Salutations
President Aristide has submitted his resignation as the President of Haiti and has left the country for an undisclosed destination. We are bound to question whether his resignation was truly voluntary, as it comes after the capture of sections of Haiti by armed insurgents and the failure of the International Community to provide the requisite support, despite the appeals of CARICOM.
Salutations
I was deeply honoured to receive the invitation extended by President James to be the guest speaker at this important event in the Rotary calendar. I was especially pleased to learn that the theme was_ “Lead the Way”, since leadership means having the opportunity to serve people in a special way.
Andrew Carnegie once stated_ “Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory”.
CARICOM Secretary-General Mr. Edwin Carrington has welcomed the introduction of legislation by the Government of Belize to change its constitution to allow for the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
A bill was introduced in the Belize Parliament on Friday 6 February to replace the United Kingdom-based Privy Council with the CCJ as the Central American CARICOM Member State’s final court of appeal.
CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – A World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council meeting was convened, February 11. There was consensus in the General Council on chairpersons for various WTO bodies.
Barbados’ representative to the WTO, H.E. Ambassador Trevor Clarke, is set to take up the chairmanship of the Committee on Trade and Development. A considerable amount of the WTO’s work on trade and development issues takes place in this Committee.
The Revised Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund (the Revised Agreement) entered into force on Tuesday 27 January 2004 on signature by ten (10) of the CARICOM Member States. The States that have signed the Revised Agreement to date are Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, both signatories to the original Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice Trust Fund, are expected to sign the Revised Agreement shortly.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Immigration Officers will participate in a Train the Trainer Session on 11-12 February at the CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana. This activity is the second phase of a project aimed at training Immigration Officers on issues pertaining to the free movement of persons, a critical component of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been following with deep concern the reports out of Haiti that armed groups opposing the continued presidency of Mr. Jean Bertrand Aristide have taken control of several towns including GonaĂŻves and St Marc. The accompanying violence has caused the death of a number of persons including policemen.
CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – The Seventeenth Meeting of the Free Trade Area of the America’s (FTAA) Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) ended inconclusively, the evening of February 6. The five-day meeting of Trade Vice-Ministers, from thirtyfour nations in the Americas, was held in Puebla, Mexico, February 2 to 6.