D’ca PM says Caricom must be more action-oriented

Caricom simply must become more action-oriented, insists Chairman of Caricom Roosevelt Skerrit. 

 

The Prime Minister of Dominica said the region’s resilience was being tested as never before, with state economies being battered by both the global financial and economic crisis and by natural disasters.

 

Noting that creativity and innovation had been placed at the forefront in order for states to survive, he stated that Caricom must put in place the building blocks to create even more opportunities going forward.

 

“Then it is up to us to be more action-oriented and use them effectively,” he added.

 

Skeritt reiterated therefore the importance of there being “a seamless market space connected by efficient and cost effective transportation”, and admitted his puzzlement that the essential infrastructure to facilitate movement towards an effective free trade area had not yet been completed.

 

“Why has it proven so difficult to move people, goods and services cheaply and efficiently around the Caribbean? Why is it cheaper to travel by air from Dominica to New York than it is to travel from Dominica to Guyana? Why are St. Lucian bananas cheaper in London than in Barbados? Why is it cheaper to phone a relative in London from Grenada than it is to phone a friend in St. Vincent? Why can’t visitors from England or elsewhere, be offered an attractive package of different tourism products that draws on the unique natural beauty of each Caricom state? Why can’t we use maritime transport to bridge the Caribbean Sea? There is no doubt whatsoever that the essential infrastructure to facilitate economic cooperation and growth in Caricom is incomplete,” he stated.

 

Addressing the recent Heads of Government meeting, he also posited similar questions on the promotion of an entrepreneurial and investor class through the growth of a vibrant private sector.

 

“Globalization with the use of modern technology by the new BRICS and MINT superpowers, to produce standard goods is making traditional jobs redundant.

 

The only way we can tackle the growing problem of unemployment, is to train a larger proportion of our population, especially our better educated/trained newcomers to the job market, how to spot niches in the global economy and create their own employment in the process of meeting the identified needs,” Skerrit noted. (JMB)