(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) While the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is well positioned to reap the benefits of the integration movement, the Region faces many challenges which must be overcome to ensure the sustainability of a good quality of life for CARICOM nationals.
This was the overarching message from the Chairman of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Honourable Patrick Manning when he addressed staff of the CARICOM Secretariat at the Secretariat headquarters in Guyana on 10 January 2006 during a one day visit to the Secretariat.
The CARICOM Chairman cited among the challenges, natural disasters, recalling the devastation caused to some Member States during the 2005 hurricane season; the continued high price of oil and economic imperatives.
“We face difficult economic times and with that comes social instability,” said Prime Minister Manning, adding that the challenges are driving the Region closer together.
“This is an opportunity to deepen the integration movement,” he stressed.
The CARICOM Chairman however, cautioned about rushing into political integration, while adding that the Region should be mindful about not allowing an opportunity that presents itself to pass.
In his exchange with staff of the Secretariat, the CARICOM Chairman informed that during his six month tenure of Chairmanship of the Community and his continued service in the Bureau of CARICOM Heads of Government, among the issues that would occupy his attention was that of defense and security.
He added that violence, in particular that brought on as a result of the rising trade in illicit drugs and the availability of firearms to protect that trade, posed a tremendous threat to the Region, and he stressed the need for a continued regional approach in dealing with this issue.
The CARICOM Chairman met with the CARICOM Secretary-General H. E Edwin Carrington, Members of the Secretariat’s Executive Management Committee and a number of other senior officers of the Secretariat to discuss a range of regional issues that is expected to occupy the attention of the Chairman during his tenure.
