CHAIRMAN OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY, THE RT. HON HUBERT INGRAHAM, PRIME MINISTER OF THE BAHAMAS
- OTHER HEADS OF GOVERNMENT
- HONOURABLE MINISTERS
- HEADS OF DELEGATION
- COMMISSIONERS OF POLICE
- HEADS OF MILITARY ORGANISATIONS
- DISTINGUISHED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
- REPRESENTATIVES OF THE MEDIA
Good Morning to you all. A warm welcome to this Thirteenth Special Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government.
I can hardly recall in my tenure as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, a meeting of its Supreme Authority – the Conference of Heads of Government – being called to address a matter that can be more truly said to be one of life and death. Moreover, virtually every Member State and Associate Member of the Community is being afflicted by this scourge – crime and violence. The widespread concern to which this situation gives rise is no doubt reflected in the high turnout at this Thirteenth Special Meeting of the Conference, to focus on Crime and Security.
Mr. Chairman, one notable absentee today is His Excellency, the President of Suriname who had to cancel his planned attendance because of the tragic loss of life in a plane crash in that Member State, two days ago. I am sure I speak on behalf of the entire Community in conveying our deepest sympathy to the Government and people of Suriname, particularly the relatives of the deceased.
Ladies and Gentlemen, our purpose here today is to determine and agree on what mechanisms can assist our Community to combat this scourge of crime and violence that threatens to alter forever our way of life. Moreover it seeks to undermine the claims of a safe and secure society which we have been selling to the world to encourage visitors to our shores.
Over the past year, the Leaders of the Caribbean Community have clearly shown their determination to tackle and find solutions to the difficult issues confronting this Region. Last September here in Port of Spain, they gathered in Special Session to devise plans to deal with the issue of Non-Communicable Diseases, which stealthily threatens the well-being of the citizens of the Community. In December in Georgetown, Guyana, they gave the question of rising food prices and poverty ‘special’ treatment and measures to combat this global phenomenon including adjustments to the Community’s Common External Tariff (CET) are being pursued. And today, following a decision at the Nineteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting in The Bahamas, the Heads of Government have gathered here in Port-of-Spain to seek answers to this deadly challenge to our Community.
This Special Summit, convened on the initiative of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Lead Head with responsibility for Crime and Security in the Quasi-Cabinet, seeks in the words of the decisions of The Bahamas, to ‘fully ventilate the crime and security issues facing the Region and to agree on a Strategy and Plan of Action to stem the rising tide of violent criminality’.
Mr. Chairman, (other) Heads of Government, Delegates, your Meeting today will benefit from the results of the extraordinary Meeting of the Standing Committees of Commissioners of Police and Military Chiefs, which took place in Guyana through Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Your deliberations will also benefit from the distilled wisdom of the Security Policy and Advisory Committee (SEPAC) and of the Council of Ministers of National Security and Law Enforcement which met here in Port-of-Spain over the last four days. I wish to thank our Commissioners of Police and Military Chiefs, our Senior Officials in National Security and Law Enforcement, the Caribbean Community Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) and my own staff of the CARICOM Secretariat, for the yeoman service they have all performed, at such short notice, to provide proposals for the consideration of Heads of Government today.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the issue of Crime and Security is viewed in the Community with utmost seriousness. Indeed, so critical is this matter viewed that the Conference of Heads of Government has deemed it the Fourth Pillar of the Community, requiring an amendment to the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. This position has elicited interest and support from many quarters, including from our international development partners.
There is no doubt that today’s world globalisation is not confined to trade and economics and in much the same way as these factors affect the global village so does Crime and Security. No Nation or Region can afford to ignore the security threats facing its neighbour. In this respect, we are indeed our brother’s keeper. The building of strategic partnerships must therefore become a principal element of our security policy. In this regard, the precise nature of these engagements must be clearly designed and agreed mutually.
The West Indian Commission of 1992 in its report “Time For Action” noted that Nations and Regions like ours in CARICOM could not afford the level of military expenditure needed for our required safety and security at the expense of our development. That might still hold true but we also cannot afford not to make some sacrifice in the interest of our safety and security.
On Thursday last, our Council of Ministers responsible for National Security and Law Enforcement received a presentation by a representative of the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC) of the Report it co-authored with the World Bank entitled “Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, and Policy Options in the Caribbean”. That Report which places the issue of drugs at the center of the Region’s Crime and Security problems, reminded us that Crime and Violence are also development issues. It pointed out that the Latin American and Caribbean Region has the second highest rates of crime and violence in the World with both direct effects on human welfare in the short run and longer run effects on economic growth and social development.
Against this background, we cannot treat crime and violence as a matter for the police and military alone. It is everybody’s business. We must defend ourselves through mutual support, which I understand is one of the main principles of defence in military science. In this regard, we must give the fullest support to the Regional Architecture for Crime and Security.
Ladies and Gentlemen, thankfully, it is not as if we are starting anew. The success of security arrangements for the Cricket World Cup 2007 demonstrates how much could be achieved by collective action. And I take this opportunity to congratulate all those who contributed to making security co-operation one of the tangible legacies of that event. Let us now build on that legacy as we seek to make our Region safe and secure from the threats within and outside. We owe this Community no less.
Once again, welcome and I thank you.
