Assistant Secretary-General of the Organization of Ameri-can States (OAS) Albert Ramdin said “Caricom needs to revisit its strategic objectives when it comes to the integration process,” especially in the context of what is happening globally.
When asked to comment specifically on the Barba-dian’s government recent stance on illegal immigrants, Ramdin said the issue was one which required honest dialogue among leaders, where these individuals looked back at what was agreed and decided how best these agreements could be implemented. He pointed out that there were clearly challenges in relation to the implementation of some of the agreements of the integration process. He stated that Caricom needed to revisit strategic objectives when it came to the integration process since there are clearly challenges in implementing some of the previous agreements.
He emphasised that when some countries look at this part of the world, they do not see individual territories but rather a bloc of countries, a fact leaders in the region needed to be made aware of.
The Assistant Secretary-General was speaking at a press conference held at the Pegasus Hotel yesterday. He was here as part of a team attending the Regional Diplo-matic Training Programme for Mid-Career Diplomats in Caricom. Ramdin departs the country today. During his stay he was scheduled to meet two opposition MPs and members of the donor community.
Meanwhile, Ramdin said that in another two weeks, the OAS will be holding its General Assembly in Honduras where organisers and participants hope that the agenda which was started at the recently Summit of Americas will continue. He said that at the upcoming forum, discussions on Cuba, Haiti, and issues such as the food crisis, Energy Sustain-ability, the Financial Crisis and Governance will be addressed.
When asked about the usefulness of such conferences given the notion held by many that these are just “talk shops,” the Ramdin acknowledged that it was a criticism he was very much conscious of. While suggesting that these sessions could be more productive, he said the discussions were necessary and added that in the absence of dialogue things could have been worse. Ramdin, however, pointed out that these sessions would only be successful if governments implemented what was discussed. He said “people don’t need more declarations” and stated that it is often a case where people know what needs to be done.
Ramdin also called for a greater networking between the foreign affairs departments and the finance ministries in territories, and said that collaborations between the two ministries were essential, if projects and agreements were to be implemented as they should.
