PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar will be joining his colleague Heads of Government in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for the 33rd Regional Conference in St Lucia and will be among the four newly elected Heads of Government to address the opening session. The others are Prime Ministers of The Bahamas, Belize and Jamaica according to a release from the Communications Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister in St Kitts (CUOPM) on June 8.
The release stated also that incoming chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, the Hon. Dr. Kenny D. Anthony is also expected to deliver his address. The conference is slated for July 4 to 6 in St. Lucia.
Speaking to members of the press today, President Ramotar remains optimistic and hopeful that the momentum towards regional integration will accelerate when leaders meet despite what he described as frustration by some at the pace of the process.
“I still think that we have covered some distance from that time and hopefully in this international atmosphere of globalisation, that that pace will pick up,” President Ramotar said in an invited comment to the Government Information Agency (GINA).
It is also hoped that the cricket situation in the Region will be tendered with answers from the Inter-Governmental Panel on Cricket that was mandated at the 23rd Inter-Sessional CARICOM Heads Conference to address the issue.
Guyana is embroiled in a situation with the sport with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) de-recognising the legitimacy of an Interim Management Committee (IMC) that was set up following a court order, to manage the affairs of cricket.
Discord among officials of the Guyana Cricket Board in the three counties with allegations of improprieties obstructed the administration of the game locally forcing legal arbitration.
WICB President Dr. Julian Hunte and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ernest Hilaire were invited to meetings with the Guyana Government and the IMC on more than two occasions in efforts to find a resolution to the issue.
The Guyana Government however, became appalled at the WICB’s reaction to its attempt to effectively address the challenges of the game locally.
Prior to the Guyana situation the board was compelled to issue an apology after offering inappropriate remarks to Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller for making representation on behalf of West Indies star batsman Chris Gayle.