As he acknowledged that last night would always be a treasured memory, the Most Honourable Percival J. Patterson left the National Cultural Centre after exhorting regional heads to work towards making ‘CARICOM matter.”

Percival J. Patterson with his new medallion

Patterson was honoured at the opening ceremony of the 30th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM with the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC).

The OCC is the Caribbean Region’s highest award and entitles Patterson the use of the suffix ‘OCC’ behind his name, along with an 18 carat medallion, a miniature version of the CARICOM insignia in the form of a lapel pin, along with several other mementos of appreciation.

After receiving the award from President Bharrat Jagdeo, he said, “As I join previous recipients who have made their indelible stamp on the rich tapestry of the Caribbean, I feel proud and privileged to be considered so deserving.”

The honour given to Patterson was in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the area of the Region’s External Trade Relations and in fostering relations with the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP), especially in its formative years.

About P. J. Patterson
Percival Noel James Patterson, ON, QC, PC, O.E., familiarly known as P.J Patterson, was born on 10 April, 1935, in St. Andrew, Jamaica, and was the longest serving Prime Minister of this CARICOM Member State, serving from 1992- 2006.

His political career was built on a solid base in the legal profession. He studied law and was called to the Bar in England.

On his return home, he became an active member of the People’s National Party (PNP) and began his career in cabinet as Minister of Tourism in 1972, and rose to become the Deputy Prime Minister to Prime Minister Michael Manley in 1989.

In 1992, Patterson was elected by the people of Jamaica as their Prime Minister, and was re-elected three times.

He received his secondary education at Calabar High School and is a product of the University of the West Indies where he pursued a Bachelor’s Degree at the Mona Campus.

He then headed to the London School of Economics, after which he enrolled at the Inns of Court (Middle Temple) where he came in contact with a number of future leaders of the countries of the developing world who were fellow students in England.

While pursuing his Bachelor’s at UWI, he served as Chairman of the university’s External Affairs Commission, where he gained exposure to world leaders and international political thought through attendance at a number of international student fora.

It was also at the university that he developed a commitment to Caribbean regionalism as well as to the causes of the countries of the developing world.

In his address after receiving his award last evening, Patterson stated clearly that, in his youth, his interest in the West Indies was “circumscribed by the then growing fortunes of the West Indian cricket team.”

However, he asserted that by the time of his graduation, he was “incurably infected by the Regional virus” for which it was far too late to seek any cure.

Patterson also affirmed his pride and loyalty to the country of his birth, despite being a regionalist.

“Pride and loyalty to the land of my birth has never deterred me from becoming and remaining an unrepentant regionalist,” he posited.

During his tenure as Jamaica’s Foreign Minister, he provided dynamic and strategic leadership for the Caribbean in the negotiations that led to the Lomé Convention and the Sugar Protocol.

As the President of the ACP/EU Ministerial Council, he led negotiations for the ACP group of countries with the European Community.

As Chairman of the ACP/EEC Ministerial Conference, he played a pivotal role in forging an agreement on the basic framework for the original Lomé Convention, which influenced the outcome of subsequent negotiations that led to the Convention signed in 1975.

He also served as President and Spokesman of the ACP Ministerial Council on a number of occasions.

Patterson excelled on the world stage having contributed to numerous Conventions and Statements in the international arena, including the Valletta Statement on Multilateral Trade and the Gozo Statement on Vulnerable Small States.

These have helped to shape north-south relationships and influenced the negotiating position of developing countries.

Patterson played a seminal role in the process that marked the transition from the first steps in integration of the Caribbean region to the founding of CARIFTA and its evolution into CARICOM.

He drew upon his expertise in law and trade to steer the regional body toward the development of a Caribbean jurisprudence through the Caribbean Court of Justice, and a borderless regional economy through the CARICOM Single Market, which came to fruition in 2005 and 2006 respectively.

He is also member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an NGO composed of a number of former statesmen, ex-presidents and prime ministers founded in 2004 by former State President of South Africa and Nobel Prize laureate F.W. de Klerk.

Patterson’s outstanding career as political leader, integrationist, trade unionist and advocate for social reform has been rewarded with several high honours, including the Order of Merit of Jamaica, the United Nations Gold Medal for his advocacy against apartheid, and the Joliot Curie Peace Award of the World Peace Council.

Advice from P. J. Patterson
With the experience of multi-faceted contributions to back his claim, Patterson asserted that regional economical integration is imperative.

“Singing from the same hymn sheet is the only way that any of us can be heard in the global arena,” he said.

He further explained that each country’s self interest demands that “we widen, deepen and strengthen the Caribbean Region.”

He added that building on the foundation of existing mechanisms will determine whether member states “swim safely to shore or drown separately in the Caribbean Sea.”

Patterson highlighted too that even while the cynical views surrounding the integration process have been proven wrong, the assumption must not be made that its perpetuity is inevitable.

He stated too that the CARICOM’s fate lies in the hands of the 15 leaders of the member states on whom the Caribbean people are early waiting for acknowledgement that they will keep the CARICOM boat afloat.

To this end, he acknowledged that obstacles will present themselves as they did in the past.

However, he made clear that the fact that CARICOM managed to endure all this does not guarantee that its continuity was inevitable.

A continuity of the Caribbean Community is dependent on the leaders and the visions they determine for the future.

Patterson urged the leaders to take note of the successes of the past, not a suggestion that all is well, but as an encouragement to improve the quality of life for the people of the Caribbean.

“Mature regionalism will remain a pipe dream unless all authority is vested in a mechanism which is charged with full-time responsibility for ensuring the implementation within a specified time frame of the critical decisions taken by heads and other designated programmes of the community,” he asserted.

He maintained that the collapse or disintegration of CARICOM is not an acceptable option.

Patterson said, “The community will lose its way unless the CARICOM heads serve as trustees to improve the lives of the Caribbean people and make CARICOM matter.”

He added that CARICOM is like a tree that must be nurtured, and expressed the pleasure that will be his when he “retires to the pavilion to lead the applause” for the success of long outstanding agreements made by CARICOM.

Among these are the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), freedom of movement of CARICOM citizens, and the mandate for the Caribbean Court of Justice to do all the work it was established to do.

“The Caribbean Community is at liberty to call on each and all of us to give our experience or share our expertise in any way that will serve to move our fellow citizens on the path of economical progress and social mobility,” he posited.

In the end, as CARICOM honoured P. J. Patterson with awards for the achievements he made in his life the community, heads were given much more in terms of advice and words of experience on moving an integrated Caribbean Region forward.