CARICOM special summit could not achieve purpose
-Barbados PM
Stabroek News
November 19, 2003
Prime Minister of Barbados, Owen Arthur, said he did not believe that the purpose for which the just-concluded CARICOM Heads of Govern-ment special summit in St Lucia was convened had been met, so he did not attend. He also said pressing domestic issues were another reason.
Five other CARICOM leaders did not attend the meeting.
According to the Barbados Nation, Arthur told reporters at a press conference at Government Headquarters last Saturday: "Quite frankly, we did not believe that the purposes for a special meeting at this time were being achieved, especially pertaining to matters concerning the CSME [CARICOM Single Market and Economy]."
He said he did not attend the meeting because the preparatory meetings for that Heads of Government (HOGs) meeting had not taken place and he was busy preparing for the Financial and Economic Statement he will make on November 25 in the House of Assembly. He added that he had to "juggle" a lot of domestic matters to deal with regional issues, including the scheduling of his Financial and Economic Statement, "but the time had come to let home drums beat first."
But in spite of his statement, he said that Barbados' support for single market issues remains undimmed and added that on November 25, a large part of his presentation will be on making Barbados CSME-ready.
Arthur, who has lead responsibility for the CSME initiatives acknowledged that at the HOGs summit in Jamaica in July, agreement was reached for the St Lucia meeting. However, the meeting was to deal with the inauguration of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), now postponed, and discussions on CSME initiatives.
According to the Nation, Arthur said that where the CSME initiatives were concerned a technical group, led by Prime Minister of St Vincent, Ralph Gonsalves, was set up to prepare a paper for new arrangements of governance which was to be presented at the St Lucia meeting. Barbados had proposed that there be a prime ministerial sub-committee meeting on the CSME and a special consultative meeting involving both government and private sector officials, out of which reports would be prepared to be dealt with in St Lucia. The Gonsalves report was not ready, and the other preparatory meetings had not taken place. The prime ministerial sub-committee meeting scheduled for September 12 did not take place because Caricom Secretary-General, Edwin Carrington, was attending World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks in Cancun, Mexico.
Barbados then proposed a meeting be held from September 17 to 19, but the Caricom Secretariat was not ready for a meeting on that date. The secretariat then proposed an October 3 date to which Barbados agreed, but it was informed on September 23 that other Caricom leaders were otherwise engaged. Prime Minister of Jamaica, PJ Patterson, was scheduled to deliver a lecture in New York; Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning, was dealing with his national budget; Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Lester Bird, was addressing urgent national issues; Prime Minister of Dominica, Pierre Charles, could not attend because he had a commitment on the evening of the second; Prime Minister of St Lucia, Kenny Anthony, was in New York and gave no indication of his availability.
The Caricom Secretariat has since proposed that the prime ministerial sub-committee meeting on the CSME be held on February 8 next year, before the intercessional HOGs talks. Arthur indicated his readiness to fully participate in that meeting.
With regard to the CSME consultations, Arthur said, October 30 and 31 were proposed but the selected venue - the Sherbourne Conference Centre - was not available. The next venue proposed - the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies - was not appropriate to accommodate the number of people.
Because there were no preparatory meetings, Arthur said, there was no information to "feed into" the St Lucia summit. The Barbados government informed Caricom that the purpose for the special meeting conceived in July had not been met and Barbados would be represented but not at the level of the prime minister. Deputy Prime Minister, Billie Miller, and Attorney-General, Mia Mottley, represented Barbados.