Construction, Fisheries, Transportation high on regional agenda
By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WHILE the global financial crisis continues to take its toll on some of the world’s largest economies, Heads of Government of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have been placing much attention on their construction, fisheries and transportation sectors with an aim to encourage increased economic activity.
In a joint meeting with the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) Monetary Council, held in Basseterre, St. Kitts January 15-16, contingents of Prime Ministers and Ministers of Finance from all OECS Member States constructed a regional response to better enable countries to weather the ongoing global financial downturns.
The meeting emphasised the importance of the construction sector to recent economic activity and it was opined that this sector was important in leading the region’s recovery effort.
Chairman of the OECS Authority, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Hon. Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said, “We felt that the construction industry has grown up significantly though haphazardly and we want to see if we can make it even more dynamic. [In this sector] we have to pull things together and work in a coordinated sense so that we can continue to drive the economy.
We have to keep this sector going because a lot of people are working in construction and it has made a significant contribution to the economies, particularly those which are moving from goods-based to service-based ones.”
Dr. Gonsalves informed that an urgent meeting will be convened in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in March 2009, involving officials from the all the relevant stakeholders from the public, private construction and banking sectors, Caribbean Development
Bank (CDB) and the ECCB to craft a strategy for ensuring that the construction sector makes a greater contribution to the effort.
PM Gonsalves indicated that the fishing sector was identified as one of the transformational industries which required particular attention in order to realize the significant contribution which could be made to the economic growth prospects of the member countries.
“The seascape of the OECS is larger than its landscape and we have not been using it scientifically. We are not necessarily addressing the associated issues of climate change; we are talking about our common fisheries regime and the vale-added industries in relation to the fishing industry. We are preparing for a meeting of all the relevant stakeholders from both public and private sectors.”~~Adz:Right~~
A regional response in relation to transportation was also a focal point of the meeting. Representatives of the Member States acknowledged the deficiencies which currently exist in the movement of people and goods across the region and the importance of an efficient transportation system to the sustainability of the tourism sector and to food security.
It was therefore agreed to mandate the OECS Secretariat to explore with the Regional Councils of Martinique and Guadeloupe opportunities for expanding the fast ferry service which currently includes Dominica and St. Lucia to other OECS member countries.
Member States will also continue to monitor a fast ferry initiative being led by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, currently being developed to service OECS Member States.
The meeting agreed that work should be accelerated towards the establishment of the OECS Distribution and Transportation Company (ODTC) mandated by the Monetary Council and spearheaded by the ECCB. Member governments were urged to consider partnering with the private sector for the ownership of vessels for the development of a viable sea transportation sector and agreed to the establishment of a regional Regulatory Commission to oversee both air and sea transportation.
The joint assembly also agreed that there was need for greater collaboration between the regional airlines to improve the efficiency and reduced cost of regional travel.
