Suggesting that it cannot be business as usual at this 48th Regular Meeting of the Heads of Government Conference, Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley – the CARICOM chair – placed the free movement of Caribbean peoples at the apex of any necessary changes which must be made.
With the heads of the United Nations, the Commonwealth and the European Commission in the audience, she told the gathering: “We have a responsibility to reform this institution. We have spoken for too long as to the need for independent funding mechanisms, whether it is a cess on imports, whether it is an issue of a small fee for all border passings, people coming in and out of our borders, or whether it is the assignment of renewable energy like licences to CARICOM and our regional institutions, the time is upon us for settling the independent funding of this Caribbean Community.
“In addition, we need to review the governance mechanisms, and to recognise that there may be a need for a greater political voice alongside the administrative structures of CARICOM as we have come to know it over the last few decades.
“I pray, as we reflect on the urgent need for cooperation and unity, that above all else, we shall continue to see our people, up front and centre.”
Mottley said that if CARICOM as an institution of regional unity is to be fit for purpose in the 21st century, decisions may need to be made now for such changes.
“Freedom of movement of the Caribbean people is at the centre of who and why we are here. And I trust and pray that we can leave Bridgetown with clarity on this objective,” she told the gathering that included UN Secretary General António Guterres, Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The prime minister also addressed the rising cost of living, arguing that the time for talk must be replaced by results.
She said: “The issue of cost of living continues to bedevil too many of our people, and we run the risk that our traditional sources of food, may become more difficult to access, because of the climate crisis, and because of decisions on the movement of labour. And to that extent, while we have spoken at length always, about creating new sources for imports, while boosting our production regionally, we can no longer speak about it, but it must become a reality, because food and water are the new oil of this 21st century.”
The climate crisis, the regional educational system, resilience in difficult times and the need for partnerships were briefly reflected in her speech as major concerns which have to be tackled head on.
“We know what it is each summer to have to hold our breath and to wait and to hope that this [natural disaster] is not going to be our turn. The only way we will make it through these difficult times, is if we are prepared to be more unified and bolder than ever,” Mottley said.
She thanked President von der Leyen for attending the conference because “in this world of grave difficulties confronting us at all levels, partnerships across the world will be important, if we are going to survive the many challenges that are not unique to any one region, but indeed, hold all of us in a very, very difficult position”.
Prime Minister Mottley also pointed out that education in the region is in “shambles”. “And the quicker we come together and coordinate the reforms that are necessary for it, the better we will be, because we cannot build out this region with the old educational systems of the colonial systems that are hierarchical in nature and ignore the reality,” she said.
The prime minister was adamant that there is no better time than now for fellow heads of government to open their hearts and minds to each other and reach common ground on the issues before the people of the region.
“What is required of me as chairman,” Mottley said, “is to ask each and every one of us, to make that commitment to expose our hearts and minds, and find common ground and common purpose, so as to ensure that as the world starts to fall in ways that none of us expected 20, 30 years ago or even 10 years ago, that we can hold a centre, recognising that we will always, always, always be stronger together.”
The newly elected Premier of Montserrat, Reuben Meade, and CARICOM Secretary General, Carla Barnett, also focused attention on taking action to make the integration movement fit for purpose.
“In order for us to make meaningful change, we need to review the CARICOM institutions, and we can do that using local resources,” Meade contended.
Barnett said action is being taken to make the Single Market work more efficiently by simplifying the process of amendment of the Community’s Rules of Origin to allow “us to more effectively respond in a changing trade environment”.
