CARICOM Secretary-General, Edwin Carrington today vehemently denied statements attributed to him in an Agence France Presse (AFP) report of 22 June on Haiti's relations with the Community.
Mr. Carrington is reported by AFP to have said that the Prime Minister of Haiti's Transitional Government, Mr. Gerard Latortue needed "to reconsider his country's withdrawal from the regional organization" and that "Haiti has to recreate the atmosphere which it destroyed."
Citing a recent study by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Health Economic Unit and the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (CAREC), which estimates that by next year Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago could lose between 4 and 6.4% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a result of the impact of HIV/AIDS, Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Mr. Edwin Carrington on Tuesday thanked the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for its assistance to the Region's HIV/AIDS programme.
Chairman, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tourism, International Trade and Transport of Antigua and Barbuda Honourable Ministers, Secretary General, Representatives of the CARICOM Secretariat, Distinguished Delegates, Members of the Media.
On behalf of the Government and people of Trinidad and Tobago, it gives me great pleasure to welcome delegates to Port of Spain and to the Fourteenth Meeting of the Community Council of Ministers. As you are aware, Trinidad and Tobago did not hesitate to host this Meeting when the request was made by the Secretariat.
The Community Council of Ministers of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the second highest Organ of the Community, held its Fourteenth Meeting on June 18, 2004 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Opening remarks were delivered by H.E. Mr. Edwin W. Carrington, Secretary-General of CARICOM; the Hon. Harold Lovell, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tourism, International Trade and Transport of Antigua and Barbuda, who Chaired the Meeting; and the Honourable Knowlson Gift, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago.
We, the Ministerial Representatives responsible for trade, meeting in Georgetown, Guyana, on the 3rd and 4th June, 20041, examined the state of progress in the negotiations in the World Trade Organisation [WTO] based on the mandates of the Fourth and Fifth Ministerial Conferences held at Doha and Cancun respectively with a view to identifying common elements for a G90 platform as a contribution to the G90 Ministerial Meeting scheduled in Mauritius on 12-14 July 2004;
The Special Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD): Culture was convened at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat Headquarters, Bank of Guyana Building, Georgetown, Guyana on 2-3 June 2004 under the Chairmanship of the Hon. Edward Hart, Minister of State in the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago.
The Participants of the UK/Caribbean Forum, meeting in London on 11 and 12 May 2004, took note of a report from Belize in relation to the ongoing process to reach a just, equitable and permanent solution to the territorial differendum between Belize and Guatemala within the framework of the Organisation of American States (OAS).
Esteemed Prime Ministers;
Secretary General of CARICOM, His Excellency, Dr. Edwin Carrington;
Honorable Ministers and Attorneys General;
Other Members of Delegations;
Other Dignitaries_
It is a singular honour for Antigua and Barbuda to host this historic meeting of the Bureau of Heads of Government. As the newest kid on this block, I beg your indulgence should any lapses into local realities during my remarks be seen as representing any affront to protocol.
The Seventeenth Meeting of the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) with participation by the Core Group on Haiti, was held at the Office of the Prime Minister, St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda on 4-5 May 2004, under the Chairmanship of Hon. Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda and Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government.
A US$9 Mn World Bank Grant Agreement to support the work of the Caribbean Community-led Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) was signed on Wednesday, 28 April 2004 during the Opening Ceremony of the Tenth Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), being held at the Tobago Hilton, Trinidad and Tobago.
Signing on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was H.E. Mr. Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of CARICOM, and on behalf of the World Bank Ms. Caroline Anstey, Director, Latin America and the Caribbean Region.