Dear Editor,
A few weeks ago, this writer visited Guyana for the first time after some forty-five years absence to rekindle afresh memories of the reasons for my visit in 1967.Then, it was a most interesting time in Caribbean history. It was a time when, having achieved Indepen-dence or self-government, as the case may be, there was uncertainty as to the economic and political future of its former constituent parts, particularly of the ‘small island’ states, following the demise of the West Indies Federation.
It was with this background that the 3B’s – Barrow, Bird, and Burnham – had enterprisingly set out the rudiments of Carifta (the Caribbean Free Trade Area) in 1965, in the hope that this would be a catalyst towards greater economic unity among the beleaguered members of the defunct Federation.
It must be noted, however, that Guyana was never a member of the Federation and one could speculate as to the reason for Mr Forbes Burnham’s new interest in closer ties with his country’s neighbours to the north. It has been suggested that he saw an opportunity to become the leader of the ‘Little 8’ pack. It has also been suggested that closer union and the free movement of persons within the area would have brought about, to his advantage, a redress in the racial and electoral imbalance which was evident in Guyana.
Mr Burnham had a vision of Guyana which, with its vast untapped, (and perhaps unknown) natural resources, could become, in effect, the location of the engine of growth of the English- speaking Caribbean. He never lost an opportunity to point out the rather minuscule population of Guyana, a territory the size of England and Wales. It is important that Mr Burnham had as one of his principal advisers, Sir Shridath (Sonny) Ramphal, who held the positions of Attorney General and Foreign Minister. Two recent addresses by Sir Shridath have provided a timely restatement of what I would term the basic tenets underlying the formation of Caricom, given the apparent renewed uncertainty of the Caribbean integration process.
Cognizance must also be taken of the contribution of Caribbean intellectuals to the debate in the early 1960s on the way forward for the English-speaking Caribbean. In particular, the work of Havelock Brewster, Clive Thomas, Alister McIntyre, George Beckford and E Armstrong which, in 1967, made its appearance in The Dynamics of West Indian Economic Integration and associated pieces – publications appearing under the auspices of the UWI (Mona) Institute of Social and Economic Research which were partially financed by Caribbean governments. The authors of the Dynamics, following classical economic free trade theory, saw the gains from economic integration being realized from free trade which was based on specialization in the production process according to individual resource endowment. In this regard, not only would there be an increase in total welfare in the complete free trade area, but also every individual unit would be expected , ultimately, to be better off than prior to the integration process coming into being. While there has been some noticeable specialization in production regionally, it is not clear whether this has just ‘happened,’ and does not owe its origin to much positive action at the level of policy-makers.
It must be recognized that, in all the above, Dynamics, standing by itself, would have been somewhat naked, since a missing link in the integration process was the need for mechanisms which would enable seed capital to be sourced as fodder for the integration and developmental process. This was therefore the raison d’être for establishing the Caribbean Development Bank as a concomitant and supporting institution.
I will not lay claim to any fame whatsoever in the activities regarding the Caribbean integration process; however, as the author of this letter, it is fitting for what it is worth to say that in 1967 I was employed at the Regional Office of the UNDP which had responsibility for the Caribbean Archipelago, extending from the Bahamas in the north to Guyana in the south. The UNDP had taken an active part in promoting the integration process and, in this regard, I was detailed to carry out the first “mission” on the Caribbean Development Bank through visiting the various territories to brief those concerned on the forthcoming
mission on the CDB. Subsequently, I was to accompany the mission to those territories and countries (including Canada and the USA), which had an interest. Suffice it to say that it is in this context that I have continued to maintain a lively interest in the matter herein treated and in other issues of relevance. I regret that, after almost fifty years more progress has not been made. Notwithstanding its current erstwhile financial difficulties, should we not emulate the European Economic Community, an organization of which Caribbean leaders, past and present, should be apprised?
I am of the view that there has not been sufficient in-depth economic transformation of the Caricom region. This could perhaps be exemplified, to some extent, by the following respecting Guyana:
(a)Far from being a net receiver of immigrants, as envisaged by Forbes Burnham, large numbers of Guyanese are leaving the country to take up relatively menial jobs in other Caribbean countries.
(b)While an abundance of local fruits and vegetables are available, the presence of a relatively large number of non-Guyanese owned fast food outlets suggests that the Guyanese economy has not been producing in a manner which is satisfying local appetites appreciably.
(c) Finally, and of paramount importance, is the fact that the prices of even simple consumer items are currently designated in thousands of Guyanese dollars. Furthermore, there is an active market in US dollars which, for all practical purposes, is the preferred currency of business. Needless to say, this takes precedence over the Guyanese dollar, As for the currencies of the Caricom states, these are non- functional. One wonders when currency reform would be in the offing. One is still ever hopeful for a country which is beckoning for an economic take-off.
Yours faithfully,
Errol O C Cupid
