BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AT the recently held CARICOM grouping’s Biannual Summit in Paramaribo, Suriname, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister Denzil Douglas stated that the world in which CARICOM was born “is no more” and that geopolitical, socioeconomic, and other global stresses have caused "our operational landscape to be ever-changing and our problem-solving challenges ever more complex”, reported IPS News.
Their long-awaited report which was prepared by a team of independent consultants contracted by Caricom in 2010 to analyse the bloc's effectiveness and future prospects was made public.
The report was titled "Turning around Caricom: Proposals to restructure the Secretariat" and warned of a grim future, as the end of summit communiqué took the "firm view that the integration movement has continued to make great strides ever since the signing of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas" which governs the integration movement in 2001.
“Caricom, therefore, must continue to adapt and re-invent itself – never in terms of our undergirding values, purpose, and principles, of course - but certainly in terms of how we function, how we operate, the extent to which we are, or are not, efficient, effective, relevant with a sharper focus on being more results oriented,” Douglas said.
The site reported that he warned that Caricom must position itself to become more meaningfully engaged, while not subsumed, into other regional groupings.
There are specific reasons behind Douglas's concerns. The global economic crisis has hit the region hard, particularly as it impacts funding from traditional donors like the European Union.
The Caribbean Single Market and Economy, considered Caricom's flagship project, is a key area where progress has been slow.
The report said that if Caricom, now observing its 38th year, and other regional institutions continue to struggle for funds, they could collapse in another four to five years.
The report stated that the operating budget of the Guyana-based Caricom Secretariat has remained stagnant at just under 20 million dollars for the past four years, despite inflation and an increasing workload of international travel, commissioned studies and other tasks.
Requests for additional funding have been denied as member governments blame harsh economic times, the report noted, adding that many member countries are highly indebted and struggling to meet domestic and international commitments.
For example, Belize, the Central American Caricom member state, is the 13th most indebted country in the world and faces a schedule of rising interest rates over the next 12 months.
Suriname's President Desi Bouterse, who has assumed the chairmanship of the 15-member regional grouping, said that the in-depth analysis of Caricom institutions "must lead us to a better way of doing things, a faster response to false starts and wrong directions".
He acknowledges that the reform is a "tall order" even though "knowing the problem can only be a first step”.
"Friends, we have to face the fact that we, as elected officials, often use the shortage of financial means as an easy way out, when we choose to refrain from implementing programmes of a sustainable nature," he told his colleagues.
Prominent University of the West Indies Professor, Norman Girvan believes he knows what the problem is.
“The problem is, and has always been, with implementation; CARICOM decisions do not have the force of law, and there is no real machinery to ensure implementation,” he told IPS News.
The outline of the five-year strategic plan will be considered by the regional leaders when they meet in St. Lucia for their annual summit in July.
