Govt. to spend $39M on high-level CARICOM confab

Feb 12, 2017 News

Cabinet last Tuesday, approved the sum of a little over $39M for the hosting of the 28th Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque (Third from right); Officials of the CARICOM Secretariat (Seated on right) and Officials of the Guyana Government, paying rapt attention as CARICOM Chairman, President David Granger (third from left) makes a point during Friday’s briefing in Georgetown (www.caricom.org photo).

This important confab will be held on February 16 and 17 in the capital, Georgetown, and will see high-level officials of member states participating.
The host country will present the draft CARICOM Arrest Warrant Treaty for ratification at the meeting.
At Friday’s post-Cabinet press briefing, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said that the adoption of this Treaty will simplify the procedures by which fugitives from justice are returned to participating member states to face criminal prosecution or serve judicial sentences.
The Treaty is one of the regional security instruments that was formulated to enhance cooperation between member states in the fight against crime and to reduce the complexity, cost and delays in the existing extradition arrangements inherent in the Region.
Guyana will also be recommending the signing of a draft agreement to establish the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) at the Heads of Government meeting.
“This agreement is geared at addressing several areas including energy security, energy access for production use and climate change mitigation,” Minister Harmon.
Additionally, Guyana will be submitting the draft Rules of Procedures for meetings for the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM. The CARICOM Secretariat was mandated at the Thirty sixth Meeting of the Heads of Government, held in July 2015, to prepare the draft rules of procedure for meetings of the Conference of Heads of Government.
Guyana will host the Conference in accordance with a rotation schedule approved by the Conference of the Heads of Government with the President of Guyana, David Granger, as Chairman.
On Friday, President Granger and his team were briefed by the Secretary-General of CARICOM, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque on the upcoming events.
The President’s team included Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Greenidge; Ivan Evelyn, Head of Protocol Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Audrey Waddle, Director of Foreign Affairs, Sharlene Phoenix, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Guyana; Neville Bissember, Adviser, Office of the Secretary-General; Charmaine Atkinson-Jordan, Chef-de-Cabinet, Office of the Secretary-General; Ambassador Colin Granderson, Assistant Secretary-General, Foreign and Community Relations, CARICOM Secretariat; and Mr. Joseph Cox, Assistant Secretary-General, Trade and Economic Integration, CARICOM Secretariat.
The conference will be held almost seven months after Guyana hosted the CARICOM’s Heads of Government Thirty-Seventh Regular meeting where decisions were taken on a wide range of matters. It was disclosed that amongst the matters for immediate attention was an intensified public education campaign, aimed at all levels of the society in Member States, to highlight the benefits and provisions of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

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