WHILE it should be appreciated that last week’s 36th regular meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government felt obliged to devote quality time to the unexpected flare-up in diplomatic relations between Guyana and Venezuela, there is no escaping the necessity for more focused attention to advance overdue progress to achieve long-stated goals via creation of the Community’s Single Market and Economy (CSME).

In the face of increasingly challenging financial and economic problems at the global level that include powerful nations which remain friendly and disposed to Guyana and its CARICOM partners, we, as an economic grouping of 15 member countries ought to be perceived as being MORE, not LESS, committed to realisation of stated policies and programmes for the CSME.

Those of influence within the Region’s private sector and civil society organisations who often engage CARICOM in dialogue, are revealing increasing anxieties over lack of promised ACTION to advance the CSME agenda.

Their criticisms should not be ignored or dismissed as being anti-CARICOM. Rather, there needs to be some self-criticisms by those directly involved in the principal decision-making structures with a view to determining how new attitudes and work programmes could well serve to stimulate progress towards creation of the still elusive CSME.

In their end-of-summit communique released a week ago yesterday, Heads of Government stated that they were “acutely aware of the opportunity to build truly vibrant societies and resilient economies and chart a new era of sustainable development for the region and the world within the context of ongoing and integrated global processes for sustainable development….”
Without questioning the level of their commitment for realisation of the CSME, it would not have gone unnoticed that the 23-page communiqué provides NO specific new information in relation to envisaged CSME.
However, the communiqué disclosed that in the specific area of promoting “sustainable energy” within the Community, the Heads Government endorsed the creation of a “Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE)” as the implementation hub for sustainable energy and activities and prospects within this Region.