Distinguished colleagues,
Distinguished Heads of delegations,
Mr. Secretary-General
Delegates,
Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
Ladies and Gentlemen.
The Government of Suriname is pleased and honoured to host this First Extraordinary Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations.
The Third Special Meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee comprising Hon. Ministers responsible for Legal Affairs and Attorneys-General of the Caribbean Community was convened in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago from 25-29 January 1999 under the distinguished chairmanship of the Hon. Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, S.C., Attorney-General of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Secretariats of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) will play host to a delegation from the Dominican Republic in Guyana as a lead activity to the Caribbean-US Forum on Trade and Investment which is scheduled to take place in the Dominican Republic 16-18 March 1999.
The delegation from the Dominican Republic will, on Friday 29 January 1999 have a series of meetings with officials from both the private and public sectors in Guyana as well as with the Deputy Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Dr. Carla Barnett.
The Fifth Meeting of the Caribbean Community's (CARICOM) Council For Trade and Economic Development (COTED) begins in Georgetown, Guyana on Thursday.
The President of Suriname and Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), His Excellency, Dr Jules Wijdenbosch on Thursday welcomed a four-member delegation from the CARICOM Secretariat led by CARICOM Secretary-General Mr Edwin Carrington.
This traditional Secretariat briefing of the incoming Chairman, took place at the Presidential Cabinet in Paramaribo, Suriname and the Secretary-General brought the Chairman up to date with current issues of relevance to the Community, which require his attention as Chairman.
A clear indication of the progress and direction of Caribbean integration can be gleaned from the fact that Suriname and Haiti both non-English speaking Members of the Community head vital institutions as the Region moves towards the new millennium
The PPP/Civic and the PNC have agreed that in an effort to speed up the resolution of issues agreed for discussions the leaders of each Party's Dialogue Team would meet as often as possible outside of the weekly Statutory Meetings of the Dialogue. These meetings of the respective Leaders are described as Bilateral Meetings. Any agreements reached at those bilateral meetings would be reported to the Dialogue and form part of the record of the Dialogue.
The CARICOM Goodwill Mission to Haiti, led by Dr. Kenny D. Anthony, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and Chairman of CARICOM, provided, according to Secretary-General Mr. Edwin Carrington, a unique opportunity for CARICOM to obtain a deeper appreciation of the Haitian political climate. This was critical, he said, given the negotiations being undertaken for the exercise by Haiti of its full rights and obligations as a member of the Community by January 1, 2000.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman Dr the Hon. Kenny D. Anthony, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia undertakes a Goodwill Mission to Haiti 7-9 December 1998. He will be accompanied by Secretary-General Mr. Edwin Carrington.
All Jamaica and the Caribbean mourn the passing of Honourable William Demas, O.C.C., on Saturday last in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
The late William Demas had already reached the highest echelons of official service in Trinidad and Tobago, when he embarked on the wider mission of the drive for Caribbean integration.
He was at one and the same time a propeller and an anchor for every meaningful advance in the process of regional integration.