CARICOM Needs A New Secretary General

The New Year ushered in the beginning of a new era in CARICOM with the retirement of Sir Edwin Carrington after 18 years as Secretary General of the CARICOM Secretariat.  Sir Edwin was the longest serving SG in the history of CARICOM.

Six months later, Heads of Government of the region still have not found a replacement, despite having met twice as a collective body. The region cannot afford to be without a Secretary General at a time when the validity and the relevance of CARICOM is being consistently questioned and scrutinized and where the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market has lapsed. The Chamber strongly urges the regional Heads of Government to give this matter highest priority and appoint a new SG within the shortest possible time.

CARICOM, along with the Dominican Republic (labeled CARIFORUM) recently signed the EPA with the European Union and is in the process of implementation.  A large part of this implementation depends upon effective internal organization and coordination within the region.  Initially the region wanted to have the EPA Implementation Unit housed in the CARICOM Secretariat, but this will not take place.  The Implementation Unit will now be headed by a Director General who is supposed to report to the SG of CARICOM.  The region needs an SG to oversee and coordinate this important regional process.

Within recent times there have been several public incidents that have caused the region to question the value and relevance of CARICOM.  All these issues touch in some way on governance and the inability of the Secretariat to push member states to implement the commitments undertaken subsequent to signing the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. The most glaring example of this is, six years after member states were supposed to implement the Single Market, fundamental components like freedom of movement have not been put into action. This, despite repeated mandates to the Heads of Government to move expeditiously to implement the outstanding commitments.

One of the critical roles of the SG, mandated under the Treaty, is to monitor and report on the implementation of Community decisions.   In a period of slow implementation there is a clear need to appoint a SG to oversee this. There have been discussions on reviewing the governance structure of the region with a view to strengthening the Secretariat to propel states to implement decisions. Another major function of the SG as stated in the Treaty is to identify and mobilize, as required, external resources to implement decisions at the regional level. The region cannot continue to have these discussions without the guidance of an SG.

Donors fund many of the projects in CARICOM and support the functioning of the Secretariat itself.  The absence of an SG erodes the confidence of the donor community in the CARICOM Secretariat as a secure place to invest money. This must be seen in a context of other competing regions and institutions vying for finite resources.

Many other reasons could be advanced for the need for quick selection of a new Secretary General of CARICOM. But, we believe the point has been made. This must be done for the survival of the regional integration movement, no less.