-Trinidad PM restates commitment to CARICOM
Rising living costs and the need for an affordable intra-regional ferry service were among the major issues discussed by CARICOM Heads at their summit in St Lucia which ended yesterday.
Newly installed CARICOM Chair and St Lucia Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre yesterday said the four-day summit remained focused on delivering tangible benefits for Caribbean citizens.
Pierre said discussions centred on addressing rising living costs, improving consumer protection, reducing food imports, strengthening regional agriculture and advancing free movement within CARICOM.
He was at the time speaking at a press conference following the conclusion of the 51st Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government.
He announced that leaders agreed to accelerate work on an affordable intra-regional ferry service to improve passenger travel, facilitate trade and strengthen regional food security.
The conference also approved the establishment of a regional Blue Ribbon Commission on Artificial Intelligence to guide policy development while reaffirming CARICOM’s commitment to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and developing regional insurance and reinsurance mechanisms to improve disaster resilience.
Pierre also noted the admission of French Guiana as CARICOM’s newest associate member, following Martinique’s accession, while reaffirming the Community’s continued support for Haiti’s efforts to restore peace and democratic governance.
Much of the leaders’ discussion, he said, focused on the rising cost of living across the region, driven largely by imported inflation and volatile international oil prices.
Pierre acknowledged that governments had little control over world fuel prices but said member states had been sharing successful policy responses.
Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley said governments were exchanging experiences on reducing fuel taxes, freight charges and other import costs while introducing targeted assistance for vulnerable citizens.
She said Barbados had introduced a monthly cost-of-living allowance for pensioners and increased welfare payments while also making greater use of digital applications to allow consumers to compare supermarket prices.
She stressed, however, that reducing regional transportation costs remained critical.
“The major initiative that we want to be able to do is to reduce the cost of cargo for intra-island trade,” she said.
Assiduously
Meanwhile, Mottley disclosed that CARICOM was working “assiduously” to establish the long-discussed regional ferry service.
Pending the acquisition of privately operated vessels, she said Trinidad and Tobago had agreed to explore making one of its ferries available as a pilot project linking the southern and eastern Caribbean.
She said discussions involving Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Godwin Friday and herself would examine how one of Trinidad’s vessels could be deployed while regulatory arrangements, including mutual recognition of vehicle licences and insurance, are finalised. Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali had promised the quick startup of the ferry but this did not materialize.
Persad-Bissessar also highlighted several initiatives Trinidad and Tobago was prepared to share with CARICOM members, including access to a national prosthetics centre, the deployment of doctors trained largely at the University of the West Indies and specialised treatment at the country’s children’s hospital.
She reaffirmed that Trinidad and Tobago remained firmly committed to CARICOM despite concerns she had previously expressed over aspects of its operations.
“My position has not changed,” she said. “Trinidad and Tobago remains committed to CARICOM,” was a response to a specific question from a journalist in her country.
While acknowledging that she had raised concerns about the Community’s functioning, she said discussions during the summit had helped to “iron out” many of those issues.
“In a family you have issues… We raise them and try to find resolutions,” she said.
Earlier in the week the heads had announced a decision to refer the reappointment of CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett, which Trinidad had objected to, for judicial review at the Caribbean Court of Justice.
And St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Terrance Drew yesterday said that the long-term solution to the region’s recurring cost-of-living challenges lay in reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels.
He said Caribbean countries possessed abundant renewable energy resources, including solar, geothermal, wind and wave energy, and should invest more aggressively to stabilise electricity prices.
Drew said St Kitts and Nevis expected work on a 50-megawatt solar plant to begin within nine months while geothermal development could eventually generate up to one gigawatt of electricity, allowing surplus energy to be exported through undersea cables to neighbouring islands.
Venezuela and Cuba
The leaders also addressed humanitarian crises affecting Venezuela and Cuba.
Persad-Bissessar said CARICOM governments had coordinated emergency assistance after the recent earthquakes in Venezuela and that Trinidad and Tobago would dispatch a ferry carrying relief supplies.
Mottley noted Guyana had coordinated a shipment of 88 containers of relief supplies while Barbados had deployed emergency personnel and would send one of the region’s few certified field hospitals to assist Venezuelan authorities.
She said CARICOM maintained regular contact with the Venezuelan government.
Turning to Cuba, Mottley acknowledged divisions over wider political questions but stressed that CARICOM remained united in addressing the island’s humanitarian crisis.
She said Barbados had struggled for months to purchase baby formula for Cuba because international sanctions repeatedly disrupted payment arrangements, although the transaction had finally succeeded.
CARICOM, she said, remained committed to facilitating dialogue between Cuba and the United States while ensuring humanitarian assistance reached those in need.
The leaders also responded to questions concerning the reported disappearance of two St Lucians allegedly following an encounter with a United States navy vessel earlier this year. This was at the height of US strikes in the southern Caribbean against suspected drug traffickers.
Pierre said St Lucia remained deeply concerned about the loss of life but had received no information from US authorities despite repeated requests.
“As I speak, we still consider it a missing persons case,” he said.
Pressed by a journalist on whether the United States was obstructing the investigation, Pierre declined to respond but reiterated that no information had been provided.
Persad-Bissessar cautioned against characterising the incident as murder without supporting legal findings, saying Trinidad and Tobago’s investigations had produced no such evidence.
Mottley said Barbados preferred disputes to be resolved without loss of life but cautioned that the matter raised complex legal and geopolitical questions involving international law, military engagement and criminal justice.
Suriname’s Foreign Minister Melvin Bouva echoed calls for adherence to international law, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
Asked whether CARICOM had adopted a common position on recent United States requests regarding migrants and refugees, Pierre said leaders had discussed the issue but agreed additional information-sharing among member states was needed before arriving at a collective position.
He also confirmed that Citizenship by Investment programmes were not discussed at the wider CARICOM level because they applied only to a handful of member states, although countries operating the schemes continued to strengthen regulatory safeguards in response to concerns raised by the European Union.
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