“Caricom is in danger” was the stark warning that former Prime Minister of Jamaica, PJ Patterson delivered to a Rotary event here last night and he called for decisive action from leaders and the development of a “knowledge economy” for the survival and future prosperity of the integration movement.
Patterson was delivering the feature address at the Rotary Club of Georgetown’s World Understanding dinner at the Pegasus Hotel. The title of his presentation was ‘Cri de Coeur – Lest we wither on the vine’.
“Let me make it clear – as of now, some decisive steps are urgently required to rescue CARICOM, or else life support may come too late to prevent coma. Our leaders must take the helm of our regional ship and guide it through the choppy waters of this time”, he told his audience.
Pointing out the achievements in the region, Patterson said that there is a fine record of functional cooperation in education, health, the response to natural disasters and areas of development finance. He said too that there has been a dismantling of the sturdy barriers to trade and commerce in the region. “The single market is now well established but much more can be done. Both in the fields of international diplomacy and the arenas of global trade and commerce the Caricom bond has been united,” he said.
Patterson also pointed out that the Caribbean Court of Justice for those who chose will serve as the court of final jurisdiction.
“Notwithstanding these and other achievements, the voices questioning the relevance of Caricom are becoming more strident and vociferous. They will not be overpowered by the silent bevy of those who remain convinced that regional integration is not an option but an imperative in the world of today,” he said.
“And so we must ask ourselves, what has caused persons [to question the relevance and purpose] of Caricom,” he said. He said that the Caribbean Community must examine its own circumstances and realise the answers lie within the community. He cited a number of key problems.
He said that the absence of a structure for effective governance leads to a deficit in implementation of targets for the region. He called for there to be a re-engineering of the machinery of the Secretariat and regional institutions to effectively coordinate and execute programmes in a rapidly changing environment.
This dilemma has bedevilled Caricom for decades and was addressed in the West Indian Commission report of 1992 entitled `Time for action’ which had envisaged a Caricom Commission overcoming some of these problems. Regional leaders have balked at this on the grounds that they would be yielding sovereignty to a supranational body. A renewed attempt in 2003 in Jamaica to address governance issues with the Rose Hall Declaration has also foundered.
Tortoise
Patterson said that another weakness is the region moving at the pace of a tortoise in advancing the protocols on the contingent rights of Caricom citizens and their movement throughout the region. “What purpose does the Caricom passport serve if travelling within the region is still like an obstacle race,” he asked. The former PM of Jamaica pointed out that during the 2007 Cricket World Cup foreigners travelled hassle free throughout the region and Caricom people with Caricom passports have to establish their identity at each port of entry.
He said that there is a failure of the community to tackle issues of burning concern to the region such as transportation within the region, energy, food, and climate change. “In fairness I must point out that we have had tremendous success in our collective response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. “[But] let me make it clear…some decisive steps are urgently required to rescue Caricom or else life support may come too late and then permanent coma,” he said.
He said that none of the aims of the region will be achieved without the renewal of political will, without effective implementation of long outstanding decisions and without fresh initiative to ignite the imagination.
Patterson, 77, who served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1992 to 2006, called for further amendments to the founding Treaty of Chaguaramas.
“This legal underpinning of the current construct has carried us this far. But the time has come for its revision, as we provide the blueprint for a brighter Community future. The Revised Treaty is essentially trade based and only identifies best endeavours in other areas. There is an urgent need to place greater emphasis on production integration which would allow us to pool the resources of the Community and exploit them more effectively”, he declared.
The Caricom machinery he warned also has to be urgently addressed. He noted that the Caricom Secretariat had been mandated to prepare a five-year Community Strategic Plan.
“This process of change and reform cannot be limited to the Secretariat. The Organs of the Community must also be put under the microscope. The role and functions of the Institutions in our integration architecture must be scrutinized to ensure that we are all heading in the same direction and with the same expedition. There is an urgency for us to get on with it”, he emphasised.
In light of new United States regulations calling for the provision of information on the financial activities in institutions in the region, he said that there should be a call for the US to provide such information on Caricom nationals in the US.
Shocks
Patterson said that the region still remains vulnerable to shocks from the global economy. He said that individual governments in the region are so taken up with attending to their own problems by themselves that they fail to make use of the collective strength the region could wield if they work together.
He said together the Caribbean countries could mobilise the support of influential countries to garner liquidity for debt restructuring. He urged that the region become more closely aligned to the BRICS nations. “With them we can identify some prospects for collaboration and the expansion of trade,” he said. He noted that in doing this, the region must also identify what it has to offer to these countries in return, which he said could range from trading in items to trade in cultural exploits.
Patterson said that building a knowledge economy is key to the survival of the entire Caribbean. “The building and accumulation of our human capital is our only way forward,” he said, adding that there must be a paradigm shift away from reliance on physical resources to engendering human resources as the catalyst for development. “That means that our education system has got to be changed in order to activate human capital. The regional university and all our tertiary institutions must be directed to spearhead this process,” he said.
“Why should a region which has produced the only musical instrument of the last century – the steel pan – the song of the millennium – Bob Marley’s One Love, a cricket team which conquered the world for 17 long years, an Earl Lovelace, a Martin Carter, an Eddy Grant, the world’s fastest athlete – Usain Bolt, the first and only batsman to score 400 runs in an inning – Brian Lara, why should we have a balance of payment problem. Because we are not capitalising on an area in which we have a serious competitive advantage, all linked to the hospitality industry,” he asked.
Patterson said that this year’s Carifesta in Suriname could be used as an opportunity to relaunch the Caribbean festival and take it to the world in the years leading up to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
Bandwidth
Turing to the region and agriculture, Patterson said that it is time for the region to stop talking of the potential of Suriname, Belize and Guyana’s potential and time to do something about it. “We have spoken about it often enough and long enough…it is time for us to take action and to become self-sufficient in the production of food in the region,” he said.
He said that there must be a common air space and a common ICT space and questioned why it is that a call from Guyana to Jamaica is considered long distance and why it was also that bandwidth rates in the region are so high. “Addressing these issues will make the region more competitive,” he stated.
Arguing that the Caribbean has critical borderless resources Patterson pointed to the Caribbean Sea and said enormous opportunities now beckon with the widening and deepening of the Panama Canal to accommodate mega ships two or three times the size of those in operation today and the shifting of the epicentre of global economic activity from North America and Western Europe to Asia and the Pacific. He cited two immediate opportunities:
(i) The Yachting Industry offers considerable scope for development. Many islands have invested significantly in Marinas and Registries. An increase of employment would require highly specialized skills.
(ii) Expansion of Maritime Training.
The full text of the presentation follows:
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)
ADDRESS BY MOST HON. P. J. PATTERSON, ON,OCC,OE, PC,QC
“A CRI DE COEUR FOR CARICOM:
LEST WE WITHER ON THE VINE”
To
ROTARY CLUB OF GEORGETOWN
IN COMMEMORATION OF ROTARY
WORLD UNDERSTANDING MONTH
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA
MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2013
It is always a pleasure for me to be in the great city of Georgetown. My presence here tonight is due to the Rotary Club which does not accept no as a final answer when it calls. It has come persistently in many forms – resorting to the shock attack – by reminding me of my long and deep connections with Guyana. It switched to the spinner’s guile by listing the long list of distinguished Speakers who have preceded me and daring me to refuse joining a list of such eminent persons as President Bharrat Jagdeo, Prime Minister Owen Arthur, Prime Minister Perry Christie and Sir Shridath Ramphal. What a powerful batting line-up. The good thing is I come to bat with all the runs already on the scoreboard.
Leaving the topic for a speech to your Guest can be an unwarranted risk, especially for one who has retired from the political scene to the confines of the pavilion.
But for me, now a grandfather of 4, I am entitled to reminisce and have learnt to proffer advice which does not always accord with what my grandchildren are prepared to follow.
Nevertheless, let me share with you some musings of a doting grandfather and offer a viewpoint on the future direction of our Region to which I have an umbilical connection:
“A Cri de Coeur for CARICOM:
Lest we wither on the Vine”.
I readily recall my first visit as a Minister to Georgetown in April 1973. There was an air of excitement as Caribbean delegations gathered to implement the decisions our Leaders had taken in Chaguaramas the previous year to establish a Caribbean Community and to deepen the integration process by moving from a Free Trade Area into a Common Market. We worked with intensity to complete the Georgetown Accord by daybreak. We had to stop the clock shortly before midnight on Thursday 12th, so as to avoid the reality of signing on Friday the 13th.
This marked the start of an exciting era when the value of integration was high and Leaders were prepared to take bold decisions and emphasize the advantages of joint and coordinated action. The four Independent Countries then, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago defied the Hemispheric embargo and extended full Diplomatic Recognition to Cuba.
After vigorous analysis and soul-searching debates, those countries not yet Independent, agreed to abandon Part IV of the negotiations with the European Economic Community, so that the entire Caribbean could negotiate as a single bloc.
It was here in Georgetown that the ACP Group was formally launched so that we could with the countries of Africa and Pacific form a single phalanx to create an entirely new form of trade and economic relationships – based on sovereign equality and no longer on an imperial relationship. The result was Lomé I.
I trust the members of this audience do not belong to that group who constantly castigate CARICOM as having achieved nothing worthwhile. Had that been the case, it would like several other Regional Groupings, have collapsed long ago by virtue of its own inertia.
I cite but a few of its accomplishments:
- There is a fine record in the areas of functional cooperation – education, health, response to natural disasters, development financing spring readily to mind.
- Despite the hiccups which are often evident, there has been a dismantling of the sturdy barriers to trade and commerce.
The Single Market is now well established, but admittedly, much more can be done to stimulate regional commerce.
- Both in the fields of international diplomacy and the arenas of global trade and commerce, the CARICOM voice has been united, loud and unequivocal, even if it has not always elicited the positive responses we seek from the industrialized nations.
- The CCJ is now empowered to exercise its Original Jurisdiction and fully equipped, for those who so choose, to also serve as the Court of Final Jurisdiction for our nations and thereby complete the full circle of our sovereignty.
Notwithstanding these and other achievements, the voices who question the relevance and endurance of CARICOM are becoming increasingly strident and vociferous. They will not remain silent but integration is not an option; it is an imperative.
Even those of us who remain convinced that regional economic integration is not simply an option but an imperative, must frankly ask ourselves why is this so? What has caused the obvious diminution in the minds of our people as to the relevance and useful purpose of the Caribbean Community?
It is not good enough to realize that these doubts have appeared elsewhere – e.g. the recent decision by the British Government to hold a referendum on future relationships with the EU. We must examine our own circumstances and realize that the answers lie within us.
There should be no need for me to elaborate on the weaknesses which have plagued CARICOM since they have been repeatedly mentioned in many expert studies. In any event, time will not allow – but let me cite the most serious –
(i) the failure to settle a structure for effective governance and the absence of which leads to a deficit in the implementation of solemn decisions.
(ii) The delay in re-engineering the machinery within the Secretariat and Regional Institutions to effectively co-ordinate and execute agreed programmes in a rapidly changing environment which raises new issues, seemingly with every passing day.
(iii) Moving at the speed of a tortoise in advancing the protocol on the Contingent Rights of CARICOM professionals to permit greater freedom of movement.
What purpose does the CARICOM Passport serve if travelling within the Region is still like an obstacle race? Foreigners were allowed to travel with absolute freedom throughout the Region during the Cricket World Cup in 2007 while our own people have to establish their identity at each port of entry. It simply does not make sense.
(iv) the failure of the Community to tackle the burning issues of concern to our people – transportation within the region, energy, food, climate change.
In fairness, we can mention with pride our collective response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Let me make it clear – as of now, some decisive steps are urgently required to rescue CARICOM, or else life support may come too late to prevent coma. Our leaders must take the helm of our regional ship and guide it through the choppy waters of this time.
None of this will be achieved without a renewal of political commitment; implementation of long outstanding decisions and the design of fresh initiatives that can ignite the imagination and meaningfully engage the interests of our people.
New Global Contours
Admittedly, our Political Leaders today confront global contours which are vastly different from those we faced 4 decades ago.
The configuration of Europe now encompasses 27 nations, many of which make major huge financial demands on Community budgetary allocations for their own development and who have no historical relationship with the Caribbean or little interest.
With the advent of the WTO, preferential arrangements for sugar, bananas, rum, rice no longer exist. Reciprocal treatment is the order of the day. And if this is so, the same way in which the US introduced regulations with respect to US citizens with funds in the Caribbean, why shouldn’t we reciprocate and demand of them that they must supply information on people from the Caribbean who have funding and savings in their financial institutions?. We have to use our collective strength
Globalization has become the mantra which results in a spread of contagion whenever recession occurs in the developed world and poses a threat of virtual extinction in much of the developing world. We are all aware of the issue of graduation. We in the Caribbean still remain particularly vulnerable to regressive trends in the global economy.
The search by every Government to tackle its own domestic problems, should not result in the abandonment of sound regional strategies. There are distinct areas where we can all benefit by a collective approach in finding solutions which sustain the regional thrust rather than becoming marooned within each restricted national space.
As we watch the emergence of the growing power and potential of the BRICS – Brazil, Russia,, India, China and South Africa – we can identify sound prospects for economic collaboration and the expansion of trade – new sources of capital investment – an increase in the exchange of goods and services – development in new Green Technologies.
In doing this, we should identify what we have to offer in exchange – e.g. production for access to external markets, hub for logistics, promoting the range of creative industries, culture, sports.
Foreign Economic Policy
At the Meeting of CARICOM Heads in St. Lucia, last July, Prime Minister Kenny Anthony proposed the urgency of CARICOM nations formulating a common foreign economic policy to take into account the profound changes on the global landscape. This commendable exercise should not be allowed to languish.
As we did in our encounter with Europe, we should now be formulating a common strategic approach for the new global construct before time runs out. We need urgently a new framework for CARICOM Economic Cooperation and Development with China – which has manifested its Caribbean thrust by a range of investments in our physical infrastructure, and with Brazil – the powerhouse which borders both Guyana and Suriname. The advent of globalization, the rapid changes in technology, the factors which drive a competitive market economy all combine to dictate that we are compelled to select and prioritize those areas in which we enjoy a comparative advantage.
The Knowledge Economy
Now more than ever, knowledge is power. No one suggests that we disregard our natural sources or abandon the field of primary commodities. But no one can question that building a knowledge economy holds the key to our survival and future prosperity. The building and accumulation of our human capital is the only secure way forward.
It demands a paradigm shift from reliance on physical resources to engendering human resources as the catalyst for our development. As we plan for the future, greater emphasis must be placed on Human Capital formation so that development is more knowledge based and oriented to services.
Our education system, with the Regional University and our Tertiary Institutions, must be directed to spearhead this process and to engage in cutting edge research. This has to fuel the spread of creative industries and be a source for the preservation and renewal of that which we identify as the unique Caribbean civilization.
We should foster the spread of the creative industries – a wide range of businesses that encompass Food, Fashion, Literature, Sports, Entertainment, the Visual Arts. Why should we not capitalize on our prowess in dance, in craft, in music, literature and sports?
Why should a region which has produced the only musical instrument of the last century – the steel pan – the song of the Millennium – Bob Marley’s “One Love” – a Cricket Team which conquered the world for 17 long years – an Earl Lovelace, a Martin Carter, an Eddie Grant, the world’s fastest human being – Usain Bolt – have a balance of payments or unemployment problem?
CARIFESTA
The Region’s talents in the cultural field, in the artistic and musical industries were on display at the 1972 CARIFESTA in Georgetown.
CARIFESTA will be celebrated in Suriname later this year. This opportunity should not only be used to re-launch CARIFESTA, but to prepare to take CARIFESTA to the world at the time of staging the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. It should be seen as an effort of co-operation between the Caribbean Community and Brazil.
The Caribbean will be expected to again excite on the track. We should aim to benefit economically from providing cultural entertainment off the track, while establishing its cultural and artistic prowess in South America, as we move closer to that region for economic cooperation.
A Centre for Knowledge Creation
In speaking of the Caribbean as a centre for knowledge creation, we should fashion a knowledge management centre to support projects and enterprises, public and private, throughout the Caribbean Region.
The basic idea is to create a unit/team that is charged with developing and executing a strategy to manage knowledge as a strategic asset, with the focus on encouraging across the region, knowledge sharing on past successes (strategic, projects, joint ventures, process, procedure, practice) in the private sector and in government with the stated goal of leveraging shared knowledge to facilitate, attract and trigger investments and economic growth.
CARICOM countries could benefit from having access to a reliable, credible source of information and knowledge on past business (and government) successes and on current opportunities with the information archived online, properly identified, catalogued, distributed, promoted, discussed with appropriate electronic and other tools that contributors and users can use to mine the data to gain insights from the successful (and perhaps the failed and developing) strategies, processes and practices in private sector and government entities, including vital knowledge and expertise that’s resident in individuals in the region and the diaspora or embedded in organizations.
This knowledge management initiative would enable contributors and users to leverage past success stories, experiences, insights and lessons to create strategic advantage, and to inform, facilitate and trigger investments and growth handles.
Ladies and Gentlemen, activity generates momentum. Momentum stimulates enthusiasm. CARICOM needs enthusiasm and interest, especially among the young people of the region whose experiences are rather different from those of past generations and mine. It needs joint activities to build hope and true meaning.
We have created World Beaters and Leaders, but they must be able to dream big – to see beyond their island borders.
Our people have demonstrated their capacity for excellence in every field. If at the level of governance we even appear to be dysfunctional, the vineyard will wither.
Critical Resources
The Caribbean has some critical borderless resources which are becoming more and more vital in modern day human and business development.
The Caribbean Sea; the air and our atmospheric spaces are vital to transportation, communication and the movement of information. Our marine and land-based biodiversity with a very high percentage of endemic fauna and flora including naturally occurring medicinal plants; the energy resources of oil and gas; solar and wind; ocean thermal and wave; geothermal; rivers and ever recurring biomass.
The Caribbean Sea
This is currently one of the most heavily trafficked seas in the world. It is about to become many times moreso with the conjuncture of the widening and deepening of the Panama Canal to accommodate mega ships of two and three times the largest in operation today and the shift of the centre of world economic activity from North America and Western Europe to Asia and the Pacific. Currently the Caribbean earns mainly the pollution. It is time to change this.
(i) The Yachting Industry offers considerable scope for development. Many islands have invested significantly in Marinas and Registries. An increase of employment would require highly specialized skills.
(ii) Expansion of Maritime Training.
The Region should expeditiously agree on a strategy to leverage the reputation of Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI), to expand its operations and create linkages with other appropriate Training Institutions to establish a strong Regional Maritime Training Network. The network could also include the Training Institutions of the Disciplinary Forces.
Agriculture and Food
Thirty years ago, the CARICOM Region was a significant net exporter of food and agro-based products. Since then, food importation has grown rapidly and agricultural exports have declined. The major crops – sugar, bananas, rice, citrus, nutmegs and arrowroot have lost ground in advantageous markets and reduced government support for the production.
Prices have fallen and input costs have risen. Subsidized imports which kept prices low are becoming scarce and expensive. Here is a golden opportunity to reignite production not of the traditional crops but of new food yields for agro industry, for energy and for animal feed. Let us stop talking about the potential for agriculture in Belize, Suriname and Guyana and take action.
The CARICOM Enterprise:
A Proposal by the President of Suriname
President Bouterse of Suriname, as Chairman of CARICOM a year ago, made a highly important recommendation for CARICOM at this stage. He proposed essentially that Groups of Members promote jointly owned enterprises (by Public or Private Sector) to develop critical resources available in the region.
This is the concept of the CARICOM ENTERPRISE which was approved before the CSME and is consistent with it once all willing Member States are included.
Areas which come immediately to mind are in Agriculture, Mining, Energy, Fisheries, Agro Processing and even Marketing.
It should be vigorously pursued.
A Revised Treaty
Ladies and Gentlemen, this year we observe the 40th Anniversary of CARICOM. There is a compelling need for new thinking about the Community into the next 40 years. New ideas must be generated from widespread discussion about the direction, priorities and the construct of the integration movement based on the political geographic, economic and social realities of the Region and the wider world.
Tonight, I make a clarion call to revisit the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. This legal underpinning of the current construct has carried us this far. But the time has come for its revision, as we provide the blueprint for a brighter Community future. The Revised Treaty is essentially trade based and only identifies best endeavours in other areas. There is an urgent need to place greater emphasis on production integration which would allow us to pool the resources of the Community and exploit them more effectively.
We must push the frontiers of integration further to include a common air space and a common ICT space. The issue of transportation and a common air space has bedeviled us but hard choices must be made if we are to advance in this area which is so critical to our integration. With respect to ICT, why is it that a call from Guyana to Jamaica must be long distance? Why is it that our internet rates are so high?
Addressing both these issues would make our Region much more competitive, attractive for the conduct of business and also contribute to our overall development.
The CARICOM Machinery
The CARICOM Secretariat has been mandated to prepare and be guided by a five year Community Strategic Plan. This process of change and reform cannot be limited to the Secretariat. The Organs of the Community must also be put under the microscope. The role and functions of the Institutions in our integration architecture must be scrutinized to ensure that we are all heading in the same direction and with the same expedition.
There is an urgency for us to get on with it. The Organs and Institutions of the Community, especially the CARICOM Secretariat, must take on this challenge as their top priority. In doing so, however, they must be afforded the space required – for strategic thinking, mobilizing, discussing – to maximize the effect on the ground in fulfillment of the Community objectives.
The entire Region, from Heads of Government to ordinary citizen, from institution to Non-Governmental Organization and our Universities must turn its attention to these urgent imperatives. The Community of tomorrow must be built today – deliberately and inclusively.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have mentioned a few areas, many of which are by no means novel, that will make a tremendous difference to the present perception of CARICOM and, even more importantly, impact positively on the development of our people.
Admittedly, in a time of severe resource constraints, CARICOM Heads will have to determine priorities among competing claims and set firm priorities and a rigid time-table on specific areas to accelerate regional growth and development.
Tough choices will have to be made and soon – But as Buju Banton reminds us – “It’s not an easy road.”
Without the political will and the concerted action by Regional Stakeholders – Governments, Opposition Parties, the Business Sector, Labour, NGO’s, the media – CARICOM is in danger. It needs concerted action, simultaneously on all fronts so that it does not dwindle or fall into desuetude.
We must create a groundswell of support for integration in every Member State and Associate Member; build alliances of private citizens who are prepared to champion the cause of integration and create meaningful linkages between and among themselves.
I renew my plea of 2009 from Georgetown to combine all our endeavours “to move our Caribbean people on the path of economic prosperity and social progress to ensure that we fashion a Caribbean civilization embedded in strong regional consciousness and rooted in the promotion of human dignity for those who call the Caribbean our only home.”
Once again, let the voices be heard from Georgetown – Rally round the West Indies!
