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By Calvin B. Brown- “CARICOM will never be able to achieve its full purpose until we have some arm that can ensure the implementation of decisions solemnly taken by Heads of Government. So as we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary, it should be our resolve to move forward by putting such a mechanism in place.”
This is the word from one of the remaining architects of the Caribbean Community, former Prime Minister of Jamaica P. J. Patterson, as he spoke with regional journalist Julian Rogers in an interview commemorating CARICOM’s fiftieth anniversary.
Patterson lamented the continued inability of the Caribbean Community to implement decisions taken by heads of government which had been the “bug bear” of the community over the years.
Patterson, who, along with Sir Shridath Ramphal of Guyana were the only two witnesses to the original four signatories of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, told Rogers “where I think we have fallen short, is that CARICOM suffers from an implementation deficit.”
“Many, many years ago, we had a report, Time for Action, with some of the best minds in the Caribbean. It said CARICOM needed some Executive Implementation Capacity.We have tried. The Rose Hall Declaration was a valiant effort to move us in that direction. But simply put, there has not been the collective political will. And until we get that, it’s no point continuing to blame the CARICOM Secretariat for what it fails to do.
“The CARICOM Secretariat is an Administrative entity and has no enforcing capacity, and that’s what we need to get.We can’t expect them to do more without providing them with the financial or human resources.
“Time for Action made some very specific recommendations, and that was to appoint three commissioners, covering the gamut of what CARICOM is responsible for, and they would have the authority when decisions are taken, by meeting with heads, they would have the authority to pursue with member countries, the legislation which was necessary to put that into effect.
“They would also have the capacity where there was a failure to do so, to impose some sanctions, some penalties”. That never found favour with the majority of Heads.So we tried other routes, but they’re ineffective,
“We don’t have the resources that the European Union (EU) has, but it is not by chance that they have had commissioners with the authority to get things done, quite separate from what the European Commission Secretariat can do in a functional way. So we need something that gives the capacity to enforce.”
“Jamaica did a report headed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, which has some suggestions along those lines. Everything that is put up, is knocked down, Nobody has come up with an alternative,” and CARICOM will never be able to achieve its full purposes until we have some arm that can ensure the implementation of decisions solemnly taken by heads of Government,” Mr. Patterson declared.
The 88 year old legal luminary whose memory is akin to that of an elephant and whose mind remains as sharp as Bunny Wailer’s ‘Steppin Razor’, pointed to a number of CARICOM community achievements over the past fifty years as evidence of the fact that despite the obvious drawbacks, the regional experiment is working..
These he said included “our external engagement with Europe; the field of functional cooperation in health, education and coping with natural disasters through CEDEMA”, which he says has been “a tower of monumental strength to the community, the University of the West Indies, which has done so much to provide the leadership of the Caribbean.”
Mr. Patterson also lauded the creation of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as one of the crowning achievements of CARICOM, to which some six member states have acceded as a final court of appeal, the most recent being St. Lucia.
He said he was hoping that “the time will come when Jamaica takes the obvious and compelling decision to have a final court of our own which is the CCJ.”
Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) headquartered in Port-of-Spain Trinidad and Tobago, to which T&T is yet to subscribe to its appellate jurisdiction
Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) headquartered in Port-of-Spain Trinidad and Tobago, to which T&T is yet to subscribe to its appellate jurisdiction
In a very serious aside to Rogers, Patterson said “it was somewhat of a tragic Irony that Trinidad and Tobago, where the Court is Headquartered, still has not taken that decision. And I say without apology or equivocation that had we known at the time, that Trinidad and Tobago would not have accepted the CCJ as its final court of appeal, it would not have gotten the headquarters.”
The former Jamaican Prime Minister who is revered for his erudition and wit throughout the Caribbean and Africa, suggested three areas to which CARICOM should pay some attention going forward.
“What I would like to suggest is, there are three areas, where having regard to the global situation, our geographic location, our vulnerability to natural disasters, which require our concentrated attention. The first one is to deal with Climate Change, the consequences of natural disasters, and the financial resources which are necessary. And in that regard, I believe that the Bridgetown Initiative is a very very positive step forward which I hope will soon become a reality.
“The next thing that I want to emphasize is food security. I think it is a fitting coincidence that in the CARICOM Quasi Cabinet, Guyana has always had the responsibility for Agriculture.I believe that there is a new sense of urgency having regards to two important factors:
“Number one, we’ve seen what can happen when Ukraine and Russia are at war. And although Ukraine does not supply us with grain, when there is a shortage of food anywhere, the source everywhere is under pressure.”
“Secondly, more of our territories including Guyana, are drifting more and more towards tourism.So we are not only looking at food security, for ourselves, we are looking at the capacity to feed the guests who come into our territory.
“And the third area that I would like to see us concentrate on is what I call, the Creative Industries. What we have in abundance is talent evidenced in music, designs, food,culture, sports, and when you associate that with tourism, the linkages are very, very considerable.
Mr. Patterson went on to say that as a region the Caribbean was not “making optimum use of the products that we produce and originate in the Caribbean for Caribbean consumption.” (WiredJA)
