THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) said it is mourning the loss of one of its irreplaceable sons, Honourable Sir Alister Meredith McIntyre, OCC.
He served as the second Secretary-General of CARICOM from 1974 to 1977, and was awarded the Region’s highest honour, the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC), in 1994 by the Conference of Heads of Government for his outstanding service to the Community.

In a statement, the Secretariat said whether it was as Secretary-General of CARICOM, Chief Technical Adviser of the CARICOM Regional Negotiating Machinery, member of the West Indian Commission appointed by CARICOM Heads of Government, Director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research, and later Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Sir Alister served this Region with exceptional skill and acumen.

Sir Alister was one of the remarkable group, including William Demas, and Sir Shridath Ramphal, which came together to make the transition from CARIFTA to CARICOM a reality. Along with Sir Shridath and Mr Demas, he was a leading member of the West Indian Commission, which produced the seminal work on the integration movement, “A Time for Action”. He devoted much of his published work to the regional integration movement.

“His insight into the development challenges of small states, and his determination to improve their situation were the hallmarks of his role as Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and Assistant Secretary-General for International Economic Co-operation in the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General,” the Secretariat said.

According to CARICOM, Sir Alister never wavered in his belief in and commitment to the people of the Region. “His was a life spent embedded in the Caribbean ethos. He enriched this Region with his scholarship, his intellect, and his work ethic. The contribution of this son of Grenada to the development of the Caribbean is immeasurable. On behalf of the Caribbean Community, I extend deep condolences to his wife, Marjorie, and his children, his grand-children and his siblings. CARICOM, too, has lost a true titan. May he rest in peace,” the statement concluded.