CARICOM: a failure of effective leadership

By Byron Blake, jamaica-gleaner GUEST COLUMNIST

Leadership - political, institutional and business - has failed the Caribbean integration process and people over the last decade in the thrust to move from common market to single market and economy and to cope in an unsympathetic global environment.

This became crystal clear to me in 2009.   Then, in the throes of the global economic and financial crisis, CARICOM political leaders refused to adopt and advance an innovative and internally driven strategy based on collaboration, Caribbean creativity and innate strengths.   They consciously and explicitly decided to go visionless and without a strategy to the international financial institutions to provide them with the solution to the crisis as it was manifesting itself in the region.

That, together with their retreat from the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), which should have been the strategic bulwark of the region in the global crisis, and increasing public cynical statements by leaders, caused me to fear for the Caribbean.   I, however, decided to avoid writing, or commenting, as far as possible, lest I added fodder for the cynicism of the general population.

Three recent pieces of writing have caused me to reconsider.   These are:

(i) Bits and pieces from Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves' letter to CARICOM's secretary general, Ambassador Irwin La Rocque,

(ii) Two articles by veteran Caribbean journalist and long-time integration observer Ricky Singh, and

(iii) The editorial in the Observer of February 29, titled 'CARICOM must be enlarged to survive'.

I fear that these are again laying tracks for debate, apportioning of blame, avoidance of responsibility and action and the further disillusionment of the population, especially the young ones.   I have, therefore, decided to break my self-imposed silence to offer a few suggestions for action.

Accountability and agriculture

First, political leaders, at their next opportunity, must make this short declaration, without preamble: "We are all culpable, we are all responsible for the state of the Caribbean economy.   We commit to work together to raise the CARICOM economic boat on which we are all adrift."

Second, political and business leaders must recognise that even with the various global crises, there are significant economic opportunities for Brand Caribbean.   Important here, are:

CARICOM has a large and unsustainable food-import bill.   In addition to this large and growing regional market, there is an insatiable international market for food - especially foods produced under environmentally healthy conditions such as those which still exist in the Caribbean.

Further, unlike the situation which prevailed in the 1980s, 1990s and the first half of the 2000s, when areas such as the Caribbean were discouraged and punished for indulging in food production, the international community is now encouraging and facilitating investment in agricultural production for food and other global benefits such as mitigation of environmental degradation and climate change; the provision of raw material for alternative energy; pharmaceutical and nutraceutical production; and for the achievement of several of the Millennium Development Goals.

Investment in agriculture is a private-sector, not budget-driven, activity. Leaders should agree unequivocally to operationalise the provisions of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.   This would give investors in agriculture, agro-industry and allied services rights to the resources and to invest as envisaged by the treaty.   Also, agree to immediately reconstitute the group which has been looking at agriculture for the past 10 years or so to include a much larger private-sector component.

Solving energy woes

Energy is critical to international competitiveness.   International competitiveness is one of the foundation objectives that differentiates the CSME from the 1973 Common Market.   In a region comprising small, closely located economies, international competitiveness can only be achieved and sustained by combining resources.

Leaders must accept that it is against the letter, intent and spirit of the Revised Treaty to use the existence of a natural resource in a particular jurisdiction to create competitive advantage over other members of the CSME.

A priority of the region should be to put in place an appropriately structured technical group to advise on how best to utilise resources such as the sun, sea and airspaces, fisheries, forests, bauxite, oil and natural gas to drive sustainable and balanced development.   Balanced development is a fundamental concept in both the 1973 and 2001 versions of the treaty.

Export Services

The CARICOM Secretariat has had in its possession, since January 2011, the final report of a study it commissioned on 'New Export Services'.   The study, among other things, recommended five broad areas in which the region can collaborate for immediate, spread and sustained benefits.   These benefits would include not just increased income and employment but the stimulation of the region's creativity and entrepreneurial talents, and the linking of the culture, music, athletic and sporting prowess of the young persons, especially in urban areas.

These recommendations require relatively small financial outlays.   In any event, the region is not short of financial resources for export promotion.   In addition to the resources it expends annually in areas like tourism promotion, it has access to more than €28.1 million from the European Union through CARIBBEAN EXPORT and US$40 million from the Inter-American Development Bank, the Canadian International Development Agency, and the Department For International Development under the Compete Caribbean Programme.   These are two relatively new facilities. The resources should be largely untapped so that governments should agree to direct their use to areas of likely greatest impact.

One of the priority recommendations relates to London 2012.   The basis of the recommendation is the serendipitous coincidence of XXX Olympiad, the Special Olympics and the associated Cultural Olympiad; the burst of the Caribbean (through Jamaica) on to the Olympic stage in London in 1948, followed by Helsinki, 60 years ago, and the expected excellence of the Caribbean in sprint events in London, based on performances in Beijing and Berlin.

Add to this the 50th anniversary of independence from Britain, of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and the 40th anniversary of CARIFESTA, together with the large Caribbean diaspora population in the United Kingdom, it creates a one-time opportunity to project all aspects of Caribbean life.   The spin-off benefits for creativity, culture, music, cuisine, investment opportunities, export potential, tourist attractions, and Caribbean people in general, would be tremendous.

This would not only create a lasting legacy in the UK but provide the basis for a Caribbean programme at the 2014 football World Cup and 2016 Olympics, both in Brazil.

Five months out from the Olympics, which opens on July 27, there is no Caribbean or even national programme to take advantage of the unique opportunity.   It is late.   But in the words of the chair of the Cultural Olympiad, "It is never late for a good idea."   A strong Caribbean participation was considered by her to be "a good idea".

CARICOM leaders must now resolve to work together and launch a specially selected task force to pull together a rescue programme.   This should be delivered within one month.   Pieces of work have been done and there are individuals who have worked with key persons in the UK side who were, up to late 2011, anxious to work with the Caribbean.   The task force would have responsibility to coordinate the implementation.

Third, political leaders must complete the implementation of some high-profile outstanding decisions.   In this regard, the full implementation of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

CCJ

The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is a financially costless act through which CARICOM leaders A drilling rig in the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago as depicted on gstt.org.   Byron Blake says that CARICOM member states should coordinate the use of natural resources to benefit the region  -  can demonstrate to the people of the region their seriousness about Caribbean integration.

In the 50th anniversary of the independence movement in the English-speaking Caribbean, leaders should resolve to make the CCJ their final court of Appeal.   Jamaica, with the largest caseload, and Trinidad and Tobago, the seat of the court, should complete the process before the end of the anniversary year.

Fourth, leaders must seek quick resolution or defusing of differences before they become disputes.

The Reverend Wes Hall will confirm that in 1971 when the prime minister of Guyana, Forbes Burnham, decided to ban Gary Sobers from playing cricket in Guyana, the then prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago presented him with airline tickets and a letter of apology, over Sobers' signature, to take to Barbados to Gary to sign and then to Guyana to Prime Minister Burnham.   Burnham accepted Sobers' apology; matter resolved.

Few but those directly involved knew about Eric Williams' hand in the resolution.

Fast-forward to today.   A misunderstanding between Chris Gayle and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has been left for a year to balloon into a dispute between Jamaica, the Jamaican prime minister and the WICB, with no intervention at leadership level - political business or civil.   Leaders must put in place mechanisms to resolve this and be vigilant in the future.

Fifth, political leadership must resolve to appoint institutional leaders based on proven competence and experience; provide them with clear mandates and resources; and hold them responsible.   In a time of crisis, a new secretary general has been in office for six months without issuing a statement of vision or direction.   This will not instil confidence in a region and an institution under siege.

Byron Blake is a former assistant secretary general of the CARICOM Secretariat. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.

March 4, 2012

jamaica-gleaner

Making the case for Caricom 'priorities'

By Rickey Singh:

AGAINST the backdrop of the recently reported "crisis" assessment of the Caribbean Community outlined in a document currently engaging attention by our Heads of Government, Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque now speaks of the region's economic integration movement in terms of being at the "crossroads" and of "a critical juncture" in its 38-year history.

Clichés?
Not really.

In his own manner of "telling it like it is", LaRocque, who has been secretary-general for just about six months — though he previously served as assistant secretary-general for trade and economic integration since 2005 — has chosen to share an optimistic vision for Caricom's future.

It's a vision that calls for an end to the setting of unrealistic goals and perceived slothfulness in implementation processes of decisions unanimously adopted; and with arrangements and mechanisms in place to effectively "meet the legitimate expectations of the people of our Community..."

The 56-year-old Dominica-born economist, who last year succeeded the retired Edwin Carrington from Trinidad and Tobago who served for 18 years at the helm of the Georgetown-based Caricom Secretariat, chose the event of a business luncheon, organised by the Guyana Manufacturing Association (GMA) as his platform last Wednesday to do more than correct what he views as some wrong perceptions of the Community.

Simultaneously he sneered at policy-making decisions that contribute to some of the cynicism and frustrations across the Community by the setting of unrealistic goals — most significant being target dates for attainment of a single market and the envisaged seamless regional economy.

LaRocque also challenged the Guyanese business leaders and, by extension, the regional private sector in general, to become more involved in partnership with governments, the Secretariat and related agencies and institutions to make a reality of the primary objectives of Caricom as outlined in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.

Facing the challenges

It is not without significance that LaRocque's address to the Guyanese business representatives came a week ahead of the two-day Inter-Sessional Meeting of Caricom leaders that begins this Thursday in Suriname with the future administrative architecture of the Community Secretariat as a major work agenda issue in facing up to the challenges confronting the region's integration movement.

Let me share with readers some highlights of his address:

It must be recognised that "meeting the legitimate expectations of the people of our Community has become more challenging at a time when the effects of the global economic crisis and financial crises, first felt in 2008, are still reverberating...

"I am not all suggesting that the malaise in which we find ourselves is only and totally due to the global crises; but it certainly has exacerbated it.   Also, it certainly has brought to the fore the need, once again, to take stock of what we are doing and how we are doing it; how effective we are, and are we delivering..."

Conceding that the Community "is not without a vehicle" for realising the legitimate expectations of the region's people, LaRocque contended that the CSME still remains as relevant today as when the idea was first conceived in Grand Anse (Grenada) in 1989.

"It still represents tremendous potential to achieve the goals of growth and employment and to provide business opportunities... But the CSME continues to be a work in progress which has been characterised by some as being slothful."

'No business as usual'

In recalling what he said last August in his inaugural address as secretary-general, LaRocque emphasised that "it could not be business as usual... this dictum applies not only to the Caricom Secretariat but to the entire Caribbean Community, in other words, to all stakeholders.

"This view has (now) been supported by the report of the team of independent consultants... There is just so much that can be done, given the realities (an allusion also to human and financial resources), and the time has come for us to cut our suit to fit the cloth with which we have been endowed...

"The Community needs to prioritise", he stressed, recalling that at their special retreat in Guyana last year the Heads of Government had agreed to do so with an approved list of priorities..."

LaRocque, who did not consider it prudent to give some idea of the "list of priorities", and may even be accused unfairly of attempting to rationalise perceived shortcomings of the Secretariat and Community's political directorate ahead of this week's meeting of Heads of Government, was emphatic in declaring that the current mode of trying to get everything done at the same time is inefficient and contributes to gridlock, the so-called implementation deficit... The role of the Secretariat in all this will be determined in large measure by the response of the Heads of Government to the report of the independent consultants...

"However," he stressed, "the view that all things Caricom are within the purview of the Caricom Secretariat is erroneous.   There cannot be responsibility without authority."

A harsh reality

"A critical element in going forward, therefore," LaRocque contends, must be a clear understanding that the Secretariat can no longer be all things to all persons.   If we are to be more effective, we must be focused and adequately resourced to play any role that is envisaged by our Heads of Government. Or, to repeat, we must prioritise in keeping with the resources available.

Well, so far as his argument that "there cannot be responsibility without authortity" is concerned, LaRocque, the seventh confirmed secretary-general of Caricom, would know that the West Indian Commission had offered specific recommendations to overcome such a problem in their 1992 report, and principally the proposal to have a management mechanism with "executive authority".

That harsh reality was confronted some 20 years ago. Since then, there have been numerous reports, as mandated by the Community's leaders, with specific proposals to enable the region's integration movement to achieve its defined goals. No luck for implementation.

Last year, as LaRocque has recalled, the leaders came up with a list of "priorities" for action, in the context of prevailing resources.   Instead, having effectively placed the flagship CSME project "on pause", it is doubtful that they will come forward at this week's meeting in Suriname with a much-needed positive response on "priorities" to arrest the spreading "crisis" situation in which the Caricom Secretariat seems to be functioning.

March 04, 2012

jamaicaobserver

Were OECS voices heard at the CARICOM heads of government summit in Jamaica?

By Ian Francis



It is approximately eight months since the summit of CARICOM heads was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Since then, Jamaica’s Bruce Golding has passed the torch to a struggling Tillman Thomas of Grenada, who might soon have to face a revolt of his National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Since assuming the chairmanship, Thomas has showed some interest in the organization and it will be interesting to watch how he handles the appointment of the new Secretary General for the Secretariat; appointment of a new Chief Justice for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and of course his own personal challenge of taking Grenada into the CCJ. These are interesting times and the region is watching closely.

The 56th Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) meeting recently held in Grenada seemed to have had great success. The only grumbling is that Antigua’s Baldwin spent too much time gazing in the skies hoping that the breakfast invitation from Barack and Michelle would arrive after a long pigeon journey from Washington to Mt Obama and then to the Botanical Gardens in Grenada. The pigeon arrived empty handed and a disappointed Baldwin lost interest in the Assembly.

With the growing popular uprisings in the Middle East, North Africa and Iran’s misguided decision to send naval ships through the waters of the Suez Canal, one can only assume that Washington is so engaged and concerned with these fast evolving events that the White House invitation will not arrive in the immediate future.

As Prime Minister Denzil Douglas of St Kitts and Nevis has stated, the leaders at the CARICOM inter sessional meeting that ended in Grenada recently needed to address their time in a process of careful analysis, deep discussions and the development of a strategic plan to guide the organization in future years. As Douglas lamented, he was hopeful that at the inter sessional meeting CARICOM leaders would channel their energy on the many issues facing the region.

While not dismissing Antigua’s concern about the popular uprising in Libya, the Republic of Haiti’s pending return by former president Aristide, who was kidnapped and forced into exile in South Africa, must be addressed by the region’s leaders. The despicable and vulgar action by the United States of America, which resulted in the abandonment of Aristide in a notorious and corrupt nation known as the Central African Republic, should have been strongly criticized by the CARICOM leadership.

Unfortunately, they went into mute mode and, like roosters, it took courage and principled leadership by former Jamaican prime minister; P.J.
Patterson to rescue Aristide from the corrupt African nation until South Africa was able to complete all logistical arrangements to welcome their new guest. PJ, Randy Robinson, Congresswoman Maxine Walters and others must be commended for rescuing Aristide from the Central African Republic.

The CARICOM leadership has no other alternative but to support Aristide’s pending return to his native Haiti. This is not the time to echo or repeat the voice of the United States State Department media frontline man P.J Crowley as to whether Aristide’s return will be helpful. Was Duvalier’s recent return to Haiti helpful? PJ Crawley should also give us a one liner about the State Department’s position on this notorious and repressive dictator whom the United States supported for many years. Aristide’s welcome must be hailed by our leaders to his native birth land and should even go further to ensure that the region becomes part of his security detail. This is the time to show the courage and leadership that Douglas called for and there should be no retreat. Aristide requires the region’s full support.

Since the rigged and shameless elections in Haiti. There are four frequent questions being asked about CARICOM’s Mission in Haiti. These are: (1) what is the specific role and purpose of the CARICOM Mission in Haiti? (2) What specific and concrete outcomes have been achieved by its presence and what specifically has the Georgetown Secretariat benefitted by virtue of their presence in Haiti? (3) Who is funding the CARICOM Mission in Haiti? (4) When will the Mission come to an end? What is the reporting mechanism? Who reports to whom and how are CARICOM governments engaged in this Mission? These questions need to be answered.

As the CARICOM inter sessional assembly became a reality in Grenada last weekend, there are still cries from OECS leaders expressing their concerns about uncontrollable crime and lawlessness in their jurisdiction.

At the Jamaica summit, Skerrit of Dominica and Spencer of Antigua suggested that Jamaica might be in a position to assist, given the nation’s experience with gangs and garrison control. Unfortunately, the suggestion fell on deaf ears. Many of the OECS have since retreated to their old colonial tactics of recruiting foreign sideline retired police officers to manage national security initiatives. The OECS region requires the active assistance and intervention of the More Developed Countries on crime and lawlessness in their jurisdiction.

In conclusion, drug interdiction and the presence of foreign fleets in our waters are important security measures; however, leaders need to identify other mechanisms that will rebuild capacities in our police forces and other security agencies. With a credible vision on crime, our leaders are also urged not to shy away from examining other key and important strategic security issues which include:

-- The role and function of IMPACS. Can this organization seriously contribute to the containment of crime and lawlessness in the CARICOM region or is it just another CARICOM regional organ that has found favour from foreign multilateral friends?

-- What can the Barbados based CEDERA contribute to crime containment and other national security issues? What direct and specific impact will the recent CARICOM agreement generate on crime and lawlessness in the region?

-- What is the current status of the Regional Security Service? Should this organization be re-examined or purged so thus resulting in a new and progressive organizational model that reflects global reality?

-- Can Jamaica assist in the restructuring of the Regional Security Service? How about Jamaica giving a secondment to the region by one of its capable national security team? Someone like Novelette Grant or Glenmore Hinds?

Crime and lawlessness need to be seriously tackled in the region.

Ian Francis resides in Toronto and writes frequently on Caribbean Commonwealth Affairs .He is a former Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grenada. He can be reached at info@vismincommunications.org

March 2, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

National self-interest and the absence of vision among CARICOM leaders are pulling the Caribbean apart

CARICOM: It's leadership that's needed
By Sir Ronald Sanders



There should be no doubt that the people of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are well aware that failure of the regional integration project to contribute to solving the urgent problems, which now beset their countries, is a really a failure of leadership.

In a thoughtful – almost despairing - column last week entitled “A new commitment to regionalism”, my friend and colleague, David Jessop, recorded his troubling conversations with “a wide range of Caribbean visitors on where the regional integration process is going”. He reported that “to a person, all were concerned that national self-interest and the absence of vision among leaders were pulling the Caribbean apart and removing any ambition for taking the regional project forwards”.

As I was about to write this commentary, I received an email from a distinguished and learned Caribbean person who has held ministerial office in the region and whose regional contacts are wide and diverse. The email said: ”The real problem is that there is no one among the reigning political class of vision and intellect sufficient to provide the leadership. There is, too, no technician of the calibre of (William) Demas or (Sir Alister) McIntyre. Additionally, the impact of the recession has left the politicians with no time for the integration movement. They are really pushed onto a survival path struggling as they all do with growing unemployment and serious financial problems both on their current and foreign accounts. The virtual abandonment of the integration movement is unfortunate, for a fully functioning, expanded and enriched integration will in the end be the buffer against some of the very problems which we are currently experiencing”.

And, therein lies the rub – there is a lack of understanding that a fully functioning, expanded and enriched integration could help to solve many of the problems that now confront CARICOM countries.

What the region needs now is more not less integration, for not one of its member countries – not even Trinidad and Tobago with its oil and gas resources – can hope to maintain its autonomy in a globalized world in which the rich and powerful are intent upon a new kind of dominance; one which marginalizes small countries whose concerns become important only when they coincide with the interests of the powerful.

The leaders of CARICOM, therefore, should be strengthening and sharpening the regional integration process as a vital instrument in improving the conditions of their countries individually and collectively.

But, the process has to start with a willingness by leaders to talk with each other frankly, openly and with empathy, and it has to be infused with an acknowledgment that they have side tracked the regional integration process, and must put it back on a main track because their countries need it. The conversation has to be underlined by a desire to reach collective decisions which take account of the circumstances of each in trying to achieve benefits for all.

The present media squabble over an announcement by those in Trinidad and Tobago who own and control Caribbean Airlines Limited (CAL) that it will compete with LIAT in some Eastern Caribbean destinations, and the response of the Prime Minister of St Vincent & the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, epitomizes the absence of dialogue at appropriate levels in the region.

One would hope that if the region now had a strong Secretary-General as the Chief Executive Officer of the regional movement, he or she would have stepped-in long ago not only to diffuse this issue, but to steer the leaders involved to a path of cooperation that could realize mutually beneficial objectives.

But the truth is that the regional movement now needs more than a strong Secretary-General, it requires a complete overhaul of the entire CARICOM machinery, beginning with a renewed commitment to regionalism by leaders. New priorities have to be set for CARICOM and many of its dead-weight issues dropped; both sufficient financial resources and appropriate skills have to employed to accomplish the priorities which must include strategic partnerships with the private sector and with international partners including China, India and Brazil to help crank-up economic growth through investment and employment.

All is not well in CARICOM. Indeed, much of it is ailing, and while the regional project weakens, all of its member countries are being left behind in the global race for betterment.

There are also some stark realities that should be confronted, not to jab accusatory fingers but to see how best these realities can be used to improve national economies and the region as a whole.

Here are some of the realities. Trinidad and Tobago has consistently maintained the smallest percentage of intra-regional imports, as a percentage of total imports, averaging less than 2 percent each year between 2004 and 2009 and valued at its highest point in 2008 at US$121 million. On the flip side, Trinidad and Tobago has enjoyed the largest increase in intra-regional exports from US$859 million in 2004 to US$3.2 billion in 2008 (source: Caricom Secretariat Trade and Investment report 2010). That surplus alone – which many regional producers ascribe to “unfair advantage” due to cheaper sources of energy – should encourage Trinidad and Tobago to work with its CARICOM partners to invest some of that trade surplus not in “give-aways” but in bankable projects that would bring mutual benefits to all.

A further reality is that Jamaica is the largest intra-regional importer, due in part to its larger population size. Jamaican manufacturers cry out about the unfair advantage of Trinidad manufacturers, but the CARICOM treaty allows Jamaican manufacturers to establish a manufacturing presence in Trinidad and to also take advantage of cheaper energy.

There are myriad ways in which CARICOM can benefit all its members, if there is a resolve to approach the regional project with a “can do” and not “will not do” attitude. And, there is much that CARICOM should be doing collectively. Tourism – the engine of economic growth for the majority of countries – is struggling and desperately needs combined regional action that it is not getting.

Here again are some facts: Between 1998 and 2008, tourist arrivals in CARICOM grew at an average rate of 2 percent per year while the world average was 6.5 percent per year. Arrivals in CARICOM fell to 5.96 million in 2008 from all time high of 6.16 million in 2007. The years 2009 and 2010 showed no improvement and introduced many new challenges. To revitalize the industry and to make it globally competitive requires regional creativity and regional action.

CARICOM needs strong leadership, a new vision and new and relevant priorities in a more dynamic structure. Only the leaders can begin the process of overhauling it for the benefit of the region’s people.

February 11, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International