CARICOM needs to change from talking about problems to addressing them
– President Jagdeo at 31st Conference of Heads of Gov’t in Jamaica

SPEAKING on the fringes of the thirty-first meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, in Montego Bay, Jamaica, President Bharrat Jagdeo said he is more in favour of CARICOM deliberating on specific programmes and projects to move the regional agenda forward.
“I am tired of the incessant analysis of the problem. We are just stating the problem. So yes, there is a global financial crisis, there is an environmental problem. We need to transform from talking about the problem to doing things about the problem and working out specific initiatives,” the Guyanese Head of State posited.
“In Guyana’s case, we didn’t just talk about a strategy for agriculture. We hosted a donors’ conference and I think we need to move the regional agenda in likewise fashion. So what do we do about climate change? How can we be project-ready to draw down on the US$10 billion that will be available through the Copenhagen process? How can we get US$500 million of it? What can we use it for? How can we ensure that every family in our region gets access to ICT and a computer so that our children cannot be left behind? How do we tackle the issue of debt in our economies?” the President asked.
He said these are specific initiatives the region needs to work on. “That is what I am looking forward to.”
Whether Guyana puts them on the agenda or not, he hopes that this is what will be done. President Jagdeo said he concurs with the current Chairman of CARICOM, Prime Minister and ‘conference host’ Mr. Bruce Golding, who stated that the agenda of the conference is too cluttered. Prime Minister Golding used the opening ceremony to challenge his colleagues to make this a defining moment in Caribbean history.
Golding, who now chairs the 15-nation regional bloc, insisted that groundbreaking changes must be made to reduce the interval time between policy and performance. Critics have repeatedly pointed to the snail’s pace at which decisions of the regional leaders are implemented.
“We have identified what is called our implementation deficit,” Golding said in a frank address, arguing that CARICOM was on a make-or-break period in its history if it could not reform its governance structure and culture.
Meanwhile, immediate past chairman of CARICOM, Roosevelt Skerrit, the Prime Minister of Dominica, fired back at detractors who have described the annual Heads of Government meeting as nothing more than a talk shop. Skerrit said those demanding speedier implementation of proposals, such as the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, were not carefully examining the realities facing regional states.
While conceding that many of the projected achievements had not yet been accomplished – including seamless travel for CARICOM citizens, he argued that this was caused by unavoidable circumstances.
“It is the prerogative of some to fantasize about the good old days but they have to accept that the landscape around us has changed dramatically,” Skerrit said. He added that, “Some member states are in survival mode.”
He believes regional leaders are committed to implementing the CARICOM agreements but are facing major roadblocks. “I am optimistic about the future of CARICOM because I firmly believe that all members realise and appreciate that going back is not an option,” Skerrit said.
President Jagdeo noted that it will be his recommendation that there be a simplification of the agenda focusing on the big cross-cutting issues in an effort to turn around the record of results of the regional grouping on issues to which Prime Ministers Golding and Skerrit refer. The President of Guyana said small member-states are very active in their own integration process and if the wider CARICOM does not listen to them they will move ahead.
As it relates to CARICOM, some things are being implemented but there exists an implementation deficit. He believes critical to the success of CARICOM is the political will and the re-energising of the secretariat.