The thirtieth anniversary of CARICOM, the longest existing integration movement among developing countries in the world, is a tribute to the tenacity of the Caribbean people and their leaders, says Secretary-General Edwin Carrington.

In his welcome address at the opening of the Twenty-Fourth Regular Meeting of the CARICOM Conference of Heads of Government on the occasion of CARICOM’s 30th anniversary, Carrington said it was fitting to recall that it was the labour movement of the 1920s that lit the torch for the building of a Caribbean’s Caribbean.

The flame was kept alive by the second generation in the post-war era who saw the Region through Federation to CARIFTA and on to the Caribbean Community and Common Market. He added that this third generation had brought it where it was in the stage of transformation from a Community and Common Market to a Community including a Single Market and Economy.

Many of the leading voices among the stalwarts of Caribbean integration are well known and a few have been honoured by the community with its highest awards, the Order of the Caribbean Community and the CARICOM Triennial Award for Women.

Carrington observed that the majority of persons remain unrecognised and unheralded by CARICOM for their contributions.

Carrington was, himself, conferred with one of Jamaica’s highest awards, the Order of Jamaica, in recognition of his contribution, following the opening ceremony.

Extending congratulations to the political leadership past and present, he said they had the difficult and tricky task of steering 15 separate countries through “treacherous waters towards the safe harbour of a single Community.”

The Community, however, has not been built only by the political leadership, but also through the contribution of a number of unsung heroes. Not knowing them all he took the opportunity to mention a few whose contribution from his perspective he could never forget.

Some persons, he mentioned were Paul Southwell, Fred Cozier, Kamaluddin Mohammed, Robert Lightbourne, Branford Taitt, Kurleigh King, Roderick Rainford, Ellen Bogle, Eric Challenger, Charlesworth Edwards, Ralph Fonseca Sr, Austin Bramble, Charles Maynard, Derek Knight, Barbara Gunther, Charles Cadette, Lee Moore, George Mallet, Scotty Lewis, Winston King, Eldon Warner, Frank Rampersad, Charmaine Constantine, Horatio Versailles, Charles Skeete, Steve Emtage, Don Bryce and Leonard Archer.

He said that his personal recognition of these ‘workhorses’ in no way diminished the contribution made by many others too numerous to mention. Alongside them he noted the devoted, hard working staff of the CARICOM Secretariat who have given unstinting and committed service to the Community over these 30 years. They have sought, he said, to make real the dreams and visions of the founding fathers of 1973 as well as those who went before and their labours have been instrumental in ensuring that CARICOM stayed the course.

Against the background of where the region came from and where it is going, Carrington said that the role of youth in the future development of the Community is absolutely indispensable. For it is they who must step forward to take up the challenge and continue to build this region over the next generation. It is in the hands of people like the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors, whose Dean, Valarie Lalji from Suriname and Vice Dean, Michael Alexander from Trinidad and Tobago, along with their Jamaican counterparts, Terri-Ann Gilbert and Shawn McGregor were invited to attend the heads meeting.