday at the Tom Adams Financial Centre in Bridgetown, also expressed disappointment at the continuing difficulty of CARICOM nationals in travelling without hassle throughout the Community.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Bharrat Jagdeo, President of Guyana, is planning to lead a mission to Haiti, the Community’s newest member state in early December, the release said.
The Mission, one of the outcomes of the meeting, will include representatives of regional governments and the private sector as a means of familiarising key community stakeholders with Haiti. Heads of Government at their meeting last July in Georgetown had agreed that the Chairman should visit Haiti to mark its accession to the community which was formalised during the July meeting.
The Chairman also indicated that he would accept an invitation from the President of Cuba, Fidel Castro to attend ceremonies in Havana marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Caribbean Community.
The ceremonies are scheduled for December 7-8 and all CARICOM leaders and the Secretary-General have been invited.
President Jagdeo’s tenure as Chairman of CARICOM ends on December 31 and he will be succeeded by Prime Minister Pierre Charles of Dominica.
Efforts to assist Dominica in its current economic crisis were also reviewed and in this context the country was urged to put the necessary measures in place to facilitate speedy technical and financial assistance to move it out of its current situation.
The Bureau also stressed the need for the establishment of the Regional Stabilisation Fund which was proposed to assist countries faced with economic difficulties in the short-term. This proposal is expected to be advanced at a meeting of the Community’s Central Bank Governors later this month in The Bahamas, the release added.
Various technical teams to move the proposal for a regional transformation programme forward were recommended.
This programme is intended to craft a long-term plan for economic sustainability in the region.