CONSUMER CONCERNS…SALVATION OF INDIVIDUAL CARIBBEAN STATES LIE IN UNITY

Jul 09, 2017 News

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PAT DIAL

Last Monday, CARICOM DAY, was celebrated in Guyana with a public holiday. CARICOM is one of the most important institutions in Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean but many, especially the younger generation, tend to take it for granted and know very little about it.
In the 1960s Britain was withdrawing from her Caribbean colonies and granting them independence. In withdrawing, Britain always tried her best to leave them with strong institutions so that they could develop themselves economically and politically.
As part of her withdrawal plan, she wished to have her former West Indian colonies united in a Federation. Thus was formed the Federation of the West Indies. One of the strongest intellectual proponents of West Unity was the Guyanese Sir Shridat Ramphal and he served as Attorney General of the Federation with his famed brilliance.
Unfortunately, the Federation foundered for a number of reasons, the most important being that the Federation was regarded as an imposition from the top without full democratic involvement in its creation. The various newly independent colonies were again thrown on their own and West Indian people intuitively understood. The enlightened leadership of the big four- Jamaica, Trinidad , Guyana and Barbados – acutely grasped that tiny Caribbean states in the post World War II era could make no economic progress and would be ignored as ciphers by the rest of the world. The former West Indian colonies had to have unity for their own individual salvation.
Accordingly, the leaders of the big four, Norman Manley of Jamaica, Eric Williams of Trinidad, Forbes Burnham of Guyana and Errol Barrow of Barbados, met in Trinidad and signed the treaty establishing the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). Soon, the other Caribbean states joined and there was a sense of relief throughout the West Indies.
CARIFTA was recognized as being too limited; there was a desire for greater and stronger unity. This manifested itself in the signing of the Treaty of Chagaramas in July 1973 establishing CARICOM – a Caribbean Community. Manley, Williams, Burnham and Barrow were again the kingpins and eventually all the Caribbean states joined.
CARICOM – the Caribbean Community, over the years has had many important achievements. Many of these had become so much a part of our lives that we do not relate them to CARICOM. We shall mention some of these, not necessarily in chronological order.
There is the CSME, the CARICOM Single Market and Economy which has become of vital interest to the business community and to consumers since it brings in goods and services from the Region and is changing the pattern of Caribbean international trade.
Then there is the CARICOM Passport which everyone now has and which makes travelling much easier. The Caribbean Examinations Council- CXC – has successfully replaced British examinations and has revolutionized Education at the secondary level.
The establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice – the CCJ- has further rooted the Common Law in the Region and allows for the development of a Caribbean Jurisprudence. Though some states are still not members of the CCJ, the trend is for them to join as they realize the high quality of Justice the Court has been dispensing.
The Caribbean Development Bank – CDB – has become one of the Caribbean’s main lending institutions and has funded several successful economic projects.
The Caribbean Council of Legal Education – CLE – has successfully replaced the British system and has the responsibility of training Lawyers and licensing legal practitioners throughout the Region. The overwhelming majority of Caribbean lawyers are now Caribbean-trained and this has strengthened Legal Education and the Rule of Law in the Caribbean.
The Meteriological Institute and Organization has been able to keep Region which is subject to hurricanes and earthquakes warned in good time of any impending disasters. Such timely warnings have resulted in saving much property and many lives.
There are many other valuable CARICOM institutions and the complete list would be too lengthy to mention here, but we must mention CARIFESTA which has been showcasing and stimulating Caribbean Culture.
The value of Caribbean unity is recognized throughout the Region even among the non-English-speaking territories such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic who are now associate members of CARICOM. Suriname, which is Dutch-speaking, is a full member. But the idealism of the founding fathers who aspired after a unified Caribbean nation in a unified Caribbean state has faded and conflicts between Caribbean states have become more common now than in the past.
The main reason for this apparent stalemate in progress towards unity is that there has been a marked resurgence of local nationalisms.
The momentum towards the goal of unity could again be recaptured if the demands of local nationalisms are recognized, reasonably satisfied and subsumed in the march towards unity. All mainstream and informed opinion firmly believe that the social, economic and political salvation of the individual states lie in a unified Caribbean.

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