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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-weight: bold">It is time, as Prime Minister Bruce Golding suggests, for there to be some open and frank discussions about the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and its future.</span>
For while we do not agree exactly with all that the Jamaican leader prescribes to be CARICOM's ailments, Mr Golding is correct that CARICOM now stands close to a precipice, in danger, in the absence of restraint, of going over the edge.
And that, Mr Golding acknowledged, in a speech on Tuesday, would be bad for all of us.
"I do not believe that any of us can believe that we are going to be better trying to swim in this Caribbean sea on our own," he said.
That Mr Golding said, even with provisos and reservations, embraces the unassailable logic of regional conglomeration, ought not to be taken lightly by his regional colleagues. For it is not too long ago that the Jamaican leader and his Jamaica Labour Party in Opposition were, at best, cool towards CARICOM and its notions of shared sovereignty.
<span style="font-weight: bold">
Issues undermining CARICOM</span>
Mr Golding this week highlighted two issues that he believes are fundamentally undermining of CARICOM: the discussion between Trinidad and Tobago and the members of regional sub-group, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States to form themselves into some kind of political union; and Dominica's membership of the Venezuela-led group, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, known by its Spanish acronym, ALBA.
The first, we think, is hardly an issue, except that CARICOM would become an eight-member and not a 15-member grouping - unless it is feared that Trinidad and Tobago would exert too much leverage. Competing with ALBA is more problematic, but Dominica is not a member of its military wing and the island's trade/economic preferences to ALBA can be no greater than its commitments to CARICOM.
There are three areas where Jamaica has real cause for concern, one of which Mr Golding dealt with only tangentially. The first is the complaint his government has raised about the egregious trade barriers faced by Jamaica, whose imports, including oil, from CARICOM in 2008 reached US$1.68 billion, against exports of a mere $66 million. Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Belize are the main, but not the only, offenders.
<span style="font-weight: bold">
Seamless economic space</span>
This newspaper has argued, and insists, that Jamaica would be within its right to retaliate if the misbehavers do not mend their ways. Our preference, though, is for CARICOM to operate as a rules-based organisation.
At this phase of the integration process, CARICOM is supposedly a single market, the second rung towards a seamless economy. Single markets and economies presume the free movement of the factors of production, including labour, which CARICOM is introducing on a phased basis.
Unfortunately, as Mr Golding pointed out, most member states, unlike Jamaica, have failed to meet their obligations. But more shameful is the threat, particularly by Barbados, to round up and throw out CARICOM nationals who allegedly reside illegally in the country. Guyanese, Vincentians and Jamaicans are the main targets.
This is not only an assault on a fundamental assumption of a seamless economic space but, more critically, it is a vulgar attack on the psychology of integration.
Golding is right, the leaders must determine whether they want the real thing rather than merely "mouthing integration".</div></div>
CARICOM rushing towards the abyss. (2009 June 11). Editorial. The Jamaica Daily Gleaner. Retrieved on June 11, 2009, from http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...cleisure1.html
For while we do not agree exactly with all that the Jamaican leader prescribes to be CARICOM's ailments, Mr Golding is correct that CARICOM now stands close to a precipice, in danger, in the absence of restraint, of going over the edge.
And that, Mr Golding acknowledged, in a speech on Tuesday, would be bad for all of us.
"I do not believe that any of us can believe that we are going to be better trying to swim in this Caribbean sea on our own," he said.
That Mr Golding said, even with provisos and reservations, embraces the unassailable logic of regional conglomeration, ought not to be taken lightly by his regional colleagues. For it is not too long ago that the Jamaican leader and his Jamaica Labour Party in Opposition were, at best, cool towards CARICOM and its notions of shared sovereignty.
<span style="font-weight: bold">
Issues undermining CARICOM</span>
Mr Golding this week highlighted two issues that he believes are fundamentally undermining of CARICOM: the discussion between Trinidad and Tobago and the members of regional sub-group, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States to form themselves into some kind of political union; and Dominica's membership of the Venezuela-led group, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, known by its Spanish acronym, ALBA.
The first, we think, is hardly an issue, except that CARICOM would become an eight-member and not a 15-member grouping - unless it is feared that Trinidad and Tobago would exert too much leverage. Competing with ALBA is more problematic, but Dominica is not a member of its military wing and the island's trade/economic preferences to ALBA can be no greater than its commitments to CARICOM.
There are three areas where Jamaica has real cause for concern, one of which Mr Golding dealt with only tangentially. The first is the complaint his government has raised about the egregious trade barriers faced by Jamaica, whose imports, including oil, from CARICOM in 2008 reached US$1.68 billion, against exports of a mere $66 million. Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and Belize are the main, but not the only, offenders.
<span style="font-weight: bold">
Seamless economic space</span>
This newspaper has argued, and insists, that Jamaica would be within its right to retaliate if the misbehavers do not mend their ways. Our preference, though, is for CARICOM to operate as a rules-based organisation.
At this phase of the integration process, CARICOM is supposedly a single market, the second rung towards a seamless economy. Single markets and economies presume the free movement of the factors of production, including labour, which CARICOM is introducing on a phased basis.
Unfortunately, as Mr Golding pointed out, most member states, unlike Jamaica, have failed to meet their obligations. But more shameful is the threat, particularly by Barbados, to round up and throw out CARICOM nationals who allegedly reside illegally in the country. Guyanese, Vincentians and Jamaicans are the main targets.
This is not only an assault on a fundamental assumption of a seamless economic space but, more critically, it is a vulgar attack on the psychology of integration.
Golding is right, the leaders must determine whether they want the real thing rather than merely "mouthing integration".</div></div>
CARICOM rushing towards the abyss. (2009 June 11). Editorial. The Jamaica Daily Gleaner. Retrieved on June 11, 2009, from http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...cleisure1.html
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