CARICOM repeats opposition to transport of nuclear material across Caribbean Sea
CARICOM representatives reiterated the community’s implacable opposition to the continued use of the Caribbean Sea for the transport of radioactive materials, when they attended the Ninth CARICOM-Japan Consultation in Tokyo, Japan, earlier this month.
The CARICOM team also emphasized the importance of the Caribbean Sea to the economic well-being of its citizens.
According to a joint communique on the consultation from the CARICOM Communication Unit yesterday, the CARICOM side “further expressed concern that the transport of radioactive materials could have a grave impact on the integrity of its fragile ecosystems in the event of an accident, emphasizing that the CARICOM side respected the right of freedom to navigation of the high seas and Japan’s right to choose energy sources suitable for its needs.”
And Japan reiterated that it was keenly aware of the interests and concerns of CARICOM and expressed its hope to continue constructive dialogue with the Caribbean Community on this issue, the communique stated. CARICOM has protested over numerous shipments from Britain and France to Japan.
The consultation was held in Tokyo on November 5-6 and the CARICOM delegation was headed by Director of Foreign Policy and External Economic Relations of the CARICOM Secretariat, Fay Housty. Japan’s delegation was led by Ken Shimanouchi, Director-General of the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A significant part of the consultation, the communique said, was allocated to reviewing the implementation of “A New Framework for Japan-CARICOM Cooperation for the Twenty-First Century”, adopted at the First CARICOM-Japan Ministerial Level Meeting held in Tokyo on November 8, 2000.
Japan reaffirmed its continued commitment to cooperation with CARICOM in various fields based on the “Framework”, while the CARICOM side expressed appreciation to the Government of Japan for its technical and financial assistance in a number of areas.
CARICOM recognised in particular the US$300,000 project funded by the Japan Human Resources Development Fund (established with the UNDP) to support the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), and the commencement in August this year of a three-year project-type technical cooperation programme with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) to improve its capability to manage disasters.
The CARICOM team also updated the meeting on the progress being made in the construction of the headquarters building of the CARICOM Secretariat which commenced in May this year at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, and they restated the gratitude of the governments of CARICOM for the interest of the Government of Japan in the project.