CARICOM still a beautiful dream
WHEN I was younger, much too young to understand it, I heard the statement “Cari come and Cari gone”. The research and completion of my assignment on CARICOM at the University of Guyana led me to conclude that “Cari had come and Cari had gone; and believe me, at the end of my tenure of office at the CARICOM Secretariat, I was fully convinced that Caricom is still struggling to hold its own.
It was not easy to make the two major institutions — the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), and the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) — operational. As a matter of fact, an economist was quoted as saying that “the Single Market has missed the boat…” It is still felt that the Single Market has been overtaken by the global thrust of trade liberalisation.
The question is being asked (by intellectuals) how the CSME can be important for regional development when the dominant factors determining development are now external to the market.
Moreover, the plight of the leaders of the Caricom nations seems to be that their states face a desperate problem of survival in an international milieu which is increasingly hostile or indifferent to their special needs and vulnerabilities.
I am ready once again, and I am bold enough to re-present some of what I wrote in my paper at university, and what some people of the Caribbean and South and North America, whom I interviewed, shared with me on CARICOM.
The first thing I discovered was that not many of them knew much about CARICOM, and felt that they were richer for not knowing; and those who knew a little felt that it is not vocal enough, is far removed from the grasp of the grassroots, and that more needs to be done to promote it for all to understand what the Movement really means.
I remember the biblical injunction that a nation without knowledge perishes. So I sought to share the following information which I had preserved in my research closet.
“The establishment of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) was the result of a 15-year effort to fulfil the hope of regional integration which was born with the establishment of the British West Indies Federation in 1958. The West Indies Federation came to an end in 1962, but its end may be regarded as a precursor to the real beginning of what is now the Caribbean Community.
With the end of the Federation, political leaders in the Caribbean made more serious efforts to strengthen ties between the islands and the mainland, by providing for the continuation and strengthening of the areas of cooperation that existed during the Federation. Some countries — Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in particular — attained their independence and were able to control their own domestic and external affairs.
In announcing its intention to withdraw from the Federation, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago proposed the creation of a Caribbean Community consisting not only of the 10 members of the Federation, but also of the three Guianas and all the islands of the Caribbean Sea – both independent and still colonised.
The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, the mastermind behind this concept, convened the first Heads of Government Conference in July 1963, and the leaders of Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago attended.  They were all in agreement that there was need for close cooperation with Europe, Africa and Latin America.
So, in July 1965, talks between the Premiers of Barbados and British Guiana and the Chief Minister of Antigua on the possible establishment of a free trade area in the Caribbean resulted in the announcement of definite plans to establish such a free trade area. In December that year, Heads of Government of Antigua, Barbados and British Guiana signed an agreement, at Dickenson Bay, Antigua, to set up the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA).
The new CARIFTA agreement came into effect on May 1, 1968, and Antigua, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana participated. The original idea to permit all territories in the Region to participate in the Association was achieved later that year with the entry of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts/Nevis/ Anguilla, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent in July; and of Jamaica and Montserrat on August 1, 1968. British Honduras (Belize) became a member in May 1971.
At the Seventh Heads of Government Conference in October 1972, Caribbean leaders decided to transform CARIFTA into a Common Market, and establish the Caribbean Community, of which the Common Market came to be an integral part.
At the Eighth Heads of Government Conference of CARIFTA, held in April 1973 in Georgetown, Guyana, the decision to establish the Caribbean Community was brought into fruition with the Heads of Government considering the draft legal instruments, and with the signing by 11 members of CARIFTA (the exception being Antigua and Montserrat).
The Accord provided for the signature of the Caribbean Community Treaty on July 4, and its coming into effect in August 1973, among the then four independent countries: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago; and later the other eight territories – Antigua, British Honduras, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla and St. Vincent, which signed the Accord became full members of the Community by May 1, 1974.
The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which was signed by Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, and Trinidad & Tobago, and came into effect on August 1, 1973. Subsequently, the other eight Caribbean territories joined CARICOM. The Bahamas became the 13th Member State of the Community on July 4, 1983, but not a member of the Common Market.
In July 1991, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos became Associated Members of CARICOM, followed by Anguilla in July 1999. The Cayman Islands became the fourth Associate Member of the regional grouping on 16 May 2002, and Bermuda the fifth Associate Member on 2 July 2003.
Suriname became the 14th Member State of the Caribbean Community on July 4, 1995.
Haiti secured provisional membership on  July 4 1998, and on  July 3 2002, was the first French-speaking Caribbean state to become a full member of CARICOM.”
Suffice it to say, this information should make all the more sense, and should serve to remove much of the misconceptions about a movement remembered mostly as a failure but never giving up. CARICOM has consistently raised its head in an effort to achieve its objectives to: improve standards of living and work; provide full employment of labour and other factors of production;  accelerate, co-ordinate and sustain economic development and convergence; expand trade and economic relations with third states; enhance levels of international competitiveness; organise for increased production and productivity; achieve a greater measure of economic leverage and effectiveness of member states in dealing with third states, groups of states, and entities of any description; to enhance co-ordination of member states’ foreign and economic policies; and to enhance functional  cooperation, including:

* More efficient operation of common services and activities for the benefit of its peoples;
* Accelerated promotion of greater understanding among its peoples, and the advancement of their social, cultural and technological development;
* Intensified activities in areas such as health, education, transportation and telecommunications.

The CARICOM Secretariat building is located at Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana. This is a welcome development for Guyana so far. CARICOM’S mission is “To provide dynamic leadership and service in partnership with institutions and groups towards the attainment of a viable, internationally competitive and sustainable community with improved quality of life for all.

May I mention that information on CARICOM can be had at its Secretariat free of cost.
We are still hearing that the people are saying they don’t know much about CARICOM, especially those at the grassroot level. Indeed, there is need for sensitisation programmes on the functions of CARICOM. They hear or read about the Free Movement and competitiveness. How is the ability of the factors of production – good, services, capital and people to move freely across Member States of the Caribbean Community, providing for efficient and competitive production of goods and services, both regionally and internationally; and how are people given the opportunity  to maximise their talents and resources? And they want to know how all this is possible when some countries are still discriminating against the very people they vow to protect and improve their quality of life.  When people are harassed and embarrassed on arrival at airports, and their human rights are imposed upon, and what happens when the markup on goods are so high that poor countries in the Caribbean cannot afford to compete? And they wonder whether double standards are the order of the day!
Generally speaking, some of the people at the grassroots level feel that leaders of the CARICOM nations cannot really honour their commitments at the conference table if the matters are not first discussed with and agreed to by local peoples.  And that factors such as budget, tourism, and environment (political and social) have to be taken into account when Heads of Government meet, otherwise small states will be standing alone with only a few firm or reliable alliances in an otherwise unsympathetic and hostile international environment.
But even with the collapse of the Federation and the peoples’ negativity, and the absence of full acceptance for the Movement which still exists, we cannot ignore the fact that CARICOM has come a far way, bringing with it a viable and unwavering legacy of the Universities of the West Indies; a CARICOM passport; a Caribbean Court of Justice; an attempt at free movement and unity between and among States; an opportunity for trade, and the indomitable Spirit of the West Indies cricket team.
Whatever we may think, let’s stand by the Movement in its frail state and give it a chance to achieve its objectives and mature with time.
HAPPY CARICOM DAY!