–in Georgetown
TWO NEW ideas for improved governance and avoidance of conflicts in the Caribbean Community are in circulation here as the 30th Heads of Government Conference draws to a close this evening.
One proposal is for the appointment of a high-level independent Facilitator to help Heads of Government and the Community Secretariat remove barriers that impede expeditious implementation of decisions and related conflicts. This idea, it was reliably learnt, is expected to emerge in consideration of one of five “Declarations” listed for approval for official release with the close of the three-day summit.

The other proposed initiative, credited to Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding, and reportedly raised at the first ‘Caucus of Heads’ on Thursday, calls for the establishment of a permanent high-level body, comprising representatives of all 15 member countries of the Community with speedy resolution of conflicts as a primary mandate.

It is envisaged that this body, likely to be known as a Permanent Commission of CARICOM Representatives (PCCR), or similar mechanism, will fulfill its mandate in direct consultation with the respective governments and the Community Secretariat.

The intention is not for the Commission to supersede the Community Secretariat, but the precise modalities of its functions, as well as longevity and base of operations are still to be determined by further deliberations, possibly at another caucus session today.

On the other hand, the proposal for appointment of a Special Facilitator, no longer than three years, suggests that he/she would not be required to have executive authority but functions with a status of a cabinet minister to enable direct access to Heads of Government and their Ministers, as well as the Secretary General and other officials of the Community in helping to quickly resolve problems as they arise.

Two of the major problems that have given rise to new initiatives to unlock spreading problems affecting the Community’s progress in achieving set goals for its current single market and the single economy to be inaugurated by 2015, revolve around free intra-regional trade and free movement of CARICOM nationals.

The latter is a major source of tension among some governments.

Host and chairman of the summit, President Bharrat Jagdeo, has already gone public with a passionate appeal for member governments to resist divisive tendencies and the cynicism and disenchantment and respond with collective determination to make a reality of the “lofty design and noble objectives of our regional integration endeavour…..”

His Trinidad and Tobago colleague, Prime Minister Patrick Manning, had a warning of his own, declaring to the media that the 36-year-old economic integration movement was “at the crossroads” and deciding a new and effective form of governance was “crucial”.

For Jamaica’s former Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson, who on Thursday evening became CARICOM’s newest recipient of the Community’s highest honour—Order of the Community (OCC), “collapse” of the integration movement was “not an option”.

However, the member governments must realise that the “credibility of CARICOM was now at stake” and hard decisions, including its improved governance, could not be further postponed.

Current Prime Minister Golding views the issues of free trade and free movement of Community nationals as being “at the heart” of current problems that pose serious threats to CARICOM’s survival as originally conceived.

Both of these sensitive issues were raised at Thursday’s caucus but deliberations were inconclusive due to the absence of three Prime Ministers who could not arrive in time for the session due to a prior commitment.

The Prime Ministers were St Kitts and Nevis Denzil Douglas; Dominica’s Roosevelt Skerrit and St. Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves who were due to arrive in Guyana following their participation in a meeting of the African Union in Libya.

`Since decisions by Heads of Government are traditionally based on consensus, it was agreed to resume deliberations in caucus yesterday and/or today on the way forward for CARICOM to extricate itself from the current atmosphere of dissent and continuing failure to implement key decisions consistent with the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

Prime Minister Golding contends that governments whose countries were encountering specific problems, whether in free trade or free movement of nationals, have an obligation to discuss with clarity the relevant cases.

In turn, he said, the Community as a whole would have an obligation to review the problems and seek practical resolutions ,in the best interest of the member country or countries concerned, and consistent with the major objectives of Community.

Following Thursday’s ceremonial opening of the summit at the Guyana National Cultural Centre, the Heads of Government were scheduled to deliberate in plenary sessions yesterday priority issues such as the impact of the global economic and financial crisis on the region’s economic development.

The deliberations would have been informed by a report from a team of regional experts, headed by Dr DeLisle Worrell, Executive Director of the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance at the University of the West Indies (St. Augustine Campus).

Other major agenda issues include the determination by Heads of a coordinated joint public-private sector approach to a “recovery programme” for what remains a vital sector for many Caribbean tourist destinations.