Your Excellency, Mr. Bharrat Jagdeo, President of
Guyana
Distinguished Heads of Government of the Caribbean
Community
Distinguished Secretary General of the Caribbean
Community
The Most Honourable P. J. Patterson, Former Prime
Minister of Jamaica
Ministers of Government of Guyana
Ministers of other CARICOM Governments
Honourable Members of the Judiciary
Distinguished Delegations from CARICOM Member States
and from Regional and International organizations;
Reverend Members of the Clergy
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Specially Invited Guests
Members of the Media;
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is with great pleasure that I share with you
these brief words at this the Thirtieth Meeting of
the Caribbean Community here in Guyana, one of the
countries within the Region which I can proudly say
that I feel right at home.
I wish to thank the distinguished President of
Guyana for the warm hospitality extended to visiting
delegations. I am confident that the atmosphere will
contribute to a successful meeting.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Today, we bestow the Order of the Caribbean
Community on a most deserving son of the Region, the
Most Honourable P. J. Patterson. Therefore, I think
it is fitting that I commence my remarks by
revisiting a quotation on the CARICOM Single Market
and Economy from the Hon. P.J. Patterson in 2004. I
quote:
“A shared history and culture have provided a
strong foundation for the process in which we
are involved. Implementation of the CSME is
taking place at a defining moment in the history
of the Region's development. We all have a role
to play in ensuring that the Region continues to
provide good leadership in advancing the cause
of the CSME, thereby enabling us to reap
economic benefits.
We have faced challenges in the past. It is
up to each of us to see the new global economic
environment and the necessity to institute the
CSME not as a crisis but an opportunity, an
opportunity to thrive and achieve the long
sought-for development of our Region into a zone
of prosperity and financial security.” -
End of quote.
Today we meet at what can be described as a
watershed moment in history where the challenges of
the current global economic and financial crisis has
placed the region at the crossroads of survive or
perish. We are currently in the throes of a crisis
never experienced by a large percentage of the
Region’s population. Not since the Great Depression
of 1929 to 1933 has the world been so affected –
more so the small and vulnerable countries such as
the developing nations of this hemisphere.
As we gather as a Community, we must ensure that
the confidence reposed by our people in us as
elected leaders of the Region is not lost. These
times call for us as a grouping to restructure and
transform our economies in the interest of all of
our peoples.
As leaders, we will be asking our people to make
great sacrifices. We too will have a responsibility
to provide leadership which demonstrates a strong
sense of purpose, resilience and permanence as a
unit.
Our decisions and actions must be swift and our
efforts must be coordinated. If we are to emerge
stronger and better positioned nations, cooperation
must be our guiding principle. This I firmly believe
will enable us to realize the promise of a vibrant
economic future for every citizen of the Region.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
A week ago, Antigua and Barbuda became the third
country within CARICOM to sign on to the principles
of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas
(ALBA).
Antigua and Barbuda’s decision was based on
ALBA’s attractive features and advantages from a
hemispheric perspective and the significant benefits
for our citizens and residents that membership can
provide.
I wish to categorically state that Antigua and
Barbuda’s accession to ALBA does not in any way
signal a wavering of our commitments at the level of
CARICOM or the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean
States.
Our participation in ALBA is without prejudice to
our obligations under the Treaty of Basseterre, the
Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas and other proposed
economic and political alliances among member states
of the OECS and CARICOM, including the proposed
political integration arrangement between the OECS
and Trinidad and Tobago. It is my country’s belief
that our engagement in ALBA and PetroCaribe provides
opportunities for even higher levels of cooperation
at the sub regional level.
One such example is the plan of the Eastern
Caribbean countries participating in Petro Caribe to
establish Antigua and Barbuda as a central storage
and transshipment point before the end of this year.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
In Antigua and Barbuda's view, ALBA promotes
complementarity as an alternative to competition;
solidarity as opposed to domination; cooperation as
a replacement for exploitation; and respect for
sovereignty rather than corporate rule. Antigua and
Barbuda and, I am sure CARICOM, embrace these
principles.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
As we gather as sovereign nations of CARICOM, the
right of our neighbours in Honduras to choose their
government is being challenged. We must send a clear
signal that CARICOM firmly believes in protecting
and preserving the democratic institutional system
and the strict observance and respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms.
A climate of democracy must be allowed to
flourish in our hemisphere.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
An important agenda item for discussion here in
Georgetown is the issue of Climate Change.
For small developing countries such as Antigua
and Barbuda, which are frequented by natural
disasters, this item is of vital importance.
The international effort to address climate
change, which commenced in 2007 will culminate in
the United Nations Climate Change Conference in
Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009. It is
anticipated that the conference in Copenhagen will
conclude with a global consensus among the Parties
that should result in an ambitious and effective
international response to the problems associated
with climate change.
Any failure or delay to secure a consensus for
action on climate change will present significant
challenges in terms of the human, infrastructural
and financial impacts that countries will likely
face. For CARICOM, securing urgent, effective and
equitable action on climate change that is robust
and dynamic is the overriding global policy
challenge.
My Government believes that this agreement, if
executed within an equitable framework, is
inextricably linked to the broader global quest for
sustainable development for all.
Further, the overriding priorities for CARICOM
should remain poverty eradication and economic
growth in the context of sustainable development.
The impact of climate change is overwhelmingly
severe to the region and has started to threaten
development milestones achieved over a number of
years. This will continue to exert significant
pressure on existing island-nation vulnerabilities
that have the real potential to worsen
socio-economic condition.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
A successful outcome in Copenhagen is critical
for CARICOM. The stakes are high and the region
cannot settle for just any outcome. Rather the
“Copenhagen Agreement” should, at a minimum include:
1. Binding commitments aimed at halving world
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050;
2. A doubling of public investments in
low-carbon technology by 2015 and a significant
boost in funding from both public and private
sources to fight global warming;
3. Credible adaptation mechanism to enable
the most vulnerable countries to adapt to the
adverse effects of climate change; and
4. Measureable, reportable and verifiable
mitigation actions by developing countries
supported by adequate funding and relevant
technology transfers from the industrialized
countries.
Antigua and Barbuda looks forward to the
discussions on these issues.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
When we signed on to the CARICOM Single Market
and Economy, Antigua and Barbuda demonstrated
commitment to the regional integration movement as
elaborated in the Grande Anse Declaration of 1989.
We have been active participants in the CSME,
honoring most if not all our obligations, while
addressing administrative arrangements to facilitate
the provisions enshrined in the Treaty. This has
been done despite tremendous difficulties and
challenges given Antigua and Barbuda’s limited
resource endowment.
Before the CSME, Antigua and Barbuda was an open
frontier, welcoming our brothers and sisters from
across the Region to live and work and many have
continued to contribute to the growth and
development of our nation.
In short, Antigua and Barbuda has been practicing
a very liberal immigration policy for a number of
years.
However, this open and liberal immigration policy
cannot be sustained amidst the growing threats posed
by cross border criminal activity and the challenges
of the global financial crisis. Continuing this
liberal immigration arrangement is
counter-productive to my government’s policy of
providing the greatest good for the greatest number
of our citizens and residents.
We have played our part as forerunners of the
free movement of people in CARICOM, not only of
skills but mainly the ordinary man and woman from
across the Community who journeyed to Antigua and
Barbuda in the quest for a better life. Data show
that between September, 2008 and June, 2009, the
Immigration Department in Antigua and Barbuda
approved 14,318 applications from persons seeking an
extension of time to remain in the country. Some of
these applicants may have received multiple
extensions over the said period.
In respect of work permits, during the period
1998 to 2008, an average of 5,000 work permits was
granted on an annual basis.
Furthermore, during the period 1999 to 2008, a
total of 5,958 persons became citizens of Antigua
and Barbuda, which averages about 600 persons per
year. These figures do not include those persons who
qualified for citizenship under the Millennium
Naturalization Act which conferred citizenship on
over 3,000 individuals who were living in Antigua
and Barbuda legally for at least three years prior
to December 31, 2000.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
While Antigua and Barbuda will continue to
welcome our brothers and sisters to our shores, our
current immigration practices must be re-evaluated.
A closer examination is warranted in respect of
the capacity of our various socio-economic
institutions and infrastructure to adequately manage
the continued inflow of persons desirous of taking
up residence in Antigua and Barbuda.
At present, we are engaged in a series of
consultations with various interest groups,
including the various associations representing our
CARICOM brothers and sisters living in Antigua and
Barbuda.
Yesterday, the Ministry of National Security and
Labour convened an open consultation on this matter
to a packed auditorium, to receive input from
stakeholders while outlining the facts as they
relate to work permits and the immigration policy in
general. This is the beginning of the conversation
which will eventually lead to a re-designing of our
immigration policies, procedures, facilitative
processes and an amendment of the relevant
legislation.
While we seek to deal with this matter, we remind
the region of an undertaking given two years ago by
the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED)
and the Conference of Heads of Government to execute
a study to assess the socio-economic impact of the
free movement of individuals in Antigua and Barbuda.
It was recognized that Antigua and Barbuda was a
special case where thousands of CARICOM nationals
already reside, and as a result tremendous pressures
have been placed on the social and economic
infrastructure.
Regrettably, this study is yet to be undertaken.
This is a critical study and a priority for my
Government. We urged that all efforts be made for
its completion prior to Antigua and Barbuda’s
consideration of any further expansion of the
existing or the addition of new categories of
individuals moving within the meaning of Chapter
three of the Revised Treaty.
Despite our challenges, I can unequivocally state
that Antigua and Barbuda remains committed to the
principles of the regional integration movement. We
will not waiver in our commitment to agreed
obligations. However, the reality of the situation
calls for us to act responsibly in the manner in
which I have articulated.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
The next two days here in Georgetown will be very
important for us as leaders. We are called upon to
work together as one in the interest of the peoples
of the region which is the essence of our Caribbean
Civilization.
Working together, we have a duty to put the
interest of all of our people first. As my
distinguished colleague and friend the indomitable
Dr. Ralph Gonsalves wrote in his book The
Politics of our Caribbean Civilization:
"True measure of a civilization is not in the
individual efforts of distinguished persons, but
in the community of solidarity of the people as
a whole in the process of nation building, the
ordinary workers in agriculture, industry,
fisheries, and tourism; the professionalism and
extra efforts of health personnel … the day to
day travails of women in keeping their families
together and guiding their off-spring, the
struggles of the poor in addressing their
housing needs, with or without state aid; the
daily grind of ordinary folk in their quest for
greater democratic controls on the state
administration and for justice…."
The challenges ahead are great but not
insurmountable. Therefore, let us seize this moment
and move our Community forward.
I pray God’s guidance on our deliberations over
the next two days. May God bless all of our nations.
Thank You Ladies and Gentlemen.
CONTACT:
piu@caricom.org
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