Dear Editor,
It is observed that at the opening of the Annual Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) on July 4, that presenters on matters relating to advancing Caribbean integration are taking the position of calling for action. It needs to be said that as heads of government, the presidents and prime ministers are empowered to act under the Caricom Treaty, charters, and each nation’s respective laws, in keeping with the duties and responsibility of the offices held.
Caribbean countries are no longer colonies requiring a call for action from elsewhere (the Crown). Caribbean peoples are no longer colonised whereby they have to call on the Crown to act in keeping with their welfare. Heads of government are in charge of the day-to-day business in their respective countries, and their party or group holds significant sway in the legislature. It means that in addition to day-to-day administration of the government they can also proceed with making laws to advance integration. Heads of government are not leaders of the opposition or minorities, lacking control of the executive.
Calling on others to act when you are empowered to act has become a new fad of the heads of government and executive, and it should cease. This was never a practice of the heads of government of yore. It can be recalled that Forbes Burnham, Eric Williams, Errol Barrow, Michael Manley, Vere Bird Sr, Eugenia Charles and others came to Caricom with a vision, shared it with the region’s peoples, engaged stakeholders, and moved to act. Most of the time the political work was done before the convening of the conferences, which were used to fine-tune proposals and make decisions; and then the leaders returned to their respective countries for implementation.
What the integration process needs in order to realise the objectives set out therein, is for the heads of government to recognise that they have the power to act on the things they are calling for action on. Heads should use the muscles that come with the offices they occupy, and bring before the Region a plan of action they will embrace, having done preparatory work, and making it known to the respective arms of Caricom tasked with getting the job done.
It is the absence of political will and commitment to the integration process that is responsible for many decisions taken not being implemented by the respective members. A lot of work has been done by the technicians, but beyond the work prepared, implementation, which the politicians are in charge of, has been slow.
The Region’s peoples can only act based on clear guidelines and in the context of enabling environments which the heads of government have the responsibility to ensure. The peoples await leadership and have been calling on the respective governments to act, notwithstanding the fact that some have taken initiatives to proceed on their own to make integration work.
Yours faithfully,
Lincoln Lewis
