Pay up!: CARICOM member states told
PAY your bills.
That’s the advice a local Cabinet Minister is giving to member states of CARICOM, with regard to meeting their financial obligations to various regional institutions.
Minister of Industry, International Business, Commerce and Small Business Development, Donville Inniss, made the call while delivering the feature address yesterday morning at the opening ceremony of the 32nd Meeting of the Council of the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) at the Accra Beach Hotel. The outspoken minister said he is deeply troubled about those member states that are not paying their dues as required. He said though he understands and appreciates the challenges that countries are experiencing, they should endeavour not to renege on their obligations, as the region’s success is dependent on everyone pulling their weight.
“I have been a Cabinet minister for ten years, I’ve attended many CARICOM meetings, engaged in some of the most robust debates with colleagues from other territories, only to find that those that are keeping the most noise have not paid their dues to the institutions. I have also travelled extensively outside of the region to meetings, sometimes you see Cabinet ministers and senior public officers from delinquent islands – delinquent in terms of their dues to regional institutions, and sometimes the fees due to regional institutions may only be US$5 000 a year, but the front of the aircraft are filled with officers at a rate of almost US$7 000 per seat, then you add to that accommodation in hotels and per diems and the shopping, etc., and I say well we got wrong priorities,” Inniss contended.
He added, “I hope those of you who are from other islands, and if Barbados is guilty I will take my licks when the media goes and investigates, but I hope those of you from other islands do send the message back to your senior staff and ministers and finance ministries and whoever – the region cannot move forward if the institutions we have established are not adequately financed by member states and it must start with member states paying their dues.”
An adamant Inniss made it clear that if countries can find the money to pay dues to extra-regional institutions, they have a duty for the sake of the region’s sustainability, to meet their regional obligations as well. (JRT)