ROSEAU (CMC):
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says he is looking forward to his tenure as chairman of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping from July 1, predicting that the upcoming six months will be a “critical” one for the regional integration grouping.
Skerrit will take over from Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis when the regional leaders meet in Trinidad and Tobago early next week for their annual summit, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas that led to the formation of CARICOM.
Dominica was originally due to host the summit but instead allowed Trinidad and Tobago to host the event that will also include a formal flag-raising ceremony at the site where the treaty was signed on July 4 and the laying of a commemorative plaque.
“The next six months will be a very hectic six months. We have a number of critical engagements during that period of time,” Skerrit said, adding that would possibly include CARICOM-Mexico as well as CARICOM-Canada engagements.
He said in addition, the region will have to prepare for COP28, to be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 30 to December 12, as well as the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September.
“We have the Haitian issue to continue to confront and to see what kind of resolution we can find with the current state of affairs in Haiti, and to allow Haiti to resume its operations in a normal way,” Skerrit said, adding that CARICOM wants enhanced security for the French-speaking country.
“We have violence as a public health issue, and following up on the regional symposium that was held in Trinidad and Tobago and the actions we have identified to be taken to address the issue of crime and violence within the Caribbean Community.”
“So there are a number of important and critical engagements which will happen over the next six months under my chairmanship of CARICOM. There is a heightened sense of enthusiasm within the Caribbean Community. I think there is a spirit of working together in the Caribbean Community, and I think the future engagements of CARICOM certainly would be constructive,” Skerrit told reporters.
CARICOM comprises the countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, St Kitts-Nevis, Monserrat, Suriname, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Haiti.