Four CARICOM countries consider political union

Four CARICOM countries consider political union
Source: Caribbean360.com
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, March 03, 2008

A political union involving four southern Caribbean states is up for consideration, and one of the leaders involved in the possible integration has indicated that a study to determine whether the move is possible will first be undertaken.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves said he was looking forward to a union with fellow Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and possibly St. Lucia. Speaking to members of the press at the end of a two-day visit to the twin-island republic over the weekend, Mr Gonslaves noted that any political union between countries must be structured in some formal institutional arrangements, and indicated that former St. Lucia prime minister Dr. Vaughan Lewis, and Trinidadian diplomat Dr. Cuthbert Joseph will be approached to carry out a study on the matter.

"All of us know we cannot continue the way in which we have been going, but yet we don't want to think outside the boundaries of our individual sea and landscape. It is as though we believe we are immune to all the social laws of history," the Vincentian leader said. "For my part, the words political union are not bad words."

Meantime, Trinidad's Prime Minister Patrick Manning said his country stood firm on its position that greater unity is a must for the Caribbean region. He said a political union was therefore welcomed.

"We welcome political integration in the Caribbean and we make ourselves available for discussions on this matter and we will be part of any discussions that will advance that course," he said.

"As it now stands the promising movement that is emerging in the Caribbean is a movement in the southern Caribbean involving Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and hopefully St. Lucia and it will be to that cause of integration in respect of which these four countries are discussing that we will discuss our efforts."

Independence and Integration

Independence and regional integration process
Source: Searchlight Newspapar - SVG

Published 26.OCT.07

Tomorrow, October 27, 2007, the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, at home and in the diaspora, celebrate their 28th anniversary of the attainment of national independence. It has been almost three decades since the smaller islands in the Eastern Caribbean, stretching from Grenada in the south to St. Kitts/Nevis in the north, all took the bold step of joining the international community as independent nation states. This followed the fruitless search for Caribbean unity from the ill-fated West Indian Federation through the various permutations of regional nationhood right to independence as separate national entities.

Significantly, just two years after independence, SVG teamed up with its newly-independent neighbours to establish the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Beginning with a security and national disaster focus, the OECS itself has evolved to the point where it forms a tight inner concentric ring within the Caribbean Single Market, and the goal of full economic and political integration among these states is very much on the cards.

So how do these processes fit together? Is there any contradiction between the celebration of independent nationhood and the search for wider forms of unity? It is an undoubted fact of life that much has changed on the international stage since we took our first steps along the independence path, much of it to the detriment of mini-states like ours. The international trading climate and the pre-eminence of the “free trade” ideology have made it more and more difficult for small states to survive as “independent” entities. Even large, powerful nations today seek succour in larger trading and economic blocs.

The Caribbean, and the OECS in particular, has little choice in following this path. Fortunately for us, it blends well with our own historical and strategic realities, making it much easier to proceed along these lines. Yet, there are stumbling blocks, of our own creation, in our way. Among these are constitutional limitations and a false sense of petty nationalism, bringing with it blinkers and imagined barriers to political integration. These continue to hinder progress towards regional integration, even as the rest of the world moves in the opposite direction.

Take the European Union (EU) with whom we are negotiating a regional economic pact. In 1981 when the OECS was set up, there were but nine European states involved in the integration project. States such as Poland, Bulgaria and Romania were part of the Soviet bloc. Today, 27 of these developed nations sit on one side of the table negotiating with us, even as we argue among ourselves about so-called “illegal immigration” from sister Caribbean nations. Time and history are not on our side. As we revel in the achievements of national independence, let us reflect on how much further we can go and how much more we can achieve our goals of poverty eradication and sustainable development if we can get our integration process right.

Disseminating Information about the CSME

Dissemintating the CSME

Source: NBC Radio - St. Vincent & the Grenadines

30/10/07

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says that a more intense program needs to be developed to disseminate information about the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, CSME.

Dr. Gonsalves made the point while addressing Media Personnel at a session organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Trade and the CARICOM Secretariat this morning

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves addressing Members of the Media at a session dubbed CSME Meet the Press this morning.

Meanwhile, Head of the CSME Unit Ivor Carryl has highlighted the importance of the integration efforts in the region.

He says efforts will be made to continue dialogue throughout the region on this issue

No timetable for CARICOM Passport in Jamaica

Caribbean Community passport deadline derailed

published: Sunday October 14, 2007

Source Jamaica Gleaner

Jamaica's deadline to introduce the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) passports by year end has been derailed, and no timetable has been set regarding when the country will join other member states in implementing the passport regime.

The introduction of the regional travel document should have taken place earlier this year, but was postponed because of preparations for Cricket World Cup, which the region hosted.

In a previous interview, Robert Miller, head of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had said the new documents would have come into effect by December 31.

But this will not be so, according to Gilbert Scott, permanent secretary in the Ministry of National Security, which has responsibility for the Passport Office.

"A new passport is the least of my priorities right now," Scott tells The Sunday Gleaner when pressed as to why the date was no longer feasible. "I have other important things to deal with."
He, however, noted that while, Jamaica was committed to meeting its regional obligations, the matter of the regional passport was not at the top of the ministry's agenda.

"Our primary interest here is the security of our borders and the security of travel documents," states Scott. "The CARICOM passport in of itself does not guarantee or enhance the security of the document and our concern right now is to move to a more secure document, and that takes time and research," he adds.

Regionalism

The CARICOM passport is a document, which is being issued in accordance with an agreed format for intra-regional and extra-regional travel.

Heads of government agreed to the issuance of this passport by member countries as a symbol of regionalism. The introduction of the CARICOM passport is also one of the measures to promote hassle-free travel for CARICOM nationals.

Suriname was the first country to issue the CARICOM passport on January 7, 2005, followed by St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and St. Kitts later that year.