Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit Thursday said he does not anticipate ‘any real issues’ regarding the controversy surrouding the reappointment of Belizean Dr. Carla Barnett as the Secretary General of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping.
‘The issue of the Secretary General, I don’t expect any real issues. I mean, the reality is every country has a right to express their view on who should be the Secretary General. The Secretary General post under the current arrangements with CARICOM does not require a unanimous decision,’ Skerrit told a news conference here.
Dr. Carla Barnett
Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who has confirmed her attendance at the July 5-8 CARICOM in St Lucia, has said that Port of Spain will maintain its position and not recognise Barnett after the expiry of her current term in August.
She said Trinidad and Tobago has formally communicated its position to regional leaders arguing that the re-appointment did not comply with the requirements of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
But Skerrit told reporters that the re-election was ‘ a simple majority’ vote and that ‘we’re hoping that this does not cause any distraction from the crucial issues affecting the Caribbean people….
‘I don’t want to go back on details today. But we all know the issues affecting our citizens, every single citizen in the Caribbean, and I’m hoping that we can spend time discussing those issues and coming up with collective action that we can take to continue protecting our citizens from the cost of living challenge that we have been faced.
‘So these are issues that I believe we should preoccupy our minds with security of the region, et cetera, et cetera,’ said Skerrit, who also announced that he is to travel to neighbouring French island of Martinique to address the Joint Session of the Caribbean Regional Security Conference before travelling to Castries.
Skerrit told the news conference that his visit to Martinique is also to participate in the Conférence de Coopération Régionale Antilles-Guyane, where regional leaders will discuss disaster preparedness, climate resilience, transportation, security, health and sustainable development.
‘While there, I will also address the Joint Session of the Caribbean Regional Security Conference on the evolving security challenges facing our region, including border security, cybersecurity, disaster resilience, food and energy security, and the protection of our democratic institutions,’ he added.
Skerrit said that he would also travel to St. Lucia to attend the four-day Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit where regional leaders ‘will consider several important regional priorities, including security, food production, climate resilience, renewable energy, regional transportation, economic integration, developments in Haiti and youth development and of the highest priority the cost of living which is affecting every CARICOM country’.
Skerrit said that Dominica, will during the four-day event ‘continue advocating practical regional solutions that strengthen resilience, deepen Caribbean integration and improve the lives of our people’