The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat is enhancing the regional Public Education Programme for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) with a series of communications events beginning in Barbados this week.
Press Releases
CARICOM Heads of Government met on 2 and 3 March 2004 in Kingston, Jamaica, in an emergency session to consider the situation in Haiti.
The Heads of Government expressed dismay and alarm over the events leading to the departure from office by President Aristide and the ongoing political upheaval and violence in Haiti. They called for the immediate return to democratic rule and respect for the Constitution of Haiti.
With the passing of the former Prime Minister of Barbados Sir Harold St. John, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat will open a book of condolence for signature on Friday 5 March 2004 from 9_30 a.m. to 4_00 p.m.
The book will be located at the office of the CARICOM Secretariat, 3rd Floor Bank of Guyana Building. Representatives of the Government of Guyana and other Dignitaries, as well as members of the Diplomatic Corps have been invited to sign the Book. In addition, members of the public are also invited to visit the Secretariat to sign the book.
The Caribbean Community has lost one of its most outstanding sons with the passing of Sir Harold St John.
The former Prime Minister of Barbados served his country and the Region with an unwavering commitment for more than four decades during which his insightful and incisive views were of tremendous benefit to both country and Region.
Sir Harold had outstanding achievements in both politics and the law, particularly when he came to office as Barbados’s Prime Minister at a traumatic time in the nation’s history.
Allow me at the outset to extend my congratulations to you on your leadership of the Security Council during the month of February. Your diplomatic skills and gracious style have obviously ensured smooth and effective handling of the various matters which have come to the Council. I had the pleasure of visiting your great country just over a week ago and was impressed by its progress and its economic development as well as its strong support for multilateralism and the international system.
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.