The people of the Commonwealth Caribbean have become inured to disappointment at the lack of progress in Caricom. So often have the heads of government met, so often has their pre-summit rhetoric raised hope and so often has it been shattered on the rock of insularity.

Now at last, after the recent meeting in Jamaica, there is something to celebrate. It was a distinct thrill to read that the heads have agreed in principle to the setting up of a Caricom Commission or other executive mechanism to manage the implementation of decisions and to initiate proposals for community action in any area. Virtually the same proposal in the report of the West Indian Commission headed by Sir Shridath Ramphal, ‘Time for action’ in 1992 was turned down by the heads. Analysts have long been aware of the weakness of the current system where heads agree to decisions at summits which are never implemented. There is a long list of broken commitments. A strong implementation body was clearly needed to get behind the bureaucrats in the various territories to ensure that they did not merely file away decisions they weren’t keen on for one reason or another.

But more than that, as Professor Vaughn Lewis had pointed out some time ago, the model used for the Treaty was a bad or a weak one that encouraged delay. The central body, Secretariat or Commission, call it what you will, needed to have stronger powers, as it did in Europe, to initiate things including regulations which if passed would be applicable in all individual territories. As it is, to bring the single market and economy into play dozens of laws will have to be passed in each territory. This will obviously lead to unnecessary delays, even with centralised drafting.

One must hope that there will be a quick follow up to finalize the arrangements for this commission and to put it in place. Given his extensive knowledge of the region and his status Sir Shridath would be an obvious candidate to head the commission.

There was more good news. The heads signed four instruments relating to the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice, scheduled to be inaugurated later this year. This court in its original jurisdiction will hear cases arising out of disputes on the Treaty of Chaguaramas and is therefore essential to the existence of the common market. But surely all those who believe it is disgraceful to be taking appeals to the Privy Council nearly forty years after independence in the region will also welcome the appellate jurisdiction of the court. A court composed of the best jurists from throughout the Caribbean will surely provide the kind of quality and independence, given the regional dimension, that Caribbean nationalists have long dreamed of.

Some form of political union was also to be the focal point of a meeting scheduled for Barbados yesterday between the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning, who was the main proponent of this idea, Prime Minister Owen Arthur of Barbados, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell of Grenada and Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who has invested a great deal of energy in pushing this initiative. They were expected to give instructions to a technical team that will draft a concept paper looking at all the options for greater political unity within the region. It may well be that initially only some countries will be prepared to go ahead but if that is the case they should do so in the hope that the others will follow. As it is, because of the unanimity rule, the laggards have been allowed to set the pace. A move towards greater integration would be a major boost for that large majority in the region whose hearts have turned to stone as the dream of some kind of Caribbean nationhood has gradually faded over the years in the grip of parochial politicians.

The new emphasis on freedom of movement in the region is also very welcome.

Finally, there was a feeling of pride that the heads did not capitulate meekly to American demands for exemptions from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. The former Trinidadian Prime Minister, and President, Arthur Robinson, had played a role in the setting up of this court and it represents a major step in the direction of human freedom, setting up as it does a tribunal that can punish those who commit crimes against humanity.