Governance a key factor in advancing integration movement

-President Jagdeo
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo on Friday underscored that the issue of governance in CARICOM is one that has been ignored in the past, as it requires some devolution of power, on the part of national authorities, to regional institutions.
He told reporters during a press conference here that about five to six years ago, there was no political will across the Caribbean to create a commission comprising a small group of people who would make decisions that will be binding on national governments.
Since then, however, the need for an institutional structure that goes beyond the CARICOM Secretariat to implement the many features of the integration movement has been seen as critical, and in order to advance the integration movement, a suggestion was made to have a council of permanent representatives.
The arrangement was that each capital would elect someone vested with some kind of ministerial status to sit on the commission, and that the group would meet daily. President Jagdeo explained that the consensus was that such an arrangement would ensure that no country was alienated from the decision-making process; that “…they will be part of the decision-making and hopefully these decisions will find greater support at the national level.”
He said the reason it was important for such a body to meet daily was so that it could tackle the many problems being faced in the Caribbean with regard to the integration process.
CARICOM Heads meet twice yearly, while government ministers meet about four times per year and the focus on each occasion is integration, a subject that entails some element of trade, the movement of capital and people, and the rights of establishment.
As President Jagdeo observed, aspiring to manage such an integration movement with meetings that take place only once yearly is a recipe for the non-implementation of decisions.
Moreover, the Secretariat is currently not structured to undertake what is required in order to move apace with the integration movement and as such, there is need for such a body that meets on a daily basis.
He said that this issue may not have had much traction six years ago; however, the proposal was once again brought to the fore by Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Bruce Golding at the last CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
President Jagdeo disclosed that “many of the Heads agreed that this should be explored in greater detail. There is a small committee that would be working on this and hopefully by the end September we will meet to see if we can approve a new Government structure.” (GINA)

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