A SUMMATION OF OUR COMMON THREADS MESSAGE BY HON. DR. KENNY D. ANTHONY PRIME MINISTER OF SAINT LUCIA ON THE OCCASION OF THE FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY This week, Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, meet in Trinidad and Tobago for another CARICOM meeting. This time, our meeting has a difference. We will be celebrating forty years of CARICOM in the country in which the historic Treaty of Chaguaramus was signed. CARICOM’s fortieth anniversary gives us all an opportunity to celebrate our Caribbean region, its people, its heritage and its institutions. Our Caribbean Community has evolved over the years and remains the oldest, continuous regional grouping at this time. CARICOM Day, July 4, represents the passion of our regional leaders in realising the summation of our common threads into a tightly knit people, undivided by the seas, unsullied from concepts of race, religious or discrimination, unmoved in our commitment to one another. A SINGULAR PURPOSE Despite newly found political independence, coming together forty years ago at Chaguaramas must have meant to Errol Barrow, Forbes Burnam, Michael Manley and Eric Williams a reconsecration of the Caribbean Civilisation to itself, towards a singular purpose. In 2013, the CARICOM we have, is stronger in numbers. We can now parade fifteen flags of full and associate member countries aside our community standard. We can act as a sizeable voting bloc in international fora. We are no longer just a grouping of English-speaking countries, but are multi-lingual. We represent a combined population of over 16 million, a combined economy of over 100 billion US dollars, and over 430 thousand square kilometres of land area. Our net figures suggest strength, wealth and opportunity. THE GLUE THAT HOLDS OUR REGION Even with regional institutions such as West Indies Cricket, the UWI and a cacophony of C-acronyms such as CCJ, CARDI, CARIRI, CEHI, CDERA, CXC, and CCCCC – so many Cs its best referred to as 5Cs – even with all these necessary institutions, we know that people-to-people and business-to-business will be the glue that holds our region together. This is why issues of easier travel, trade, telecommunications and free movement of people, goods and services, continue to be of paramount importance. This is also why events such as CARIFESTA, scheduled to be held in Suriname this July, are festivities that should be shared throughout the region by modern technology. ANOTHER AGE OF CHALLENGES As our region moves forward, we know that every age has its challenges. Ours should not be an age of bigotry and insularity. Rather, I would like to believe that we have sufficient tools and will, within the Caribbean, to turn our challenges into opportunities, to redefine where we must, to come together under our common banner. The world forty years ago did not have as many global powers. It is generally a more equal, more connected space. We know, though, that our world is a competitive arena with globalisation and growth of the south being powerful agents of change. THE CLOCK TICKS ON We too in CARICOM must have an outward gaze to see how we can relate with the new world, with the centre of gravity shifting south towards Latin America, Africa and Asia. We too in CARICOM must be willing to make changes and sacrifice for the common good. CARICOM, its Secretariat and its institutions, therefore, must be responsive to the needs of its member states as the region’s clock ticks on. BEING A CARIBBEAN PERSON I hope that every Saint Lucian might take some time off to reflect on the value of being a Caribbean person, of being a product of the Caribbean. We must all play our part. And our pride is justified in our successes, in our ability to struggle through oppressive times, in our music and culture, in our learning and our expression, in our diversity and in our similarities, in our creativity and our innovation. May the Caribbean Community continue to grow and find renewed value in the minds and lives of all the people of the Caribbean. Happy 40th Anniversary, CARICOM!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 16:30:40 +0000
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