And while the CARICOM afternoon session had to be conducted without
the benefit of air conditioning, the official opening this morning went off
without a hitch. The 20th Inter-Sessional meeting of the CARICOM Heads of Government
is a major regional event – particularly during the global financial crisis.
CARICOM Secretary General Edwin Carrington and Chairman, Prime Minister Dean
Barrow spoke of the difficulties CARICOM is experiencing as a consequence of
the collapsing U.S. Economy. He said it is affecting Belize, primarily in the
tourism sector.
Edwin Carrington, CARICOM Secretary General
“Our major industry tourism has been severely affected, even within
its most lucrative winter season period. This has led to negative spin-off effects
in related industries and activities. Our remittances are fast becoming pittances.”
Hon. Dean Barrow, CARICOM Chairman
“Hovering above us like an incubus there is the current global economic
and financial crisis. To posit that it should act as a spur rather than a deterrent
to consolidation of our CARICOM destiny is one thing. To actually manage our
processes in such a way as to make the worth flesh is quite another. When we
do our stocktaking here in Belize there will be much to ponder. To sketch the
problems that continue to face us is not a discount to progress already made.
In addition to the continued free movement of goods, there is now the free movement
of capital and of services in our community. Too much though remains to be done
for us to be long detained by self-congratulation. The philosophical and practical
difficulties loom large and the trick now is consolidate the gains of the single
market while picking our way carefully forward to the establishment of the single
economy. No one will doubt that this is a proposition more easily stated than
achieved. Indeed regional chatter has of late become especially gloomy; journalistic
predictions especially dire. The notion has even advanced that Belize’s
magnificent barrier reef may well prove to be the symbolic shoals on which CARICOM
runs aground. But reports of our death are an exaggeration. Instead let the
restorative powers of this land, the elixir of its ancient civilizations work
their magic. We must come away from this meeting with the renewal of energies
and the reaffirmation of purpose that our CARICOM citizens both demand and deserve.”
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