MONTEGO BAY, St James (Jamaica Gleaner) — Caricom leaders gathered here yesterday for the opening ceremony of the 31st heads of government summit admitted that the regional body has not achieved its full potential, even while identifying successes and pledging commitment to further integration.
But according to Caricom Chairman and Prime Minister of Jamaica Bruce Golding, the shortcomings are nowhere as bad as some make them out to be.
Golding’s comment came as he addressed the large group of government officials and other civic leaders from across the region at the Half Moon Hotel.
“We must be mindful of the disillusionment expressed so often by many of our people who feel that Caricom has not worked, that it has not lived up to their expectations. There is no shortage of cynics who watch as we gather in Montego Bay, and sigh, “There they go again!” Golding remarked.
“We still have not fulfilled the dreams of those visionaries who led the integration movement before. We have not yet achieved the goals that we as the contemporary heirs of that legacy have set for our time.
“Of all our failings, perhaps the greatest is believing that we can unite the Caribbean without first uniting the people of the Caribbean,” he added.
But, the chairman said, the body’s successes cannot be underestimated.
“We have made progress in several areas, and that is not to be discounted or discredited.”
Some of those successes, as pointed out by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and by Roosevelt Skerrit and Dr Denzil Douglas, prime ministers of Dominica and St Kitts and Nevis, respectively, who also addressed the meeting, include the progress made with respect to the Millennium Development Goals, the assistance rendered to Haiti in the wake of the January 12 earthquake, and regional institutions such as the University of the West Indies.
“There has been some reduction in poverty, but we must work harder,” said Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
The summit continues until tomorrow.
