Dr Ralph Gonsalves

When he assumed chairmanship of Caricom six months ago, Manning had assured that all the territories of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States would have met their June 30 deadline of signing on the to CSM.

This accord is meant to open up the region's markets to one another, a precursor for the economic unification expected to be engendered by the onset of the CSME, which is scheduled to come into effect by 2008.

Two weeks ago, after he returned from a whirlwind trip to the Caricom countries, including Guyana and Suriname where Manning had told the Suriname press that the CSM would come off, the outcome of heavy deal-making on his part.

But the setback, unanticipated, came last week when St Vincent Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, wrote to Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington, setting out a condition for his country and the five other OECS territories,to sign on to the CSM-that the Aliens Land Holding Act be retained.

This Act bars foreign nationals from owning lands in these territories for anything but business purposes, and it was expected that, in the unification spirit of the CSM, it would have been abolished.

~~Adz:Right~~In his response dated June 27, Carrington agreed that the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which enables the CSM, "does not provide for unrestricted access by Caricom nationals to land in member states".

He counterproposed though, that it should be retained only if "it's s coupled with an administrative mechanism to monitor the granting of access to land and assessment of the conditions of the access, to ensure compliance with the Treaty".

Gonsalves agreed to this condition, and, in an interview on Friday, he was on the defensive, saying as far as he is concerned, there are several valid reasons why this Act should especially be upheld in the age of free market in the region.

Key among them, he said, was the fact that "frankly, St Vincent and other OECS countries have very little to benefit from the CSM".

Gonsalves said the Aliens Act protects these countries from losing limited commercial and arable lands to rich foreign nationals. It is one of their few insurance in the CSM trade agreement, which, he argues, the OECS could do without at this time.

"We don't have oil to sell to you (the economic powerhouses like Trinidad and Barbados), we have very little manufacturing and there is of course some agricultural trade but we did all these things before the CSM," he said.

In fact, in pointing out that several other, existing Caricom trading agreements duplicate that of the CSM, Gonsalves ~~Adz:Left~~effectively noted that the CSM may not even be necessary at this time.

"The CSM is not going to bring about some dramatic change, you know," he stressed.

"All you are doing is cutting off a series of restrictions," he added.

As for the argument that the Act is contrary to the unifying spirit of the CSM, he bluntly dismissed it. "It's a single market, not a political union."

Meaning that each country still has the duty, he said, to protect its own economic interests.

But sources said some finance ministers of other territories are questioning the veracity of these statements, at least one such minister last week said that the CSM will force regional prime ministers to review their spendthrift economic policies, and that is why they were against signing on.

Not so, said Gonsalves. He maintained that compromises were necessary, but at the end of the day, it was Caricom's superpowers that will benefit from the CSM, revised economic policies or not.

Another significant element of the CSM agreement, Gonsalves said, was that of the US$250m regional Development Fund.

Caricom countries are supposed to contribute US$120 million to this fund, which is supposed to buffer the negative effects of the free trade market to the weaker economies in the region.

"The question of the contribution formulae to the fund is one which is still a work in progress," Gonsalves said, adding that he "anticipated" at this week's Heads of Government meeting, "it will be finalised".

Sources said this too, could be used as a bargaining powerpoint against the OECS countries, if the Heads decide to challenge them on the Aliens Act.

As Caricom's richest nation, it is expected that Trinidad and Tobago will pick up the bulk of the RDF's contribution, but Gonsalves again insisted that this was not unfair for a country that benefits mainly from Caricom trade, and stands to benefit almost exclusively from the CSM.

The Vincentian PM strongly denied, though, that this professional disagreement had affected his relationship with other Caricom heads in particular, his "good friend" Manning. He said too, that the problems have been solved, so the perceived rift in Caricom was no longer a reality.