o
CnntcoM Prns PECTIVE o o
a o o o o o o a o a o o o o o o a o o o a o o o o o o a o o a a a o
Issue No. 68June 1998
ISSN
025+ 962X
SPECIAL FEATURE
Caricom
Tlie Communitv restructuring for the Millennium.,.. 2i
PERSPECTIVE ?a-
.,^",ivry/1fi) ffi,ln +.n*o'rm
!
FEATURES
a -,v "&1l}
-
cDB..... ............. .........33
Securiw and stabiliw in
Linking knou'ledge rvith
small states,..,,.,
.....60
educaticln.......,..,.,...
.
. . ..
... .... ..... 6t
The challenges of ntember:hip
The changing geopolitics of the CARI-
-0
frrr Haiti,.......,..,.......,....,.,.........,,.
TRADE RETATIONS Design and
lav<.tut:
I{ark Lee, NLA.RVAI. Barbados.
Covel design: IQthrvn Daniel.
The Caribbean Contmunitv and external
Caribbean telecommunications in the
negotiations.,............ )
globalcontext,........
The Free Trade Area of the Anleric-
Telecommunications: Kev element in the
as..,.,..........,.,.....
........... .. ....8
Regional air transportatton
.. ......
18
Region's future.....,.......,....,. 20
13
WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT ..
Achievement. contracliction ancl
Beijing Plan.,.. .. .
contplcsitv........
Surinamese rvomen in politics...., 83
.. . .. .... ... . .. 80
The flag of thc Caribbeln Conlnrunitt' featurcs a blue backgnrunrl-the npper part being ofa liglrt blue representing the
skl and the lower part a dark blue represerlting Caribbean Sea. The i'ellow circle in the centre
ofthc
the
flag rep-
rcsents the sun.
INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT A nen'agenda for C'\RICOII.
in
hlae
k i. thl lss. of tltt Crrilrbun
Communitv.
..
The Rt Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers - I{is-
3
sion accomplished.,.,,.,....
Sir Philip Sherlock - A great vision for
A personal perspective ofN{ichael Man-
.. 36
ler'..,..,.,....,.
integration.....,., ............
eotion of the Region.
The Rt Hon Vere C. Bird (Snr) -The
kticles mal
be reproclucecl in part
ol nholh nith dlrc cred'
it given to the publication. CAzuCOIU PERSPECfIW
is published once a verr
and
ers in the Conlnunin.
.''.'., '..'.'.,.'
+9
The Assembh' of Caribbean Contmunitr
Grand Olcl \{an of Caribbean Poli-
Parliamentarians..........,..,...'3
tics....,.,..........,.,...................39
Tonard a final Regional Appellate
H.E. A.\.R. Robinson - A recorcl
reports on the rvolk. achievcments and pnllllenls of the Calibbean Communitr'. and is issued free of chalge to reacl-
. +i
Tribute to Caribbean stalNafis:
Thc nerros ring ofgreeu arouncl the sun lepresents dle veg-
Court,.,.........,... . .... .. .... .... . .. ..... .
of
sen ice to tlte Rcgiort.....,.......,.,......
+
9i
I
YOUTH, SPORT & ARTS V'est Inclies cricket on the brink...
i3
Book revierv: Worthwhile goals..,. 90
Published br: Thc C.\RICO\4 Sectetrriat
Youth challenging the future.......,.
i-
V'hen the \{oon Laughecl
Communication L,nit.
Dream ancl a realitv of unitv: These
Bank of Guvana Building. P.O.
Bor
IslandsNo\\'..........
1082=. Georgetown, Guvana. S.A.
....... ....... 8i
Drums and Colours...,....,.... .. .. . .. 89
O
o a o
COtrI Caribbean ............... 62
A vision for CARICONT and the
oFr a lltc irttcll, r krrrq l.F o o o a o o o o o o o a o o o
CONTENTS
ar
Ganapati.....,,
... ..... .. .. .. 92
.\rbushed bl ntemories.....,. inside back cover,
Pdnted br: Cole s Printen Limitccl
Vilder.
St
llichael. Babados. u'1.
JUNE 1998
Pug"
,
a
CnntcoM PrnspECTtvE o o a o a
A NewAgenda
O
For Carrcom he challenges faced by CARICOM at this juncture emanate
not only from hemispheric developments. In its traditional European theatre of economic, political and social interaction the f'ast approaching millennium brings with it new tundamental challenges to the old order. The Lom6 Convention. which for the last quarter of the century
expected
to govern those
relations,
post 2000. First of all, like the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the new arrangements will have to be designed against the background of a World Trade Organisation rules-based trading system.
The indications
of the nature of
these differences - loss of preference, prior political commitment
some
of
with stringent
democratic human
rights and Rule o[ Law requirements. reciprocal trade relations, less exclusive relations, pose major questions fbr the region - the answers to which will need to be in harmony with the initia-
tives
in this hemisphere of
which
CARICOM is a part. The complications brought about
+
regional market from which CARICOM countries can launch the export drive, which they must, if they are to
Edwin
Corrington
survive much less prosper. But the single most critical pillar
+
on which CARICOM's future. nor merely its trade relationships, depends
is the thrust towards its development for the post-Lom6 IV successor agreement between the EU and the ACp countries is scheduled to be launched in September 1998 - that is five months following the launch of the negotiations for the FTAA. Wedged between those two negotiating challenges facing CARICOM is the WTO negotiations in a number of critical areas. Following on the WTO
Singapore Ministerial Meeting of December 1996, the WTO will be holding its next Ministerial meeting in Geneva within a month. On that agenda are issues of great relevance to both the FTAA and the post-Lom6 IV nego-
tiations. For those and other reasons, CARICOM cannor affbrd the luxury of non-participation or indiff'erence to such meetings.
CARICOM recognises the virtue
of CARICOM
Heads of
Government and involves a fundamental revision of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which creared CARICOM. To date more than half of the nine protocols designed to amend that Treaty are virtually ready for signature
by CARICOM Heads of State
and
Government at their upcoming Nineteenth Regular Summit to be held in Saint Lucia in early July. That Summit which will mark the 25th Anniversary of the Caribbean Community will see the signing of the Protocols on Industrial Policy (Protocol III), Trade Liber-
alisation/Common External Policy
Countries, Regions and Sectors (Proto-
"Caribbean Basin" approach to devel-
JUNE 1998
Declaration
col VII).
decision
ol'the Americas was launched at the just concluded Second Summit of the Americas and according to the new Chairman of the process Canada. lt is rheir intention ro move at a brisk pace and to record significant progress by the year 2000. At the same time. the nesotiations
advancement by 1999. This undertaking to create a single economic space emanates fiom the 1989 Grand Anse
around the Caribbean. Following its
opments. The negotiation
Trade Area
into a Single Market and Economy - an
objective slated fbr significant
of diversifying its trade and economic relations; most critically by forging linkages with its neighbours in and
by these various challenges are intensified by the timing of the various devel-
fbr a Free
O
the other and with the WTO. They also serve to provide a broader and stronger
had
embodied the trade, aid and development relationship between CARICOM countries and Europe, expires at the end of February 2000. Arrangements ol'a fundamentally dilTerent nalure are
o o a o
in
1992
to adopt a
more
opment, CARICOM has sought
ro
strengthen its trade and economic relations with neighbouring countries by
embarking on and concluding agreements with Venezuela. Colombia and the Dominican Republic. All of these external trade and economic relations must, of course. be consistent one with
(Protocol IV), Agricultural Policy V) and on Disadvantaged
(Protocol
The first two Protocols dealing with the creation of the new Community Structures of Unity and Governance of the Caribbean Community (Protocol I) and with the Provision of Services and Movement of Capital and the Right of Establishment (Protocol II) have already been signed and Protocol I is already in force. Wirh the signing of the fbur Protocols envisaged
o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o O O
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CtntcoM PrnsPECTtvE O
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O a o O o o O O O a O O O O o a a ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; : a ; : o ? :o :o :o o o o
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develop economic,
for July, three would remain
for signature - on TransPort Policy (Protocol VI), on Disputes Settlement (Protocol VIII) and on Rules of Competition (Protocol IX) to complete the TreatY Revision process for the creation of the CARICOM Single Market and EconomY.
and CARICOM. The meeting
CARICOM but has
aPPlied
for membership of the 7l member African. Caribbean and Pacific Group of States which is in co-operation with
number of critical issues facing CARICOM
and their resolution maY in
many waYS amount to a redefining of the Community itself and of the way it conducts its affairs. A random choice of three of these issues exemplifies this situation.
The recent initiative bY CARICOM to help bring about a resolution to the post-December 15 electoral political crisis in Guyana has marked a new development bY CARICOM as it seeks to pursue democracY in a Member State. Arising from this. many are calling for a Permanent Electoral Advisorv body as Part of the Commu-
nitv's arsenal of instruments. Given the universal priority attaching to the
of
democratic principles. includins the observance ot' Human Riehts a-;d the Rule of Law- the possi-
Uitltv of this development may not lar ott.
be
The Community has alreadY taken direction when in 1997. it adopted a non legally binding Charter oi Ciuit Societv lnshrining communi-
a steo in this
tv-wide norrnu,iu. moorings for
nouarn*an,, and governed
last
of the Commission
took place in Havana in December 1997. Cuba has not sought membershiP of
A
observance
trade,
technical. scientific and cultural relations between Cuba
of
the the
L,ommunltv.
This recent enhanced political role
of CARICOM is also evident in the efforts by the CommunitY to helP arrest theihreat of political succession bv Nevis in the Member State of St. Kitts and Nevis. Another domain in which a redefi-
nition of the role of CARICOM is emerging is in the area of juridical
the 15 Member EuroPean Union through the Lome
Kingdom. Recent develoPments tn both the UK and in the Caribbean
trade, aid and development co-operation agreement. The Caribbean sup-
seem set to bring the curtain down on
ports that application.
this historical piece of the Region's legal structure. The present Government
of the
United Kingdom has indicated that consequent on its subscription to the European Convention rendering capital punishment unacceptable, it found itself in an undesirable position of sustaining a legal structure which is required to impose capital punishment
in
accordance with the laws
of
the
countries of the Caribbean Community. The UK sees the resolution of this
conundrum
in the establishment
CARICOM States
of
bY
alternative
arrangements and has said so. The CARICOM countries for their part have just about reached the end of a long process of decision-making as
regards
the
establishment
of
a
Caribbean Supreme Court with final appellate jurisdiction for the States party to the Court. It is hoped that this court will come into effect in time for the new millennium. The third and final issue, to which I wish to make reference, is the position of Cuba in CARICOM relations. One cannot avoid Cuba if one is faced with the task of Caribbean development. After all, Cuba is a major Caribbean State.
structures. For most of the CARICOM countries, the final court ofAppeal has
CARICOM countries established diplomatic relations with Cuba in
historically been the Privy Council special Committee of Law Lords of the House of Lords of the United
December 1972. Since then that relationship has been enlarged into in a Cuba-CARICOM Commission to
Cuba's continuing absence at the table of the Summits of the Americas is a source of concern to CARICOM and some other Hemispheric States. These concerns have been PubliclY expressed as well as the hope that the recently concluded Second Summit would be the last such occasion'
It is this general concern
with which region, the Cuba's position in has also led some CARICOM voices to call for Cuba to move to what has
been called "Post
revolutionarY
democracy". CARICOM does not presume to be able to solve the issue of Cuba's hemispheric relations, but it can neither deny, escape nor ignore it and therefore urges the search for a solution through constructive engagement and respect for political diversity, rather than exclusion and embargo. These three examPles Point unmis-
takably to an evolutionary process taking place in CARICOM as it PrePares internally and in its external relations to face up to the challenges of the 21st century.
Edwitt Carrington is SecretaryGeneral of CARICOM. This is an
I
excerpt of an address delivered by Secretar\'-General Carrington to the Genercil Assemblv of the Org,anisation of
Anterican States.
)( JUNE 1998
o
CnatcaM PrnspEcrtvE O
The Caribbean Community and
External Negotiatrons /
A Zl
s the Region approaches
rhe
twenty l'irst century important
\negoriations have
commenceci
with old "friends" and potentially new allies that promise to greatly influence the Caribbean's future development prospects. In an era of unprecedented trade Iiberalisation stimulating a proliferation of f'ree trade arrangements at
the global, hemispheric and subregional levels the Caribbean has to strategically reposition itself in the international economy. The paper analyses the underlying factors behind
the fundamental changes in the global economy and summarises the Region's strategic response.
Globalisation and Liberalisation Rapid technological changes in a variety of areas e.g. information technology has influenced firms to locate different aspects of the production process in separate locations to maximise advantages across countries. This has resulted in the globalisation of the production process as production is increasingly not located in a single location. Globalisation has resulted in the emergence of the global corporation that globally sources its inputs and sells its outputs. Because the production of any sophisticated product today consists of a series of different activities in differ-
ent countries, developing countries seeking to improve their technological
capability and increase employment
will
have to attract foreign investment. case of the Caribbean countries
In the
JUNE 1998
the liberalisation of capital flows and
+
more generally, the process of econom-
ic liberalisation.
In short, economic liberalisation is not a fad but is strongly interrelated
Arnold Mclntyre
+
striving to achieve international competitiveness and expand exports, foreign investment is critical to integration into the global economy. The globalisation of production has encouraged countries to look beyond their national boundaries for markets for goods and services, supplies of inputs and investment. Consequently, there has been a global trend towards increasing economic liberalisation as countries seek to remove the barriers or restrictions in goods, services and cap-
ital.l Countries
are attempting to
extend their economic space beyond national boundaries.
The strong underlying trend of globalisation that is fuelling the process of economic liberalisation means that the process is not likely to be temporary or reversible. The process
is sustainable even if the momentum ebbs and flows. The liberalisation of capital markets and the unprecedentedly high levels of capital flows that exist in the global economy means that there is access to a large pool of capital to finance the globalisation process. The
revolution in telecommunications and informatics technologies has facilitated
with the process of globalisation. There is no alternative to adjustment to globalisation. The issue in the adjustment path and the policy choices that countries or groups of countries must make to accelerate development in a liberalised global economy. Trade Liberalisation
Multilateralism: The global trend towards liberalisation, particularly trade liberalisation, was clearly manifested in the new GATT/WTO Agreement in 1994. The unprecedented gains in trade liberalisation in manufacture
and agriculture and the inclusion of services in the multilateral trade agreement is indicative of the influence of the new liberalisation philosophy. The GATT/WTO Agreement accepts the principal tenets of the economic liberalisation theory that argues
that the liberalisation of markets
-
goods, factor, capital, financial markets etc. will foster growth and accelerate development. Therefore, free trade is
good for all countries 2 - lurg" or small and developed or developing - one only needs to ensure that the playing field is "level" by implementing a common set of rules and procedures. The
GATT/WTO Agreement
is a set of
common norms and rules to manage the multilateral trading system across a wide range of areas including goods,
o a a o o o o o o o o o o o o a a o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o a o o o o o o o o a a O
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3Cnntcom PrRsPECrtvE o o
O a O ; a ; : : : :O o
; a a a ;
::
services, trade-related investment mea-
sures, intellectual property, trade laws and disPute settlement.
An important feature of the evolv-
ing international trade policy is establishment of reciprocity on
the the
basis for trade arrangements between countries - developeJ and developing and largc o, .*ali. subsequcnt to the wTo ,igreement reciprocal trade with
.*."otio"n, lbr the Least Developed 3 Countries (LDCs) has replaced spe-
cial and differential treatment for developing countries. The developed countries are committed to the tenet of reciprocity on the basis of trade with
""'t flt^TittnT8'T;,.emenr
is
seen as the "benchmark" for FTAs and discussions are now casr in terms of
: :o WTO compatibilitY and WTO Plus u..unn.rn.n,r. Therelbre, the tiame:o work'of the WTO Agreement and the and rules contained in the o norms Asreement provide the basis for hemisub-regional and bilateral ? o ,pieri. r-rer. o The adootion of a multilateral rules trading system was supposed to based :o orovide prit..tion for developing o countries ueuinrt unilateral trade policy O actions bv- industrialised countries. O However, the recent decisions of the O WTO, notably the ruling on the EU o banana reeime. call into serious quesO tion whether the WTO Agreement is o compatible with "fairness" or "equity". O The case highlights the fact that the O WTO Agreement must include approO priate arrangements to take account of O the special circumstances of small, vulO nerable economies. O This can be done by either creating O a new category of states in the agreeO ment or by widening the definition of o LLDCs. It is an urgent matter that small countries must bring to the atten'O tion of the WTO and be prepared to O present a strong intellectual case for a o revision of the wTO Agreement. o
O O O O
Regionalism
As countries seek to expand their economic space beyond boundaries there has been a resurgence in regional
negotiator' Sir Secretary-General Edwin Carrington in consultation with the region's Chie{ Shridath Ramphal. trade agreements. This has been clearly
manifested
in the
move to create
a
European Single Market and Economy and the establishment of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In addition, the launching of the negotiations to create a Free Trade Areas of the Americas (FTAA) bY 2005 is also
indicative of the growing influence of the ideology of liberalisation, notably trade liberalisation.
The increasing influence of trade liberalisation is also manifested in the proliferation of sub-regional FTAs that have developed in the Western hemisphere. The creation of the Southem Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) Agreement between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay is perhaps the significant of the new
FTAs. most Sub-Regional Andean the is also There
Integration Agreement (ANDEAN GROUP) between Bolivia, Columbia, Ecuador. Peru and Venezuela and the Treaty on Free Trade between Columbia. Venezuela and Mexico (Group 3). There has also been a varietY of bilateral FTAs including Chile/Mexico; Canada/Chilel Chile/Colombia; Mex-
ico/Costa Rica: Mexico/Bolivia and Chile/Venezuela. The forces transforming the global environment are moving the international system in two seemingly contradictory directions. On the one hand the
world is moving towards multilateral-
ism and global integration with a strong commitment to open markets and international institutions. On the other, the world it is entering a new era of regionalism, as nations seek to generate their markets.
Jhagdish Bhagwati at Columbia University recently noted that regionalism need not necessarilY be a stumbling block towards a multilateral trading system". In the new dynamic inte-
gration process regionalism
is
not
about "self contained" blocs, it too must synchronise its formation in a
global economy. Traditionally, regional integration arrangements have tended to be inward-oriented with the expan-
sion of trade and investment among Member countries behind protective barriers. Under the new arrangements regional FTAs are emphasising regional integration simultaneously with the liberalisation of trade and investment
regimes. The new concept of'oPen regionalism seeks to derive the economic benefits of international competition while simultaneously creating a wider economic space for Member countries. Open regionalism is not onlY com-
of imProving international competitiveness but may also be key to achieving it. The outward-oriented nature of the policy of
patible with the goal
o Page 6
JUNE 1998
a
CnntcoM
Pe
nspEcrtvE a
open regionalism
ation
will facilitate
the cre-
of an open transparent global
economy. Therefore, open regionalism would ultimately result in a global economy that is characterised by low
Ievels
of protection with a narrow
range of restrictions on the movement of goods and services.
Caricom's Strategy of External Negotiations
Global Strategic Repositioning: The fundamental changes taking place
in the global economy has forced all nation states to reassess their priorities and policy objectives and develop new strategic objectives in relation to international economic relations. Traditionally, CARICOM has benefitted from a variety of preferential trading arrangements with its major trading partners e.g. CBI, CARIBCAN and Lom6. The increased pace oftrade liberal-
isation, the evolution
of the WTO
reshaping the multilateral trading system and the resurgence of regionalism have all combined to threaten the future of trade preferences. Consequently, the Caribbean has to rethink its external trade policy setting new priorities and defining clear strategies to achieve stated objectives. Fundamentally,this means that the Region would have to reshape its international economic relations.
This would involve revised
and revitalised relations with "old" partners and creative or innovative relationships
with "new"
partners. This entire
process can be described as the strate-
gic repositioning of the Caribbean in the global economy. The strategy will have to be dynamic, constantly evaluating objectives and policies to take account of changes in the external environment.
The Current Strategy
At present, the Region is in its initial stages of strategic repositioning. At the global level, we are involved in ongoing negotiations in the WTO relating to multilateral trade liberalisation. The Region must actively pursue its JUNE 1998
trade policy objectives in the WTO to ensure that the interests of small vul-
Negotiator : Sub- : nerable economies are not comproCommittees on external nesotiations : mised. The Caribbean will need to which sets policy objectives"and pro: make a strong case in collaboration vides overall guidance in negotiating : with other developing countries e.g strategy. In addirion. the Chie-i Neeo'- : ACP countries for a revision of the tiator is assisted by a Technical Adviso- : treatment of different categories of ry Group chaired by Sir Alister McIn- : O developing countries in the WTO tyre that analyses and evaluates all Agreement, particularly small island technical studies etc. prepared by the ' states. This is extremely vital to the RNM prior to submission to officials, ' o Region as the WTO is the'benchmark" Ministers and Heads of Governments. of all trade agreements and this will In conclusion, the long-run devel' O have implication in other trade negotiopment prospects of the Caribbean will ations e.g. FTAA and post-Lom6 dis- depend to a large extent on the ability a cussions. of the Region to effectively integrate a The Caribbean as part of the ACP is into the new liberalised global econo- O also seeking to negotiate a revitalised my. The effective pursuit of external O and creative set of post-Lom6 arrangeO negotiations aimed at achieving well ments that would foster growth and defined strategic objectives is an O development in all ACP countries. This important element in the Region's O involves a new partnership with "old" effective participation in the interna- O friends. tional economy. The RNM has been a At the hemispheric level, the established to assist the Region in its O Region is involved in comprehensive strategy of strategic repositioning in O negotiations with other sub-regional international economic relations. O
groupings MERCOSUR, CACM Andean Community, Chile, USA, Canada and Mexico to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005.
This would involve "new" relationships with countries in the hemisphere. Simultaneously, the Region is seeking to develop close trade and economic relationships with specific countries in the hemisphere Venezuela, Columbia, The Dominican Republic, Cuba, Canada and the CACM.
These bilateral relationships are vital to achieving important economic objectives and to building strategic alliances for hemispheric negotiations. At the institutional level, to pursue
these negotiations the CARIFORUM countries have created the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM). This headed by a Chiel- Negotiator supported by a small team of advisers in collaboration with the CARICOM Secretariat. The machinery includes negotia-
tion working groups for bach set of negotiations and also interfaces with key elements in the Community struc-
ture e.g. The Council on Trade Development (COTED).
and
Ultimately the Chief
reports to the Prime Ministerial
I
Liberalisation has not included rhe movement oJ' labour and this is an inconsistency in the entire process. The movement oJ persons his met wim fierce resistance at the multilateral level, particularly the
countries.
2l
industrialised
o o
: : ? o O
o o a
adopted two-good" O neoclassical trade theory to argue that O when a small country "opens" trade O with a large country, the resulting O gains flow disproportionately to the O small country. The argument has funa damental weaknesses including the O failure to recogniTe that small coun- O World Bank (1995) paper
the simple "fwo-country
tries incur significant transactions
O O
markets. 3 flrc WfO has deJined a set of countries with LLDC status of which Haiti is the only CARICOM ,oun,ry. 'o
:
I
o
costs in penetrating export
Arntrlcl fulclnryre is a member ol
Regional Negotiating
Team.
the
:O
:o \17
7ti
a
o o Page 7
o C
n i"'i"i o M'''"P e n i'p
o o o o o
E
c r IV
E
The Free Trade Area Of
O
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a a o o o a a o a o o O
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a a a Page 8
The Amerrcas tent and nature of the Free Trade
he die has been cast. Negotiations for a free trade area of the Americas were launched at the end of the Second Summit of the
Santiago, Chile on 19 when 34 countries of the April, 1998
Americas
in
hemisphere signed the Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action of Santi-
+ Byron Bloke
+
ago. All 14 independent CARICOM countries (including Haiti) signed on to be an integral part of the negotiations.
The performance of CARICOM
ationsl and Preparation and performance in
the fears surrounding the ability of
mented agreement. The 1994 decision
negotia-
The objectives of the FTAA and
hemisphere and indeed the world, and even greater concerns about the fate of these small economies once they had become a part of the proposed free trade area. The Community began by considering the last question first. It is recognised by Member States that despite
dock on to a fully negotiated or imple-
of
the principles and bases for the negoti-
their interests in negotiations with some of the largest economies in the
rience of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFIA) demonstrates both the inevitability of participation and the constraints of trying to
preparatory phase
tions;
simultaneously a strategic and a pragmatic decision. There were concems about the ability of these relatively small states to successfully defend
countries in this hemisphere. The expe-
Today, four years after Miami, CARICOM stands on the threshold of the negotiations with far less trepidation, and the possibility of negotiating a supportive FTAA can be gauged
in the
CARICOM countries, either individually or as a group, should join the negotiations at all. The most casual analysis would indicate that this was
environment of an FTAA, the small Caribbean Community will in the end, have to be a part of any major economic or trade cooperation arrangement which involves the majority of
countries in the hemisphere.
from:
Prior to Santiago, questions lingered in some quarters as to whether
CARICOM countries to survive in the
Agreement negotiated. Those in turn will depend significantly on the negotiating capacity of CARICOM, as the potentially most vulnerable group of
to create an FTAAallowed CARICOM
to jettison the idea of docking" on to NAFIA to which it was almost committed, and opened up instead, the opportunity to join in negotiating an agreement "ad initio". With that decision in place, the question of the Community's negotiating capacity loomed even larger.
The implications of the FTAA for the CARICOM and for the individual Member States will depend on the con-
the negotiations. The FTAA is a part of the positioning strategy of the major economies of the hemisphere to respond to the global trend to create mega-trading blocs. In the event that it comes into being as originally envisioned, the FIAA could become the largest of such blocs. The FTAA could comprise 35 or more countries (Cuba should satisfy the single criterion of democratic elections by 2005) with a land area of 39. 6 million square kilometres, a population of over 763 million, and gross domestic product in 1996 of approximately US$8.3 trillion (at 1990 constant prices). The FTAA will stretch from the northernmost point to the southernmost point of
the globe, thereby encompassing all climatic zones and conditions. The FTAA will also comprise economies with the greatest disparities seen in any trading bloc, in terms of size and levels of development. At one extreme there is the United States of America with a population of over 265
JUNE 1998
o
CnatcoM PtnsPECTtvE SELECTED INDICATORS:
GROUP
I 2
3
1996
(TABIE 1l GDP AT
LAND AREA
POPULATION
(OOOkmzl
(thousands)
CONSTANT 199(, PRTCES
21292.3
388260.O
7223.5
12633.2
2t 91 15.O
796.9
4718.3
101990.0
200.6
NAFTA
(United States + Ganada Mexicof MERCOSUR + Ghile
{Argentina + Brazil + Ghile Uruguay + Paraguay)
+
ANDEAN
(Bolivia + Golombia + Ecuador Peru + Venezuelaf
+
4
CACM + Panama {Gosta Rica + El Salvador + Panama + Honduras + Nicaragua + Guatemalaf
5
CARICOM+DR+Haiti
million and a GDP of just under US 6.5 trillion. The GDP of that country alone
498.6
3226,5.O
37.5
510.7
21647.O
27.5
reglon.
through measures and facilities negoti-
The distribution of the land, population and gross domestic production among the five major groupings. NAFTA, MERCOSUR plus Chile, the Andean Community, Central America plus Panama, and CARICOM plus Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is
amounts to almost 80 per cent of the GDP of the entire hemisphere. Meanwhile, Canada, the United States contiguous northern neighbour, has a land area of almost l0 million sq. km., or 25 per cent of the total FTAA land mass. At the other end of the spectrum there is St. Kitts and Nevis with a population of just over 42 000 on a land area of 269 sq. km., and with a GDP of US$l7l million, and Haiti, designated
charts shown. Given these extreme disparities in natural and human resources. in technical endowment, production and mar-
by the United Nations as one of
ket size. and in organisation.
the
worlds least developed countries
Perhaps more importantly, the
NAFTA countries.
in
addition to
illustrated
in
Table
I
and the
three
trans-
portation, communication and institutional inl'rastructure, there is tremendous potential for the polarisation of
Argentina, Brazil and Chile, account
economic activity (investment
for over 96 per cent of the production, 80 per cent of the population and 85 per cent of the land area of the pro-
exports)
posed grouping. At the other extreme, the 2l countries comprising the Caribbean, Central America, and Panama account fbr just seven percent of the population, a meagre two and a half per cent of the land area and less than one per cent of the GDP of the FTAA
JUNE 1998
and
in the FTAA.
Historically, polarisation has been one of the most lundamental threats to integration. even within national economies. The attenuation of those polarisation tendencies will therefore be critical to the creation of an FTAA which is sustainable and which promotes the prosperi-
ty of all the member countries. This will not occur automatically. but
ated and incorporated into the agreement which will establish the FTAA.
Performance of CARICOM in the Preparatory Phase Towards Negotiations
The period between Miami
and
Santiago saw the prospective FTAA member states engaging in information-sharing, education and sensitizing, not to mention positioning. The
CARICOM countries which had secured the recognition in the Miami Declaration of Principles, that the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas would be complex because of the wide differences in levels of development and size of economies, now had to convince the larger economies and even some small ones. that this issue was sufficiently important to be incorporated into the objectives of the FTAA and the principles to guide its negotiation. Moreso, that it had to be given operational content or meaning in the various areas of the FTAA.
a o a o o o o o o o a o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o a o a o o o o O
o o o o o o o a o a o a o o o o a O
a a o o o Page 9
a
CnntcoM PrasPECTtvE o a o o o o o o o o a o o a o o o o a a o o o o
The strategy of the CARICOM countries was to work through the
Working Group on
Smaller
Economies, other key working groups such as those on Market Access, and Rules of Origin, as well as the Vice
Ministerial and Trade Ministerial Meetings. Through that process they have achieved inter alia'.
A general acceptance of
a
categori-
sation of Smaller Economies which would include all the Caribbean and Central American countries;A mandate
O
o o o
in
the Santiago Summit Declaratiott,
reinforcing the Miami Declaratiut,
lhat the FTAA negotiating
Process
must take into account the differences in the levels of development and size of economies in the Americas; An instruction to Trade Ministers in the Plan of Action of Scrntiago ro ensure that the negotiating process creates opportunities fbr the full participation of all countries, including the
Acceptance
smaller economies:
A request from the Santiago Sum-
mit to the Inter-American
Develop-
ment Bank (IDB), the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Economic Council for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) to provide technical assistance to smaller economies to facilitate their integration into the FIAA process;
Acceptance in the PrinciPles agreed by the Trade Ministers and accepted by the Summit fbr the FTAA negotiation of longer periods for the smaller economies to implement some of the obligations of the FTAA. The concept of a grace period was accepted at the level of the Working GrouP on Smaller Economies but was not specified in the Ministerial declaration and Plan of Action: Acceptance of the right of countries to negotiate as members of a subregional integration grouPing:
of the princiPle of
special attention to the needs and economic conditions of, and possible transitional costs and internal dislocations in smaller economies within the
FTAA;
The creation of a Consultative Group on Smaller Economies to be chaired by Ambassador Richard Bernal of Jamaica fbr the first eighteen (18)
to monitor progress in the negotiations, and to ensure that the
months
to the Smaller Economies are being given effect in the various sector areas identified for
commitments
negotiation. At the level of process, CARICOM achieved the Vice Chairmanship of the
Negotiating Groups on Services and Competition Policy and the Chairmanship of the Working Group on Electronic Commerce. It will also host one of the meetings of the Central Negotiating Committee in the first eighteen
O
a a o o o o o o a o a a o a a o a o o a o o O
o o o o o Page 10
The Rt Hon Owen Arthur, Prime Minister of Barbados (left), US President Bill Clinton and other leaders at the second Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile.
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PtnsPEcrtvE a o a o o o o o o a o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o a o o a a o o a a o o o
DISTRIBUTION OF LAND AREA: 1996
N{FTA (Lln{ed Stites + Cin.da + Mpxrro'!
titRtOSUF
+Chrle
{A€anlrn! + B.ard + Ch{p + Frragust)
tlruglil r
.ANDEAN t8oliHg + Colembii + Ecu{dor + Paru
i
\rfferu€lr) a CACN + Fin*$r tcrsti Rtcr + El S.h"ds + Psnmi + l*3odu { Niarrigue + Gudoffils}
oCAFlCOftl+ORrHani
DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION: 1996
{.ktd
Slrte$ + f
s.i!r
iiaxi.+}
+
{Chtli {A!&{tnq + 3r.:rl + CiliL
+
Ltsgdrr, +
F*teguay! Al't
{q$kEl + L'ohftnfu{ + €cutddn + FJu +
\dtfrttwl*l
+ Pm*r tto*r Rrr + €l Sdrifu
tACil{
+
F*rilru
+
ttrddrrr
t$tatlgoa + 6q*|ffide) CiREOM +DR +H*li +
(18) months of the negotiations.
CARICOM
did not,
however,
achieve all its objectives. The most important outstanding issue is the need
concerned, since it works to the benefit not only of the small and less devel-
FTAA process in order to realise their opportunities and increase their level
oped countries but also to the larger
of developmert". This coupled with principles such as consensus in decision-making, transparency in negotiations, inclusivity in membership, and the other principles which are specific to Smaller Economies to which we referred earlier, create a very strong negotiating basis for the Smaller
arrangements and facilities to
and more developed ones ? CARICOM has also not convinced
encourage the building and strengthening of the infrastructure and production
all their negotiation partners of the need for complementary action to pro-
capacity of the Smaller Economies in preparation for the FTAA. To that end, CARICOM had proposed the creation
development or strengthening in small
economies where
of a Regional Integration Fund which
infrastructure is weak.
Economies.
would become an integral part of the FIAA. The concept is still alive however, and an ECLAC study undertaken
Objectives of the FTAA and Principles for Negotiations
Preparation and Performance
for
under the aegis
of the Smaller
Economies Working Group has established that "the provision of external assistance is to the advantage of all
JUNE 1998
mote and facilitate capital market
this institutional
One of the six general objectives
The negotiations for the FTAA
of
the FTAA is specifically "ro provide opportunities to .facilitate the integration of the Smaller Economies in the
will
be complex, technical and time-consuming. The complexity will arise from the number of countries, the range of areas, the inter-relatedness of
O
a o o o a o o o o o o a o o o a o o Page 'l1
o
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE o o o o a a o o o o a o o o o o a
iii.services and investment; iv. intellectual property rights: v. cotnpetition policY: vi. subsidies and anti-dumping and countervailing duties: vii. government procurement:
DISTRIBUTION OF GDP AT CONSTANT 1990 PRICES: 1996
and E
IUFTA iuniled Slales
viii. disputes settlement. The nine negotiating
+ Canada + lJexrco)
+Chrle
(Argenlna
+ Brazil
+ Chile
+ UruguaY +
ParaquaY)
(excluding the gloup on Smaller
SJ (8olMa + Colombra + Ecuador + Peru VenezuPlal
+
sta-ce
{Costa Rr.a + Nrcaragua + Guatemala)
oCA.RICOM+DR+Ha[r
O
o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o O
Page 12
many areas, difTerences in levels of development, vulnerability, and the need to harmonise any new alrangements with existing multilateral agreements such as the WTO (GATT, GATS and TRIMS) and bilateral agreements such as the Lom6 Convention. Achiev-
ing this compatibility, and hence the capacity for the co-existence of the FTAA with other economic cooPerain the hemisphere will
tion agreements add another level of complexitY. The Caribbean is a relativelY homogenous group in the context of
an FTAA. However, the sub-region still exhibits significant differences in levels of development and diversity of the economic bases of the individual countries. These could give rise to different positions which will have to be
reconciled
to
create
a
common
in
cases, a common Smaller Economies position. This latter situation also prevailed in the pre-negotiation phase. The CARICOM Heads of Government. on
Caribbean and.
the basis of experience in the FTAA process and other processes involving the Region, evolved an approach
and the definition of policy positions and their implications: The reconciliation and incorporation of national (governments and private sector partners) positions in u confidence building framework; and
close communication among the teams as advantages gained in one area can be vitiated in another. The experience of the pre-negotiating phase should provide a good base on which to build.
in
the
very small economies.
The framework agreed bY the CARICOM Heads ol Government. already contains all the necessary elements. It provides for: a) a lead negotiator;
b)
negotiating teams based
on
issues:
c)
broad-based negotiating working groups incorporating government officials. private business. labour and
non-governmental organisations. including the academic community and technical experts to spearhead the technical analyses and the development of technical positions. The challenge nou is the effective
of the various elements and consistent developrnent at all
organisation
stages of the negotiations. The negoti-
The key is a structure which provides for:
Meetings
of the
issues
will
need to each have to proceed
lead negotiator,
enced manpower, esPeciallY
ations in the FTAA
Technical analysis
of
be more rigorous. In addition.
successes achieved to date.
sharing at all the relevant levels;
choice
Team representation in the actual negotiations to circumvent the constraint of limited high-level experi-
which contributed significantly to the
Coordination and information
) in the pre-negotiating but will by complemented by the Consultative Group on Smaller Economies and the Working Group on Electronic Commerce. The CARICOM group covered all the Working Groups in the pre-negotiation phase, albeit to varying degrees. The overall process was coordinated by Jamaica. with groups of countries " one as lead country " covering the various groups. In the negotiating phase the team alTangements. including the Economies
+ El SaMador + Panama + Honduras
O
o o o o o a a a o a o o o o o o a o o o o o
working
groups represenl a nrinor contraction in the eleven ( I 1) working groups
will take place
in
of the Trade Negotiatin-u
Committee (TNC), and nine technical negotiating Sroups coveri ng: i. market access; ii. agriculture;
negotiating team will
from an agreed negotiating brief. with
The CARICOM subregion erected an efl'ective platform in the pre-negotiation phase of the FTAA on which to build a solid structure for ef-fective par-
ticipation
in the negotiations.
What
CARICOM needs now is to undertake the detailed technical analyses of the various issues. develop negotiating positions and organise the available resources to el'l'ect the negotiations in the most etTicient manner. While this may seem a tall order for a Community shorl on resources. past experiences in the FTAA pre-negotiation period and with other negotiations such as Lom6. show that this tiny Region is quite capable ol holding its own.
I
Byron Blake is Assistuttt SecretaryGertr'ntl CARICOM Set'retttrittt. _!:
JUNE 1998
o
CnatcoM PrnsPECTtvE
Regional
Air Trarasportatton t the establishment of the Caribbean Community in 1973 regional air transporta-
routes. The former entity, it was recommended, should be established by a
+
tion was at a crossroad. The regional environment was characterised by Govern-ment ownership and control of
Treaty, should not be incorporated under any national laws and no State should have a controlling or dominant
John Lewis
interest in it.
+
the major air transport enterprises (BWIA, Air Jamaica, LIAT), domi-
Commonwealth Caribbean Ministers at a Meeting held in July 1969 in
nance by foreign carriers (BOAC, Pan
Trinidad and Tobago approved, in principle, the report of the Working
Am), and an undeveloped regulatory infrastructure based, essentially, on informal arrangements and restrictive pre-independence bilateral air services agreements for the operation of air services.
The Government-owned enterprises, despite their crucial developmental
role, have been a burden on the of their shareholders and
finances
were in continuous danger of collapse.
Coupled with the dominance of the foreign carriers, the maintenance of the regional transportation system was
at risk. Many challenges lay
ahead
with respect to satisfying the essential needs of reliable air transportation at reasonable cost, access to the ma.jor
tourist markets and the movement of
critical importance of their
sustained
participation in international and regional transportation and the need to optimise the use of the scarce resources of the region in an effbrt to guarantee the provision of air services during periods of economic downturn. During the restructuring in 1961 of the loss-making British West Indian
Airways (BWIA), a subsidiary of BOAC at that time, there was an attempt to establish a West Indian air
carrier involving majority ownership by the Federal and Commonwealth Caribbean Governments and BOAC. This initiative was unsuccessful and the Trinidad and Tobago Government acquired the shareholding of the entire
persons and commodities amongst the
airline.
widely scattered Member
Six years later, inl967, the Fourth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Commonwealth Caribbean countries had resolved that the development of the Region could be accelerated by the existence and operation of a Commonwealth Caribbean regional carrier. A Working Party which had been established to consider its formation completed its work and presented its report in 1969 in which it recommended the formation of two multinational carriers involving regional resources: one to operate on extra-regional routes; the other to operate on intra-regional
States.
Regional responses are gradually changing the landscape to one that is characterised by minimum Government involvement and liberal commercial arrangements and regulations. Proposals For Regional
Air Carrier The formation of a regional air car-
rier has been an ongoing challenge. The debate in this respect was in progress at the dawn of the Seventies, having had its genesis in the recognition by regional Governments of the
JUNE 1998
Party and agreed that a Ministerial Committee should be established to prepare a regional plan of action with a
view to the early implementation of the recommendations of the Working
It has not been ascertained whether the plan of action was formulated. We are however aware that this initiative was not successful. Party.
Achievements
Efforts were renewed at various periods over the succeeding years of the Community to address the issue of the regional air carrier. One such effort was in 1987 when Member Governments endorsed a proposal for an independent study to be undertaken on the feasibility of establishing a mulrinational air carrier to serve the midAtlantic routes. The study was undertaken during it examined in detail several options involving Government and private sector participa-
the course of which
tion (regional and foreign) and the pooling of the resources of the existing Eastern Caribbean carriers - BWIA. LIAT (1974) Ltd, GuyanaAirways and CARICARGO. The general conclusion was that the Final Report of the study provided a broad framework for further discussion and elaboration of specific elements of the proposed carrier.
o o o o o a O
a o o o a o a o a a o o a o o a a o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o a a o o o o o a o o Page 13
o
CnntcoM PtnsPECTtvE a a o a o o a a a o o o o a a a o o o o o a a o a o o o
Privatisation of Air Transport Enterprises
O
o o o o a a o a
Subsequently,
in 1990,
the
Eleventh Meeting of the Conference decided that BWIA and LIAI (1914) Ltd should be privatised either sepa-
rately or jointly with
majority
Caribbean interests and that proposals
in this regard should be prepared fbr consideration by the shareholders of the respective airlines. The proposals that were developed
resulted eventually in the successful privatization of the separate airlines in 1995 and 1996, respectively, involving majority regional private and Government sector ownership. The debate,
however. continues on the formation
of the regional air carrier within
the
context of rationalising regional trans-
portation
in a liberal, private-sector
driven environment. The birth of LIAT (1914) Limited
in
1974 must be recognised as signifi-
cant.
It will be recalled that
shortly
after the formation of the Community there was a threat to the existence of the intra-regional carrier Leeward Islands Air Transport as a result of the imminent collapse of its British parent company, Courtline.
The immediate response
of
Regional Governments was the acqui-
sition of the assets of the subsidiary
airline and the formation of the new company, LIAT (1974) Limited. by eleven CARICOM Governments the countries of which were not all served by the airline.
The acquisition of the airline
ensured for the region that the required level of services was maintained and over the years the airlinc has made ar.t invaluable contribution to the develop-
ment of regional transportation. Indications are that as a private company the airline will continue its developmental role into the new millennium.
Page 14
to exercise route rights. On the basis of the principle of "Community of Interest" which is embodied in the Resolution. a CARICOM State can seek, as an alternative to the traditional criteria
of national ownership and effective to designate the carier of
control,
arrothcr CARICOM State to exercisc
its route rights under an air
services
agreement with a developed country. The importance of this achievement is that BWIA has been able to serve over the years major routes on
secured the election
behalf of CARICOM States which do not have their own national airlines. Services on these routes would have otherwise been dependent solely on the foreign carriers. The Member States of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) are currently examining practical means of implementing the Resolution with respect to their air-
Tobago
lines.
Global Acceptance of the "Community of Interest" Principle
Another significant achievement occurred in the area of collaboration at the forum of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The joint initiatives of the Community
of Trinidad and to the Council for the term
1914-1911'. Jamaica for the three successive terms 1977- 1986; and Trinidad and Tobago for the three successive terms 1989-1998. (There was no Com-
monwealth Caribbean representation for the term 1986-1989). During Jamaica's term of represen-
tation CARICOM States successfully promoted a Resolution at the TwentyFourth Session of the General Assemblv held in 1983 which broadened the
O
o o a o a a o o o o a o a o a a o a a
criteria for the designation of airlines
Multilateral Air Services Agreement With regard to the regulatory envi-
ronment, Member States
have
finalised after a period of national and regional consultations a Multilateral Agreement Concerning the OPeration of Air Services Within the Caribbean Community, commonly called the CARICOM Multilateral Air Services Agreement (MASA), which is open fbr signature and at the time of writing requires the deposit of an additional Instrument of Ratification for its entry into force. The mandate for the preparation of the MASA was derived
from decisions taken by the Conference of Heads of Government in March 1993 against the backdroP of initiatives to privatise national carriers
of Member
States, the possible multi-
national ownership
of
such carriers
and the absence of a formal framework
for the regulation of the commercial operations within the Community by carriers registered in the Community.
Challenges for New Millennium Many Eastern Caribbean residents and visitors use LIAT, the commuter airline.
During the flrst twenty-five years of the life of the Community, regional JUNE 1998
o
CtntcoM PraspECTtvE o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o
l*o*^S
O
transportation has developed to a stage where there is wider private sector
involvement, less protectionism and pressures for greater liberalisation and rationalisation. New challenges have arisen particularly with respect to the liberation of
the regulatory environment to allow more flexibility in the operation of intra and extra-regional air services; the pooling of regional resources to achieve increased efficiency and effectiveness in the operation of aerodromes and air transport enterprises; and collaboration at international fora on critical issues that impact on the development of regional air transportation.
Liberalisation of Regulatory Environment Traditionally, air services between the Member States of the Community and territories of the United States of
America and the United Kingdom
independence Agreements
with
the
United States). These Agreements, generally, place restrictions on capacity, routing, pricing and the number of airlines which could be designated by the contracting Parties. However, there
are proposals for the CARICOM to negotiate with the United
States
States of America "open skies" bilateral Agreements which will seek to
remove the traditional barriers and cre-
ate a more competitive environment for American and Caribbean air carriers.
Recognising that there are different degrees of "open skies" arrangements which States may agree, CARICOM States may wish to take account of the
recommendations of ICAO and the experiences of those developing coun-
tries which have concluded
such arrangements to ensure that the Agree-
ments they conclude are
in the
best
interest of the Community.
have operated on the basis of preindependence restrictive Bermuda I and Bermuda II types of bilateral Air
General Agreement on Tlade in Services (GATS)
Services Agreements signed in February 1946 and July 1977, respectively. (Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago negotiated less restrictive post
port is concerned the GATS applies to
JUNE 1998
Insofar as intemational air transmeasures affecting:
(i) aircraft repair and maintenance services;
(ii) the selling and marketing of air transport services; and
(iii)
computer reservation system
(CRS) services.
An important provision is that the Council for Trade in Services shall review periodically, and at least every five years, developments in the air transport sector and the operation of the Annex on Air Transport Services with a view to considering the possible further application of the Agreement in this sector. The first review is due to take place in the year 1999 when there will be increasing pressure to liberalise
international transportation notwithstanding the concems expressed by developing countries. CARICOM States need to be properly prepared for the up-coming review.
Cognisance should also be taken of
ICAO's efforts to establish itself as the multilateral body within rhe United Nations system competent to deal with
international
air transport
matters.
Assembly Resolution A31-12: Tlade in Services recognises, inter alia, ICAO's role in this regard and requests the WTO and its Member States to accord due consideration to ICAO's constitutional responsibility for inter-
national
air transport. It also urges
o a o a o a o o o o o o o o o o o a o a o o a o o a o a o o o o o o a o o o o Page 15
o
CnntcoM PtnsPEcrtvE o a a o o a o o
Conference need to be care-
contracting States which participate in trade negotiations, agreements and
fully
The
arrangements relating to
international air to:
O
o o a o o O
o a a o a O
o o O
o a o O
o a o o a a o o o o o o a a o o a a o o o o o a O
o a o o Page 16
implementation
and management of the new systems will impact significantly on CARICOM States particularly with respect to financing,
transport
(i)
promote a full of the role of ICAO in developing policy guidance on the regulation of international
understanding
management and technical
resources. Member States will therefore need to coordinate their activities in
air transport;
(ii)
considered policy
makers.
ensure that their
representatives are fully aware of the provisions of the Chicago Convention (1944), the particular characteristics of international
securing the required assis-
air transport and its regulatory structures, agreements and arrangements;
global transition.
tance and participating fully in the ICAO process to ensure that the region is an integral part of a smooth
Aviation Safety
Notwithstanding
and
(iii) file with under Article 83
ICAO
of
the
Convention copies of any exemption and specific commitments pertaining to international air transport made under the GATS.
Member States need to consider the implications of the GATS for regional transportation and pursue
the
improving global trend in the number of fatal aircraft
a
coordinated policy among their relevant Ministries and in the ICAO and WTO fora. Representation on ICAO Council
A Protocol relating to an amendment to Article 50 (a) of the Convention had been signed at Montreal on 26 October 1990. This Protocol provides for an increase in the membership of the Council and enters into force on receipt of the l08th instrument of ratification. As at 3l December 1997, 64 contracting States had ratified it. No CARICOM State, as at that date, had done so. The ratification ofthe Protocol and a vigorous lobby to secure a "CARICOM seat" to ensue the continuous representation of the interests of the
Community, would enhance the participation of the Caribbean Community in the decision process in critical areas
accidents, there is increasing concem that the number and rate of passenger fatali-
of international air transportation. CNS/ATM Systems The implementation of new Communications, Navigation and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) systems involving the use of satellite and new technology, is facilitated by an ICAO global plan. A general outline of the implemen-
will increase both globally and regionally as aircraft size and activity ties
increase as forecast, unless States implement effective safety oversight systems in keeping with their international obligations.
This concern has resulted in some States seeking assurances through
their own programmes that
other
States are in compliance with the pro-
tation schedule which commenced some time ago requires the gradual
visions of the Convention on Intema-
implementation and use of various elements of the systems. By the year 2005 there will be full CNS/ATM services available in parallel with existing terrestrial systems and by the year 2010 transition to the new systems will have
6 - Operation of Aircraft and Annex - Airworthiness of Aircraft.
been completed.
In response to concerns expressed by African States about financing the costly implementation of the new systems. ICAO held a World-wide Conference in May 1998 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to address such concems and other matters including legal, training and institutional issues and technical cooperation requirements of developing countries. The conclusions of this
tional Civil Aviation, specifically, Annex I - Personnel Licensing, Annex 8
The International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme of the United States of America (USA) is such a programme which is of particular relevance to the Caribbean because
of its
impact on the operation of
Caribbean airlines into United States territory both in North America and the Caribbean where their major markets are located.
The programme involves an evalu-
ation of the national aviation legisla-
tion, procedures, organisational
and
JUNE 1998
o
CnatcoM PrnspECTtvE personnel resources of a country by the Federal Aviation Administration and the issuing of a public notice of the results of the evaluation based on a
sight strategy involving coordinated sub-regional programmes under the umbrella of ICAO. In seeking to address this critical
of
system of three categories, the second
issue
and third of which restrict the operations of air carriers in the air space of the United States territories.
States have sought over the years to establish a Regional Safety Oversight
The programme has had a negative impact on the operations of certain CARICOM air carriers and consequently, the economies of the States of
safety oversight Member
Mechanism. Efforts are continuing in this regard with a new urgency. The challenge is to have an efTective system in place at the dawn of the millen-
States have upgraded their aviation
nium and to sustain it thereafter. This will require the maintenance of a reliable source of technical expertise,
administrations at considerable cost to address this matter.
close collaboration and the timely contributions from paticipating States.
registry
of
those carriers. Member
Caribbean States have resisted the IASA programme which has raised the question of its legality having regard to the sovereignty and exclusive rights of States and the principles of acceptance of certification by other contracting States as provided fbr in Articles I and 33 of the Chicago Convention (1944). Specific recommendations have been made within the ICAO fbrum for
the harmonisation of ICAO's initiatives with those of contracting States and securing a world-wide commitment to a single. global safety over-
JUNE 1998
Rationalisation of Regional Transportation
Finally, the rationalisation of regional transportation would be the greatest challenge in the new millennium. The CARICOM Review Team established by the Ninth Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in 1988 supported this goal. Prior to the Review Team, the Group of Caribbean Experls set up in March 1980 by the Sixteenth Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Caribbean
Common Market, had urged the rationalisation ofthe regional airline indus-
try through the formation of either
a
Caribbean airline holding company or a Caribbean airline leasing company. We are aware of the potential benefits to be derived from the rationalisa-
tion not only of the operations of regional transport enterprises but also aviation policy and legislation, yer rhe region has failed to achieve it over recent decades.
Circumstances have changed and given the forces of the current global trends of liberalisation, globalisation
and extensive commercial alliances within the aviation industry the region-
al private sector, in partnership with Government, will need to work closely in facing the challenges ahead. This can be achieved through a demonstration of political will and commitment by the senior executives and Boards of Directors of resional air transport enterprises.
I John Lewis is Senior Prcject Office4 Transportcrtion at the CARICOM, secretariat'
)r.
o a o a o o o o o o o a a o o a a o o o o o o o o o a o o o a o o o o o o o o o a o o o a o o o o o o a a o o o o
Page 17
o
CeatcoM PrnsPECTtvE o a o o o o a o o a o o a o o o o o o a o o o a o o o o o o o o o o a o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o Page 18
Caribbean Te I e c o m m u nicatio n In
The GlobaI Context logical advantages over ISDN. Regulatory authorities should be in posses-
here is no doubt that we are now
living in a global intbrmation society, which is the result of technological changes resulting from the merger of telecommunications. information and computers. Telecommunications created the awareness that our primary frame of reference should be the world. since telecommunications is insensitive to distance. thus creating the global village. In the informa-
tion age. the production. processing and distribution of information have developed into an important economic activity, with great reliance on modern telecommunications. The Caribbean is an important part of this society and must therefore seek ways of coming to grips with the situation thereby ensuring that maximum beneflts are derived by its citizens. Developments in comPuter technology have seen activities being performed by Personal Computers that could not be imagined not so long ago. In this global society, the continuous need for access to basic telecommunication and infbrmation services has provided challenges fbr governments and industry.
+
sion
Philip Cross
The telecommunication sector is one of the major components of the world economy. The value of telecommunication sales (equipment and services) is expected to exceed US$ltrillion in 1998. A further US$l trillion is estimated to be traded every day over inlernational telecommunications nel-
+
There have already been disagreements in the region between Governments and telephone companies regarding the type of technology to be used.
works.
Globalisation has also brought into sharp focus an awareness of the importance of telecommunications to all sectors of society including its importance to international trade and its contribution to sustainable development The International Telecommunication Union (lTU) has been an integral part of the process leading towards the global society and it continues to play
an important role in
,
ating both pleasure and pain.
of networks and the actual content of
has helped to fbcus attention on the rneans of communicating, the quality the infbrmation being transmitted. Naturally. this is also har,ing an impact on telecommunications policy makers and
regulators.
There have already been disagreements in the region between Govern-
Services Digital Network), ATM
nrents and telephone
(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) and the
regarding the type of technology to be
Internet which provide new platforms for telecommunication services. New ways have thus been found of taking
used. In the case of ISDN versus ATM. it is a known fact that ATM is a more
modern technology and
it
facilitating
telecommunications development.
advantage of the new situation. which
telecommunications, computers and broadcasting resulting in a myriad of ways for conducting business. This is evident through the introduction of technologies such as ISDN (lntegrated
technical and
duced.
This has started the global telecommunications revolution which has been continuing for almost two decades creWe have witnessed the merger of
of the necessary
financial data and therefore be able to influence the technologies to be intro-
companies
has techno-
The ITU has ensured that telecommunication standards are global thus facilitating interconnection and interoperability, while at the same time ensuring that the necessary regulatory, technical and other problems are dealt with. The ITU, in recognition of the problems tacing governments in their new role as regulators has taken several steps to assist governments, especially in developing countries. One such action was the convening of a series of
Regulatory Colloquia, all dealing with the "Changing Role of Government in an Era of Deregulation."
These colloquia were intended to assist governments in understanding their role in the new environment and JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE to
assist them in putting into place national mechanisms to cope with the increased need for telecom regulation. Among the subjects dealt with are Regulatory Processes and Procedures in Telecommunications, Interconnection, Universal Service, Trade Agreements on Telecommunications - Regu-
latory Implications, Global Mobile Personal Communications Systems (GMPCS).
The GMPCS\, for which Governments need to prepare themselves for an early introduction, will also have a
serious impact
on the
regulatory
machinery. including accounting rates.
The WTO Agreement We have recently seen the appearance of the WTO Agreement on Basic Telecommunication Services. Most Caribbean countries have made offers
to the WTO. The main portions of these offers however, only come into effect at the expiry of the present operating agreements (for countries where Cable & Wireless operates). Until that
time, minimal liberalisation is foreseen.
The ITU has stated its support for the WTO negotiations and is contributing to their progress and likely success-
ful conclusion. An ITU
Regulatory
Colloquium (one of seven such colloquia) was devoted to this subject. Activities at the WTO are leading to the creation of a multilateral framework for trade in telecommunication services and open competitive markets.
The WTO Agreement on trade in basic telecommunications is a wideranging one and the sixty-nine (69) original signatories and those which
Telecommunications created the awareness that our primary frame of reference should be the world.
(a) establish competitive safeto prevent anti-competitive
WTO Agreement did so because they
practices; (b) establish an independent regula-
expect significant
have signed up since, account for more than 90Vo of international telecommu-
tion:
nications traffic, although they only account for l07o of the world popula-
(c) apply universal service obligations in a neutral and transparent way;
tion.
The Agreement is binding in nature and commitments made cannot be easily withdrawn or modified. Of the Caribbean countries that have made offers to the WTO, not all have committed themselves to the Reference Paper, which required countries to, inter alia: JUNE 1998
Most countries that signed the
guards
and
(d) make licensing criteria publicly available. This is the position that Caribbean Govemments should strive to reach, although the establishment of independent regulators may not be possible
right away.
gains. In
the
Caribbean, offers were also made in conjunction with the service providers but will only take effect on the expiry ofthe present agreements. This cooperation is expected to continue when tangible actions are being taken with a view to implementing the conditions of the Agreement.
I
Philip Cross is ITU Area Represen-
tative
(Caribbean).
:r.
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a
CnntcoM PtnsPECTtvE a o o o a o a a o o a o o a o a a a o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o O O
o a o a o o a
Telecommunication: Key Element In The
Region's Future He thought he saw a Banker's Clerk Descending from the bus: He looked again and found
it
v'as
the
uncertain, uncharted but seductively beckoning 2lst Century,
Wiltshire-Forde
+
the most ostrich-minded among
granted such enhanced telephone f'eatures as call x'uitittg. r'ull .fonlarding, and three-wat.
the role of Telecommunications in the
But regional governments
must
region's future, and assessment of
play their part in making these devel-
options facing policy makers, must be based on a shared vision of regional development and economic prosperity. This applies at the level of individual nation and as a collective. If there is one thing that amazing
opments bear
developments
in the increasingly
dynamic Telecommunications sector have taught us it is that the old traditional ways of doing business are no longer adequate. Consequently, we must accept that the role of the State as the regulator has also radically
No longer can primary
O
changed.
a a o o a a o a a o o a
emphasis be on control but rather on facilitation of the sector.
Page 20
Jocqui
A Hippopotamus: "lf this should sta! to dine," he said, "There won't be much frsr us" - Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) s we prepare to place more
than our little toe into
mercial centres. Given the incredible rate of change and the constant demand fbr more, better, at a cheaper cost, what is the right mix. It is universally accepted, even by
+
The possibility of communicating with our relatives. friends and business partners has never been so easy. Distance insensitive technology has made Tokyo no further away than the house next door. The coming on stream of the new global satellites systems will mean that no place on eafth will be remote. And, we now simply take for
fiuit for
CARICOM
states and ensure that the infrastructure is in place to handle the ever increasing volume of multimedia (voice, data. image. text and video) services on possible, demand. and the
if
to
doorstep.
What has emer-eed atier the initial clearing of the dust. is a sector which.
if
properly managed. could
assist
small
states in ensuring their place as full participants in the economy of the future. But herein lies the major dilemma. What the combination of conl'er-eence of technologies and globalisation has done is to create a virtual Wonderland of services and these
opportunities which can only be realised with the right mix of policy
us,
that the old Industrial Age is now well behind us. Just as we thought that we had be-uun to understand and conceptually n.raster the process of industrialisation. and to find some level of comfort in a lelative stability, we were catapulted into a more dynamic and pervasive era. It seems as if when many of us in this region were not looking. the world moved rapidly into a new dimension.
Befbre we knew it, we were firmly and irrevocably into the Info Economy. This is an environment. based on the movement of information - this virtual informatisation which has heralded a new culture and continues to impact on every aspect of our lives. It is also reshaping the legacy which we will pass on to the succeeding generation. As more commercial and other activity rely on movement of large amounts of infbrmation the importance of a capable and reliable telecommunications infrastructure is even more apparent.
decisions. Such services as computerised airline ticketing. 24-hour banking, video cont-erencing. on-line shop-
Furthermore, our Telecom regulatory and administrative structures were
ping and entertainment on demand will make a significant dift'erence to
not ready to greet this "brave new world" where spectrum management
the attractiveness business and com-
was no longer the only challenge and a
JUNE 1998
a
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE telephone was more than Plain Old Telephone (POTS). So. faced with a world in the throes
of
technological revolution, how we handle and manage the transition will determine the level at which we in this a
region can participate
in the main-
stream of international economics and trade. Consequently. it will dictate the
success
with which the region can
expect to meet its efforts and alliances as the world continues its international economic reconfiguration fuelled by liberalisation, competition and membership of the World Trade Organisa-
tion (WTO). Whatever the sector. whether it be education, commerce, tourism. entertainment. transportation, business development. or in governance. information has assumed a new prominence and enhanced economic value. This change will continue to touch the lives of citizens. ordinary men and women, and ultimately, entire societies throughout the region, throughout the world. Within the last decade alone, with more technological capacity to access
in health,
previously remote infbrmation, this value and demand has increased geo-
metrically. As
a
result, traditional
activities that contributed to economic development are being replaced by
services which exploit this added value of infbrmation. As has been throughout history, the real challenge of revolution is the ability to anticipate the changes and so formulate policies and strategy to exploit the benefits for social and economic good. The irony here is that to attempt to predict the extent of this change would be as difficult as assessing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin!
It is being demonstrated everyday that the use of infbrmation to provide services to the global marketplace can help to level the playing field for small states such as those which exist in CARICOM. More important than size and location will be a society's ability
to use the infbrmation
technologies
and access to a state of the art telecommunications system which can reliably
provide the new services, with good quality and at an aflbrdable cost. What is certainly required is the
will promote and encourage creativity, human resource development and economic growth. To do otherwise would be to run the real risk of widening the gap between the framework that
information "haves" and "have-nots" the affluent and the impoverished. The new knowledge-based society therefore poses a major challenge in a time and industry where the only cer-
tainty is change. But policy-makers must not be mesmerised into a state of inertia. Contrary to some other beliefs, the world does not wait on tho:ie who decide only to stop and stare.
of
the
to lose
this
Furthermore the peoples Caribbean cannot aflbrd
to emerge among the hemisphere's most economically vibrant economies. Caution must therefore be balanced with decisive opportunity
action. The right of access to global infbrmation will be as important to future economic well-being and empowerment of every citizen as the right to vote and the right to own property. And trends in international Trade and Business indicate that a prerequisite to this empowerment will be an accommodating and enabling teleconrrnunication infrastructure. This then has sornewhat changed the role of Governments as the re-eula-
tor, especially in the provision of access to public telecotnntunicution services fbr all its citizens (Universal
o a a o o a o a o O
o a o o a o o a o a o o a O
a a o o a o a o o a a o o o o o o o a a o o o a a o o
'o
o a o a o JUNE 1998
Page 21
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CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE o o o o o a o o o o o o o o a o o o o a o o O
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o a o o o o o o o a a a o o o Page 22
Service Obligation)
in
tions.
.
The convergence of technologies a digital environment has also
meant that the provision of adequate Broadband capabilities must be an important consideration of any Administration and the emerging and continuing synergies between Telecommuni-
It
was, however,
in
1988 that,
is the British multi-national of Cable & Wireless. Even though for the past century or so,
region
with some uncanny but poetic foresight, CARICOM leaders decided to
company
establish the Caribbean Telecommuni-
C&W
cations Union (CTU), and an attempt was made to create the machinery for some kind of regional approach to handling the sector and finding collec-
ing Caribbean territories, exclusive operating licences and agreements were negotiated and signed with par-
has been involved in one way or another in most of the English-speak-
cations and International Trade will influence the regulatory structures to be adopted. The level of success will depend on international co-operation, and negotiation - areas in which the
tive solutions to the growing challenges occasioned by new technolo-
ticipating states on an individual basis.
gies and the amazing rate of change in the industry itself.
region requires further competence. This should be the responsibility of regional institutions such as the Uni-
Telecommunications
tiated largely at a time when Telecommunications, like other utilities was considered a natural monopoly, these instruments were given long life terms and purported to cover all services.
Further the new relationships with
Since these agreements were nego-
which have not yet effectively joined
which have emerged such as with Trade, Business and the Environment, for example, have all come to impact on the policies and regulatory structures required to
the programme of reform.
meet not only current, but future
Telecoms and CARICOM
telecommunication service needs and demands in the Caribbean. And this
the region's Telecommunications
includes Emergency Telecommunications, vital to this region which is
that
infrastructure in CARICOM states has not historically been one of consultative co-operation. It is Telecommuni-
prone to natural disaster. Montserrat
to a more liberalised and competitive environment and the creation of a
cations which possibly presents
development
will be necessary to review these
greater regional integration.
licences and agreements. This should be done with a view to re-negotiation to mutual satisfactions as well as to accommodate the entry of new players in the industry. Re-negotiation, in fact, is an area where all the parties stand to benefit and even now steps are being made to reach this
versity of the West Indies (UWI)
The continuing development
completion
of
and
telecommunication
us
with one of the finest examples of the regional territories each revolving in its own orbit, and illustrates somewhat the detrimental fragmentation to which both poets and politicians often refer.
Similarly, there has been little regional harmonisation among CARICOM states generally, and almost none in the area of Telecommunica-
vividly brought that home to
us.
Effective Telecommunications will therefore compel
Legal and regulatory frameworks
The issue of ownership naturally bears some relationship to policy and
regulation. Coming out of'a primarily British colonial experience, it is no surprise that the dominant Telecom-
munications service provider
in the
For example, in Barbados, the 20-year licence ends in 201l.
Cable
&
Wireless
is
therefore.
without doubt, a major stakeholder in industry and there are all indications
it will continue to be a dominant player. As the world, however, moves more closely linked global economy,
it
position. So far Telecommunications in the Bahamas is still state owned but plans are under way to effect its privatisation in keeping with realities in the indus-
try.
It is imperative that this region
grapples with the task of finding the right legal and regulatory frameworks. Telecommunications in a number of states is administered through Telecommunications Acts which in many cases also beg for review. It is, however, through the making of regulations under these Acts that the legal frameworks can acquire the flexibility needed to facilitate this sector which
advocates minimal but
adequate
supervision. Teachers prepare for Edu-Tech 2000, the route that Barbados has taken to plug the island's schools into the national information infrastructure.
This also applies to the establishment of appropriate tariff policies and JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPEcrtvE o a a o o o o o o o o
rate setting procedures. Spiralling downward trends in technology costs and intemational should be reflected in benefits to the consumer.
The Global Information/ Communication Society
The convergence of technologies, including broadcasting, has opened the door to many communication possibilities and modes of transportation. In many CARICOM territories the different aspects of the industry are administered through separate legal instruments and Government departments. For example, in Barbados, domestic telecommunications is presently regu-
O
lated by the Public Utilities Board, intemational Telecommunications by the Ministry of International Trade and Business and Broadcasting by the
Ministry responsible for Information. Further the Ministry of Education is pursui ng tele-education projects.
Facilitation of the new knowledgebased society calls for a competent and timely response to the demands of the new environment. It must always be remembered that knowledge and information do not behave in the same way
- the currency of the old Order. That means that in order to seize the opportunities preas goods and services
sented, the traditional economic theories to manage supply and demand can no longer apply. So far, although there is unprecedented uncertainty globally about demand, products, services, and regulatory issues. There is no doubt
that technological developments are shaping the communications landscape of the future.
Technology trends show that sev-
eral important strategic alliances
are
being formed among telecommunications, computer (hardware and software) and entertainment companies as
industry experts try to gain competitive edge in the global marketplace and marketspace. Small market economies such as ours therefore tend to be evolutionary rather than revolu-
tionary. This
is
especially the
case
where there is large capital investment in a monopolistic regime.
JUNE 1998
A woman displays the world's first telephone wristwatch designed and developed by Japan's largest telecommunications company NTT.
The creation and development of the Internet is one of this Century's most amazing phenomena. This high performance computer multi-media interactive network allows a freedom and openness of communication at a speed and level previously not conceived. Its growth is expected to con-
tinue at mind boggling rates. In
fact,
already boasts TeleHealth facilities as a new economic enterprise. No doubt this will mushroom around the region,
especially through the facilities of the Medical Faculty of the UWI. Likewise distance leaming will continue to grow and many regional governments are looking to equip its emerging populations with the tools to survive in the world they will inherit. In Barbados the Edu-Tech 2000
the infoCom sector is the fastest growing in the international economy. And the Internet certainly has the potential programme, which will plug the to give new vibrance to the regional island's schools into the national inforcommercial and business activity, as it mation infrastructure and eventually
fosters the new ways of transacting into the Information Highway, is well business, creates new employment, in progress. Similarly, Tourism also and reconfigures cost structures and stands to benefit and today's tourist modes of production. expects to be in constant touch with To facilitate the region's communi- virtually all corners of the globe,
in the digital environment, sometimes simultaneously. with There is no dispute that the pillars ability to offer services according to of all this progress will be comprethe needs of the personal user. In addi- hensive Telecommunication policy
cation
capacity needs to be abundant
tion, the reach of healthcare benefits reform and the provision of the are already being extended through use of the new
the
technologies. St. Kitts/Nevis, for example,
sup-
portive broadband capacity whatever
the mode of transmission. Governments will also have to seek new rev-
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o
CantcoM PrnsPECTtvE o o o o o o a o o o o o a o o a o a o a o a o o o o a o o a o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o a o o o o a o o o o a a
regard include auctioning of
retraining in the sector. And last but certainly not least, use must be made of the potential benefits from joint and common activities in regional and intemational organisations. Most CARI-
investment in the sector. All
COM states are members of the International Telecommunications Union and all
this will be guided
and
have some relationship with
informed by the adopted policy position.
the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU), itself a CARICOM initiative, the Inter American Telecommu-
enues to support its Univer-
sal Service
Obligation (USO) and this could very well come from exploitation ofthe Spectrum as a national resource. Options in this
Page 24
spectrum. They will also need to encourage greater
Policy formulation for the future Taking the region into Twenty-first Century prosperity and quality of life, catering to demands for access to telecommunication services will be a clear challenge to CARICOM Governments and the
Caribbean Telecommunications Union
(CTU) must continue to Provide implementation support. Policy will be informed
by the political and legal
imperatives for social and economic development as well as Government's responsibility to balance the interests of stakeholders, to protect public inter-
ests and national security, and the more vulnerable sectors of the society.
Policy must also be guided bY good governance and the ability to monitor market and other needs and to stimulate delivery of available services at affordable costs. For example, in
those territories where there are remote communities such as Belize, Guyana, and the Bahamas there must be policies in place to extend service
to
these areas. There must also be
nications Commission (CITEL) the specialised to the new wealth
creating aspects of the industry, which are primarily in the value added services. There should be careful thought about what requires or does not require regulation and immediate attention should be given to interconnection policy to
relation
facilitate the increasing competitive and liberalised environment. The rate of competition and extent of liberalisa-
tion should, howeveq be guided by peculiarities of the market. It would be, for example, "virtual suicide" to advocate unbridled liberalisation in the region at this time.
The already established CARICOM Task on INFOCOM Matters should prove a useful tool for laying the regional groundwork in this regard.
The Telecommunications develoP-
ment agenda in CARICOM states must be reviewed, reformed and extended to accommodate those new issues which relate to completion of
some focus on the new emerging synergies such as those of Telecommunications and Trade, Finance and Intel-
the infrastructure, policy formulation,
lectual Property and administrative gaps created by convergence of tech-
The market will segment further into business customers with special
nology.
needs and residential customers whose first concem is universal service, and ultimately access to the new services
Some strategy should also be in place to involve user groups in formulating the overall sector specific policy and new strategies for attracting investment capital should be encouraged.
Special emphasis is merited too in
regulation and national and regional development objectives.
at affordable costs. This will call
a
medium and long-term plan for maxi-
mizing human and other resources combined with a comprehensive train-
ing programme and incentives for
body for Telecommunication Development in the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). It is instructive that the ITU major focus
for
1998
is on Telecommunications
and Trade.
Consideration should also be given to the pooling of resources for regional provision of enhanced services, and it has been pointed out that this can be buttressed by some joint negotiation for regional financing, franchising,
regulation and contractual arrangements for the provision of services by private companies. Indeed, it is the responsibility of
every CARICOM Administration to ensure that the potential of the Telecommunications industry is fully maximised, for only then can the sector play its rightful role in bringing the region to the economy of the future. The benefits of the information revolution must be realised for the good of
CARICOM states. We must prepare and implement our own strategy, now, lest we become a mere annotation on the Agenda of others. If any hippopotamus should stay to dine, let it not be at the expense of this region's economic prosperity.
I Jacqui Wiltshire-Forde is Special Assignment Officea Ministry of International Trade and Business, Barbados.
r: JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnspECTtvE o O
The Community: Restructuring For The
New Millennium + Duke Pollard
+
THE OLD AND TllE ]{EW: In the backgrcund, the Bank of Guyana building which hourer
the GARIGOII Secretarlat; In
s ve
upprouclt the 2l sl (cntur\', v'e dure n)t lurn asirle .frorn eoch other.
Lotul iclentities rnay be itt vogue; lnt n'e tlo well trt rernernber lhal
thet' ure invuriably being indulged uncle r the rorl' ql
regirntal lutnres. We begatr to builtl our regiortul home a kng time ogo. Dismuntling it wtuld be u rnalign act. Artd it is distrtcttrtling tllut we v'ill.face iJ'inte-
gration is ttot perfected, but ttlkntecl to begirt the inevituble altentotive pto(e.ts of unrovelling. Tltere i.s rut w'uvfor us but
fbrward. It .should be.frtr us the trtttureil wa\'. It i.s frtr us the best ru'dr'. " Thus the Report of the West Indian Comrnission. which rnight have -sone on to cclnclude: It is the onll' u'ay.
JUNE 1998
a o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o a o o a o o o o o o o o o o o Page 25
CnntcoM PrasPEcrtvE o
:t : :o : :o o o o 'O o ' o o ' o
Six eventl'ul years have
elaPsed
since that inimitable constellation of regional luminaries analysed with relarkable poignancy and unerring aolomb the Wesi Indian condition and delineated the way forward to the next
millennium. During this brief period, Eurooe has edeeci closer to economic and .social cotesion as a prelude to
oolitical unitv: the North American Free Trade Aiea has become a reality and the Free Trade Area of the Americas stretching from Alaska in the north
to Tena del Fuego in the south been announced; MERCOSUR
has has
been formed and the Asian tigers have to lose their economic fangs
begun
even as the Pacific Rim countries con-
template closer co-operation
in
trade
for
For the
ragile economies of eARlcoM, liberalisation f
and
glohalisation are perceiued as the new b$lly on the hloek
non-compliance with decisions,
including those relating to the primordial obligation to contribute to the regular budget of the CommunitY. Predictably, the West Indian Commission determined that implementation of decisions was the Achilles heel of the integration movement. Imple-
mentation of decisions requires informed decision-making based on
appropriate consultations with various stakeholders and an in-depth study of
relevant issues couPled with an unqualified commitment to the achievement
of
shared values and
objectives. The regime emerging from Chaguaramas was not designed to accommodate these essential ingredients.
Yn 1997. the Conference of and finance. 'o I H.ua, of Government, at its leaders Tn the meantime, world Il-intf, Intersessional Meeting in o I assembled at Marakesh in 1994 St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda, o Iuno appended their signatures signed Protocol I amending the Treaty o to the Agreement Establishing the of Chaguaramas Establishing the o World Trade Organisation. All of these Community. Caribbean Community. This instruo developments in one form or another Caribbean for State new dispensation The ment constitutes a significant point of o heralded the twin phenomena of liberCommunithe Caribbean in interaction departure for the establishment of O alisation and globalisation in the interbe must 2lst CenturY in the structures of governance in the ty Pero national community. For the fragile of rejection unqualified as an Community, particularly as ceived Caribbean o economies of CARICOM, liberalisagenesis to its which traced to the deePening of the mind-set relate the they o tion and globalisation are perceived as FederaWest Indian movement. of the demise integration the regional o the new bully on the block, especially the for decades in an innovadetermined I addresses, and Protocol tion O since the attendant erosion ofpreferenpolitregional of and proceparameters bodies the organs, functional way, tive O tial trading arrangements previously the in the including reflected intercourse the Community, ical of dures o enjoyed in Europe and North America, from Market emerging Single proposed CARICOM arrangements discomfiting O has become a stark and and Economy. The new arrangements O reality. In the meantime, the United Chaguaramas in 1913. of preferred seek to accommodate tradition, conti7-flh. Paradigm as status its current O States, brandishing I regional political co-oPera- nuity and change for the achievement O dominant super power with vaunting I tion in the post-Federation of dynamic stability in advancing the o military, economic and political capaof hesitancy and integration process. Thus the unanimiO bilities, has opted not only to speak era was the product part of policy-makers the ty principle remains entrenched in the O loudly but, simultaneously, to wield a diffidence on bedevilled of ethic by an voting procedures of the Conference, was also o big stick in its political interface with and wonSmall insularity. has been dispensed with for decisanctimonious O other participants in the WTO, includ- der, therefore, that in the interplay of but of other organs save in the sion-making a ing miniscule economic actors like the developments at the regional level, exceptional circumstances identified in a States of the OECS. relate to issues was assimiwhich and l9(3) political accommodation Article In order to confront and manage O impor' critical "determined of endogebe of to compromising lated to the a emerging global developments, com- nous notions of autonomous decision- tance to the well-being of a Member O petent decision-makers in CARICOM making. Consequently, the Caribbean State. o have been constrained to devise new Community as an association of soverAny such determination is required O structures of governance based in large of eign entities, exemplified in the legal to "be reached by a two-thirds maiorirecommendations on the measure a ty of Member States" in order to Prerequirement of unanimity for critical Commission, whose O the West Indian and organs in both empt frivolous claims in that behalf. provide the decision-making a reflections quotedforabove by be buttressed to institutions, tended Further, even where the unanimity this discourse on o point of departure structures sanctions of principle prevails, it is a qualified and absence conspicuous the of the a the emerging
Page 26
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE
The opening session of a meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government. The future on their minds.
not an
absolute unanimity since "abstentions shall not be construed as impairing the validity of decisions required to be reached by unanimity provided that Member States constituting not less than three-quarters of the membership of the Community vote in favour of such decisions" - Articles
l9(5) and l8(2) of the Treaty
as
amended by the Protocol.
Another important innovation in the new dispensation attempted to effectuate the submissions of the West Indian Commission which averred "that we must not proceed at the pace of the slowest; that those who are ready to move must do so - reserving a place for the others when they are ready ... Consistently with this
insight, Article l7(4) which addresses voting procedures in Community organs provides: "Subject to the agreement of the Conference, a Member State may opt out of obligations arising
the right to opt out is subject to two important conditions - the agreement
munity Organs and the Legal Affairs
of the Conference and the requirement to preserve the integrity of the Com-
relevant information inputs and are
munity's fundamental objectives. What is envisaged here is a scenario in which some groups of Member States may decide to integrate at a quicker pace than others without compromising the integration process as a whole.
eacting to the West Indian Commission's finding that
implementation was the Achilles heel of the regional integra-
tion movement, competent decisionmakers in the Community sought to remedy this defect in relevant institu-
tional arrangements. In this context, Article 16 of the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas expressly provides for a consultative process to be established and maintained by the Community
organs, provided that the fundamental
Council of Ministers in collaboration with competent authorities of Member Stqtes. Paragraph 2 of the Article
objectives of the Community, as laid down in the Treaty, are not preiudiced thereby." It is important to note that
requires the system of consultation to be established to be so structured as to "ensure that determinations of Com-
from the decisions of
JUNE 1998
competent
Committee are adequately informed by reinforced by consultations unde rtaken at successively lower levels ofthe decision-making process."
In keeping with the provisions of this Article, measures would need to be taken at the regional level for a flow of information /consultation between and among the Secretariat, other regional organisations, the Social Partners and national officials culminating in structured inter-sectoral consulta-
tions at the level of the Ministerial Councils. At the level of the Community Council, major tripartite consulta-
tions are contemplated, periodically, on a regional basis. The inputs for such consultations would come from
inter-sectoral consultations held at national and regional levels. The process of consultation should extend at each level of decision-mak-
ing to include the recommendations flowing from the relevant organs or level. For example, the decisions by the Conference of Heads of Government, apart from the
bodies at a lower
o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a a o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o a o o Page 27
a
CnatcoM PtnsPECTtvE o o o o a o o o a o a o o o a o o a o o a o O
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national positions articulated by the Heads of Government, would normally benefit from recommendations of the Community Council and the Secretari-
responsible, ultimately, for determining and providing strategic direction for the policy of the Community. The composition and procedures of the
charged with primary responsibility for economic policy co-ordination and
att the decisions of the Community
Conference operate to underscore the
Council would, apart from the national positions articulated by the Minister
juridical status of the Community
and Economic Development, charged with responsibility for the promotion of trade and economic development in
responsible for CARICOM Affairs, normally benefit from recommenda-
on the principles of consent and
tions flowing from the specialised Ministerial Councils, the Secretariat and the regional tripartite consultative process: and the decisions made by the
specialised Ministerial Councils would, apart from the national positions articulated by the relevant subject Ministers, be informed by the recommendations from the preparatory meetings of officials and the Secretariat. At the national level, it is envisaged that consultations between and among the Social Partners, the national Ministries/Agencies, the regional organisations including the Secretariat, co-ordinated and organised by the Ministry of CARICOM Affairs, would enable the
association
as an
of sovereign States based the
sovereign equality of States. s the supreme organ of the
Community, the Conference is competent to make determinations on any issue affecting policy of the Community, and in so doing. is subject to the unanimity principle. The Bureau allows for continuity in the discharge of the responsibilities of the Conference between Meetings of this organ. The Community Council is the second highest decision-
financial and monetary integration of Member States: the Council for Trade
the Community; the Council for Human and Social Development, charged with responsibility for the promotion of human and social development in the Community; and the Council for Foreign and Community Rela-
tions, charged with responsibility for
determining relations between the Community and international organisations and third States.
Complementing these institutional arrangements are three important bodies, namely, the Legal Affairs Commit-
making organ and is designated as such in Article 6(lXb). According to Article 8(2), the "Community Council shall, in accordance with the policy directions
tee, the Budget Committee and the Committee of Central Bank Gover-
established by the Conference, have
scheme of things in the Community.
the determination of regional deci-
primary responsibility for the development of Community stategic planning and co-ordination in the areas of economic integration, functional co-oper-
cedures
sions.
ation and external relations."
establishment
of
national positions
which would be employed as inputs for
In terms of organisational structure, the Conference retains its status as the
supreme organ
of the collectivity
Assisting these
two
principal
organs are four other organs, namely, the Council for Finance and Planning,
nors, whose nomenclatures are a clear
indication
of their remit within
the
T\rotocol l. which addresses L) tn, organisational, instituI tional irrangements and proof the Community, including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, is merely one of nine integrating instruments envisaged to amend the Treaty of Chaguaramas in order to establish the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. The other instruments are: Protocol II (Rights of Establishment, Provision of Services,
Movement
of Capital); Protocol III
(Industrial Policy); Protocol IV (Trade Policy); Protocol V (Agricultural Policy); Protocol VI (Transport Policy); Protocol VII (Disadvantaged Countries, Regions and Sectors); Protocol
VIII
(Disputes Settlement), and Proto-
col IX (Rules of Competition).
In the final configuration of
the
Treaty as revised, each Protocol will constitute a discrete chapter. It is contemplated that, with the elaboration and implementation of these instruments, a single economic space will be created within which the factors of proThe Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed by the leaders of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The foundation stone of CARICOM present and tuture.
duction, including labour, would
be
able to locate to countries, regions or sectors where they can be optimally employed. and. in the process. improve
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPEcrtvE productivity and the efficient
the Community;
allocation of resources while enhancing the quality of life and the standards of living of citizens of the Community.
opportunities
(e) to provide enhanced for the co-ordi-
nation of the foreign policies of Member States;
^4. f these instruI lr.n,r. the most \-/sensitive in terms
(f) to promote greater understanding among Member States and Associate Members for the purpose of realising and safeguarding
of compromising the autonomy of decision in national economic development policy would appear to be Protocol II, which establishes the broad parameters for the conferment
the ideals and principles of democratic governments in the Community and facilitating the economic and social advancements of their peo-
of
national treatment in the areas identified. The importance likely to be attached to Protocol VIII, which addresses disputes settlement, will depend on the willingness of interested Member States to
on the Caribbean Supreme Court original jurisdiction in respect of the interpretation and application ofthe Treaty as revised. confer
In addition to the above, the Conference of Heads of Government agreed on the establishment of other critical structures designed to enhance the process of governance in the Com-
ples;
@ to
encourage
the
adoption by the Governments of Member States of the Community of a common policy on economic, social cultural, sci-
number of CARICOM States and is currently in force. he Community Secretariat is
currently spearheading initiatives to have the Agreement implemented by the parties and to operationalise the regime. Of impor-
tance, too,
is the Agreement for
the
entffic and legal matters deliberated upon by the Assembly." The composition and powers of the Assembly have elicited unfavourable comments from various quarters. In the perception of the West Indian Commission, the provisions of Article 5 of the Agreement unduly restrict the deliberative functions of the Assembly, which, if it is to improve the delivery of govemance in the Community, must be competent to discuss issues of concern to the vitality of the body. The Com-
norms and the quality of life for ordinary citizens of the Community.
Avoidance of Double Taxation intended to facilitate the provision of services and the right of establishment by Community nationals in Member States. The Assembly of Caribbean Com-
These were identified in the celebrated report of the West Indian Com-
been
mission's concern was expressed not to
established and has already convened
be an invitation to the Assembly to
its inaugural session in Barbados in
meddle in the intemal affairs of Member States, but must be seen to be supportive of a competence by the Assembly to deliberate on issues relevant to
munity with probable positive impact
on the sustainability of
democratic
mission entitled "Time for Action" as a CARICOM Assembly of Parliamentarians, a CARICOM Charter of Civil
Society and
a CARICOM
Supreme
munity Parliamentarians has
1996. The objectives of the Assembly are set out in Article 4 of the Agreement and read as follows:
"(a) to involve the people of
Court as some of the important institutions to be established to take a revitalised Caribbean Community into the
tives,
2lst century. Of equal importance but
and strengthening the Community;
not readily recognised as a critical inte-
(b) to provide opportunities for involvement in the issues of the integration process by Members of Parliament in each Member State and Associate Member in addition to those who now participate; (c) to provide aforumfor people of the Community to make their views known through their representatives; (d) to provide more frequent contact in the monitoring of the policies of
grating instrument is the CARICOM Agreement on Social Security, which would allow Community citizens to maintain and transfer their social secu'
rity benefits from one CARICOM jurisdiction to another. In the absence of such a facility, the much-hoped-for mobility of skills in the Community will never be realised. This instrument has now been
JUNE 1998
ratified by the prescribed
the
Community, through their representa-
in the proiess of consolidating
the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, functional co-opgiation among Member States and the external
relations of the Community. In the Commission's submission, the composition of the Assembly is too restricted and should have been configured to accommodate representatives of the Social Partners - the private sector, NGOs and labour. It was also submitted that the Assembly should have been
entitled to receive reports on the work of the Community to enable the peoples of the Region to have an informed awareness of Community activities.
o o o a o o a o a o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o a o o o a o o o a o O
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Based on the objectives
and functions of
the
hat the Gharter o,nothing more
Assembly, some of its detractors in the media have been quick to dismiss the institution as another talk shop of marginal relevance for the critical developmental problems plaguing the Region and unlikely to do more than constitute an additional financial
for
fundamental economic,
to the general
populace.
Yndeed- one of the criticisms of of the Region is I policy-makers -
Iirr"i.
overweening preoccupation with national issues and diffidence in enlightening their populations about developments in the regional integration movement. These criticisms are likely to continue, since issues on the regional agenda are rarely seen to impact one way or another on the outcome of the electoral process at the
national plane with which decisionmakers are quintessentially concerned.
In the premises, the Assembly must be appreciated as remedying this inadequacy in the regional integration process by involving the representatives of the people of both government and opposition in regional issues of importance.
of
the
Assernbly are, no doubt, influenced by the competence of the European Parliament, which has an important ele-
ment of democratic accountability within the legislative and executive system of the European Community and which has been enhanced by the holding ofdirect elections to this body. The European Parliament enjoys wide advisory powers and many provisions
of the EEC Treaty require it to be consulted on draft legislation prepared by the Commission before consideration and adoption by the Council. Most importantly, the European Parliament can oblige the entire Commission to resign by approving a motion of censure (Article 144).
T-linally. the European ParliaH rn.ni may challenge the I tegatity oi actions by the Community institutions before the European Court of Justice. As yet, however, the Assembly is a fledgling institution whose first session was not particularly eventful in terms of controverting important regional issues, and. consequently. public perceptions of its relevance are still an issue for future resolution. Unlike the Assembly, whose estab-
lishment was initiated by the Prime Minister of Barbados at the material time, the Charter of Civil Society was engendered by the West Indian Commission which perceived it as con-
tributing to good govemance in the Region and recommended its elaboration and adoption by the Member States of the Community. Consequently, the Conference of Heads of Government, at their Special Meeting held in Port-of-Spain in October 1992, adopted the recommendation of the West Indian Commission. In their determination, the Conference agreed that the
for
religreater accountability and transpctrency in governance." Since that time, the Charter
gious diversity,
has been subjected to sever-
S...
concern is good governance, an important aspect of which is open debate on
system,
social and cultural rights, the rights of women and
of its
relevance of the Assembly at a time when an issue of compelling
Disparaging perceptions
respect
civil, political,
ent on the
the
open
ffictive functioning of the
children, respect
however, it is to argue a strange logic to question
importance
fair and
democratic process, the
morality in public affairs,
e
peoples of the Community. In the present submission,
of
free press, a
parliamentary
compendium titudes, given
burden on the deprived
issues
Charter "would deal, inter alia, with matters such as a
al revisions based in part on
submissions made by participants in some national consultations on the draft. 7-l-th. Conference
I
of
Heads of
I Government
formally
adopted the Charter at their
in Bridgetown during July 1996. The Charter has twenty-eight (28) Articles encompassing. among
meeting
others, the areas identified in the guidelines established by the Conference mentioned above.
In the present submission,
the
underlying theme of the Charter provisions is provided in paragraph 1, Article l, which appropriately establishes that the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual are "subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of others and for the public interest". This qualification should operate to restore some balance to the human rights activists' seemingly myopic preoccupation with the rights of the individual, inexcusably oblivious to the conelative obligation which the enjoyment of such rights must be seen to impose. In their ordinary signification, rights are legal entitlements enforceable by tribunals of competent jurisdiction and do not exist in vacuo. ln the submission of some eminent jurists, the conferment of a right is normally a function of the recognition of a preexisting obligation corresponding to such a right. And it is important that the Charter of Civil Society, by JUNE 1998
o
CtntcoM PraspECTtvE ineluctable inf'erence, recognise this axiomatic juxtaposition of rights and obligations subsisting together for
course. in the absence of authoritarian intervention, to be nasty, brutish and short. Indeed, man's inherent rational-
social cohesion. ot unlike the Assembly, the Charter has its fair share of
ity
detractors. One
general
criticism of the Charter is that it breaks
no new ground and merely
repeats
much of what has been enunciated by
leans towards the observance of
norms of conduct intuitively or experientially perceived to inure to the general good. In the premises, the Charter, which has been adopted by the Conference. will constitute a moral commitment lo observe its prescriptions. pre-
will
various human rights instruments elab-
scriptions which, over time,
orated by one or another organisation within the United Nations System. Further, it is argued that the Charter must aspire to nothing more than a motley compendium of pious platitudes, given the absence of any binding commitment on the part of its signatories, and the absence of any credible monitoring
internalised by policy-makers and constitute a standard of conduct to which
will adhere their functions.
they
in
be
perfbrmance of
that of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. At its Special Session held in Port-of-Spain in October 1992,
note that the Charter is not a legally-
ment took note of the recommendation of the West Indian Commission fbr the
mission. these criticisms are either uninformed or misconceived, or both. In the first place, it is simplistic to assume that compliance with moral or ethical prescriptions is necessarily a
of a
coercive sanctioning process. Men were not all created in
function
Hobbes' image requiring social inter-
the Cont-erence of Heads of Govern-
establishment
of a
CARICOM
Supreme Court with original jurisdiction in respect of matters arising under the Treaty of Chaguaramas. At its first
Special Meeting held in Kingston, fiom l6-18 February 1998, the Legal Aflairs Committee requested the Conference of Heads of Govern-
Jamaica,
proposed Caribbean Supreme Court having original jurisdiction. At this Meeting, the Legal Affairs Committee completed the draft Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Supreme
Court, subject
to minor
drafiing
changes.
7Tth" drait Agreement as I approved allows parties to I the regime to enter reservations to Article X with the consent of the Contracting Parties: Article XXII. This provision is intended to facilitate
the participation
As early as 1988, the Conf-erence of Heads of Government had agreed to establish a Caribbean Court of Appeal with appellate jurisdiction similar to
mechanism and enforcement measures to secure compliance with its prescriptions. In this context it is important to
binding instrument. In the present sub-
ment to address, in particular, the issue
of the
of the Republic of
Trinidad and Tobago in the regime in respect of criminal appeals only. Presumably, however, if a decision is reached to accord the Court original jurisdiction in respect of matters relat-
ing to the Treaty of
Chaguaramas,
Trinidad and Tobago will concur in this enlargement of the Court's jurisdiction and agree to be bound by the relevant provisions of the Agreement as amend-
ed. The present
Agreement also attempts to insulate judges of the Court, including the President, fiom
direct political int-luence by making their appointments and removal subiect to an afTirmative recommendation ofthe Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission acting on the advice
o o o a o o o a a o o o o o o a o o o o a o o o o o o a o o a o o o O
o o a O Disparaging perceptions o{ the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians are, no doubt, influenced bY the competence of the European Pariiament, which has an important element of democratic accountability within the legislative and executive system of the EuroPean Community. Right, the Euro Parliament as members celebrated 40 years since the signing of the Treaty ol Strasbourg.
JUNE 1998
o o o o o a o o o o a o a o a o a o Page 3'l
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CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE O
o o o o o o o o o o o o o
of a
case may lequire. to exarnine allegations of judicial misconduct. fflhere itre ittdiertions. houct I er. that the prir atr' Brrr in
-jurisdictiotts erttertains serious reservations about thc ability of the Court to dispense justice
in a manner consonant with
the
requirements ol' due proccss and ol' a quality commandin-c the respect of the legal community. One major concern exprcssed in various quarters is the political will of participating Governments to finance the operations o1' the Court tbr the efl-ective discharge of its responsibilities. But in the submission of the West Indian Cornmission. this is an investment Member States cannot aflbrd not to allbrd. Reservations are also rnade about the le-sal erudition ol'prospective
o o o a o a o o O
to judicial office and thc quality of delivery of services. And. aspirants
o o a o o a o a o a o o o
here again, the West Indian Contrnission begged to difl'er about the quality of our judges.
The most important reservation. however. relates to the ability of judges of the Court to pertbrm their tlnctions tiee from political influence.
despite reassuring institutional arrangements
fbr their appointrnent and rentoval. Some of these reservations have been addressed by the West Indian Conrmission as set out below. In the submission ol'the West Indi-
O
Page 32
r.r.rul
I
O
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
tribr"rnal to be constitttted. as the
i,ir'rir,,:' rrt.::
;t.::tilitlli;ilr:trrrr t:,:iiiji:l!:r
''.''
,irriliip:lillllliiirit:,,r,rrri:.r.
,
r
il
r: i r
; r. r r r .. i:: i i I i:
'
the case for a Supreme Court is com-
Indian Cornmission. "(i)ntegratirstr itr
pelling. both in 'terms ol' enhancin,s
u Sirtgle CARICOM Mttrket, tltottetor\' uttitnt, tlte tnorentent oJ c'apilul uttd lubour uttl gootls, tutd .futtctirurul ctt-
an
Commission.
Caribbean
cohesion anrong the participants of thc legional integration nrovement and in
.,
. r:, .
,:.
'i::' ..a:-
'
f
-::l'i
i.:
gle Market and Economy
importlnt ri-shts and obli-eations fbr
uni.fortnlr. A CARICOM Sultrente Court interpretittg the Treutv o.f
Member States and which rnust impact
Cltuguunmns, resolving disputes ari,s-
Tn narticrrlar. Protocol ll. lrhich I ad.lrerres the richt ol CorrrmuInitv nationuls to establish antl pro,,ide ,ervice, in any jurisdiction of Mernbel States and to rnor,e capital freely f'rom one jurisdiction to another. rnust bc the subject of interpretation and application in the daily lives of citizens. Givc'n the status o1'the Community as an association of soverei-en States. implementation of the Treaty. as revised. will be arnenable to as many .yudicial interpretations as there are jurisdictions in the- Community. Absence of uniformity in the interpretation and application of relevant norms must. in the present submission, be seen as a prescription fbr business uncertainty and retardation ol'the inte-eration movement. In the characterisation of the West
' ,;,the private Bar
I
lll.li::i!, rlli*r:],.rrril:::l
"'''
g
betweett Goventntettts porties to tlle Trea\, declarittg tmtl enfitttittg Conrmunity lau', interltretitrg the Churter o.f Civil Society - all by the wut' of the
r'l'-
:,,,.rrliltrt::i;i.irr, jriar.r. ':rr:t:t:r;f :iti:i:t:,it::t!t::,::
r it,
ittg
being of individuals in the Conrmunity. both natural and juridical.
. 1::: :. .. ' :s:i :,,rt::.: :.:it. i:... . i:i: . . '.! :ili*alij;iry::| r,,.$.r,,,. .{r:x':i-:*:1r:.1
'
creates
importantly on the economic well-
,. .
:1.:
ittt,rtlvittg,
opertttiott itt u ntultiplititv rt .fields ilru.\l hure the untlerltinttittg, o.f' Conrtrrtttritt' latr. Ittegratittt resls on rights utttl cluties: it require.s the supltrtrt tfi' the rule o.f law applied regiottullv atrd
:.,t1:4,' ..::.:::t .,.,:l
'::::,.
-
pror,iding an applopriate final Appellate Court in the Region. In ternts ttf enhancin-s the re-sional intcgration process, it is important to note that the establishment of the CARICOM Sin-
in several jurisdictions â&#x201A;Źn tertains serious reservations ::: . about the ability ',of the Gourt to dispense , justice in a manner consonant with the rr requirements of ,
its hroutlest ecottontit' sen,te
""dllâ&#x201A;Ź process...
unde
inc ludin
tlispute
e,rercise o.l' u originul .jurisdiction
s
- is
absolutelv essettial to tlte itttegrution pro(ess ...". ln ternrs
of the appellate jurisdiction of the Court. the Commission submitted "l/rat u Curibbeatt
Suprente
Court nrutttted br distittgui.slrcd We.st Itttliart .jurists tutd itt u,hich liti.quttt.s huve con.f'idence, i.s likelt, to (luro('t u lorger ttmttber of uppeal.r Jfunt coutrtrie.s ol tlte Regiott thutt the Priyt Coutrcil trotr tloes. Its kttox'letlge ancl utuler.staruling of regiottul problems, languuge und culture, toupletl v'ith it,s itletttif icrttiott with the ven etlns of the Cttrib lv tu
t
C t, t tu tt tt
tti
t.t',
il l
( ) n (.
e ul le.s/ r.
it tt'ith itttritt.sic cluulitie.s y'hit'lt
tlte
Privy Couttcil, tle.spite it,s greut leantittg, does ttot tuul cun ncr)er httpe to /o.f.re.r.r ".
Postulated in other terrns. thc case fbr a Caribbean Supreme Court could be based on the need firr a regional Court of last resort to apply laws incor-
porating
a collective regional
ethos,
reflecting the moral irnperatives of the Caribbean social reality and amenable to interpretation by judges who woukl have internalised the values infbrming the content of that social reality.
I Duke Pollurrl is the Treuty Revisiott reluriilt.
ut tl.rc
Crnsultuttt. CARICOM Set.-
)la
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnspEcrtvE o a o a a a o o o o O
o a o o O
AVision For
Cancom And CDB 7Tlh" origins of the CDB are closeI ty interwoven with those of I sovereign government in the English-speaking Caribbean. It must be recalled that the last years of the 1960s and the early ones of the 1970s were a time when it was thought that the economic fortunes of a people were if not totally almost determined by their inheritance of raw materials. This dichotomised us into a group
including Guyana, Jamaica
and Trinidad and Tobago on one hand and on the other, the rest of us. Not sur-
prisingly, there was a tone of urgency and near impatience when the colonial and other imperial governments met to analyse the prospects of the countries
We were hardly launched when the
+
whole
was
those various deliberations. Let us recall that they took place against a background of extreme pessimism about the prospects of those economies that were resource poor such as those
ago. To the extent this can be dubbed a
Neville Nicholls
+
CDB was,perhaps the major product of
of this country and the others in
the
in the Eastern Caribbean in the last half
Eastern Caribbean excepting Trinidad and Tobago. The recent failure of the Federation heightened those feelings
of the 1960s. The establishment of the
of despair.
JUNE 1998
of the developing world
engulfed in the crisis brought about by the massive changes in the terms of trade that were caused by those in the structure of commodity prices. In some ways the developing world has never recovered from that crisis even though the fortunes of the nations it comprises have been marked by the remarkable twists of irony. In all this, the resourcepoor nations of this region have performed much better than they must
have been expected to three decades
success. CDB shares in its achievement. We share also in the new set of anxieties that now confront all our BMCs, not least the strikingly prosperous members. What do I mean?
o a o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o a o a o o o a o o o a a o Page 33
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CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE o o o a o o a o o o o o a o a a o o a o o o a a o O
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When CDB came into existence more than a quarter of a century ago,
the cold war had become part of humanity's consciousness. There were a very few thinkers who claimed that Soviet society was artificial and could not survive very long. But most of us thought that those were the views of ultra reactionaries who could ncver come to grips with the reality of socialist success. Few would have wagered whatever the odds, that the powerful Soviet empire would have expired befbre the century had. Today I speak to you against the backdrop of reality. The traditional cold war has ended and
less than a handlul of governments admit to being socialist in any form. The circumstances that gave strategic importance to this region as recently as
fifieen years ago, have vanished. We are now in a situation. where our prospects are going to be determined by our own effbrts. We have got
to start working on this understanding right away. The reality that confronts us most certainly cause us much anxiety. But it should do much more. Caribbean people are a remarkable
example
of the survival instincts of
humans. The ancestors of nearly all of us, came fiom considerably distant
parts. They spoke a large variety of
Afiican, Asian and European languages and to one another must have seemed to possess a vast range of strange habits and mores. Most of our people have a history of one sort or other of bondage and a legacy that could engender generations of bitter hatreds. Notwithstanding all this, we have learned to live together in quite harmonious patterns.
Our cohabitation is not perf'ect and we ofien fiet about how well or not we are doing. Judged either by our own standards or those of regions that do not share our heterogeneity. we seem as failures. Yet, judged by more realistic standards. we remain the envy of most other regions of this planet. And
that certainly helps us to explain the success of our tourism.
Once we focus on the human resilience that has characterised our
societies over the last t'ew centuries. we are bound to see that the circumstances that cause us some anxiety and foreboding could be reasons for such a
What I think is going to be most important is that we set tour own objectives and define as t'ar as it is reasonable, the socio-economic path for
challenge.
reaching those objectives. This is what
is nothing in the ordinarY of things that is remarkable
There sense
about one year over another. For some members of the hunran race thc year
2000
will
have a significance that is
bound up in their peculiar history. But even among Christians. that year will vary in emotional appeal according to which calendar is used to date events. Notwithstanding that. fbr all of us in this region. the concept of the millennium is steeped in meaning. We can use it to inspire in us a resolve to meet future challenges with a positive attitude. Because we are small, our economic lbrtunes and our production patterns have always been determined by the demands of the global market place.
The emphasis that was laid on various staples is now replaced by one which the services of our people can perform for the rest of the world. We are doing quite well in conventional tourism. and are learning to be good at eco-tourism.
for which Dominica is very suited. Recently we have expanded our participation in the financial services market and our countries are finding credible niches. Because I think the human f-actor is
important. fbr me the development of human capital must be at the fbrefiont of our economic development effbrts. This for me. includes the eff'ective motivation of our people. I know that there are many facets of motivation, but an important aspect is the cognitive dimension. We must know where we wish to take people if we are to lead them eft-ectively. We must be able to
convince them that they should go with us. We should be able to articulate the sacrifices they might have to endure to achieve a national or regional objective and the length of the period that might exist befbre those sacrifices begin to pay off. I think that this is the kind of leadership that will be required in the new millennium.
I wish to call repatriation of our economic policy making. I think that this will always be a matter of pride for a people that wc have had long experience of social bondage and colonialism. I think that CDB can make a substantial contribution to the effbrt of this region to reach this very crucial stage in our national development. This is why in the last f'ew years I have been so insistent that under my charge, CDB will have a viable and pragmatic but. at the same time. serious research capacity. Our Board of Directors has already agreed that we should commence this endeavour and we have begun to recruit stafT and to develop the modalities for commencing a serious programme in economic research.
The change in the global circumstances is not a necessary precursor to
some state that we are getting too accustomed to calling marginalisation, making it seem that we need to depend on the goodwill of others for our successful integration into the modern dynamic global economy. We must stop thinking like this and we must start thinking positively about our lit'e chances and the developmental path we must take to secure them. Sound indigenous economic research. that identifies clearly our options and warns us of dangers to avoid, has a major role to play in our further development as a people. The current difficulties besetting many of the developing economies in South East Asia have many lessons to teach us. One we must not miss, is that no region should leave its economic research and policy prescriptions entirely to others, regardless, as in this case. how favourably disposed they are to its good fortunes. The CDB will be an important player in that arena. If our region is going to make its
way in the new global environment and banish the fear of our marginalisaJUNE 1998
a
CnntcoM PrnsPEcrtvE tion, it will need more than sound policy advice form an
where we might find
will have to embrace a research and development orientation if they are to
indigenous source it can safely
trust. There is yet more to
be
accomplished in our tradition-
al role of financing development f,or our BMCs paying
become and remain competiglobalised environment.
tive in this new
special regard to the LDCs. We have a challenge as a development bank, to focus our new lending strategy in the direction that improves the
In the years I have led I have had the won-
C.D.B.,
derful support of all our members both in our region
competitive dynamism of our
and beyond. I have been able
countries, and prepare them for successful docking on to
to build on the splendid
whatever hemispheric trading arrangement emerges soon in the new millennium. I shall be submitting to our Board of Directors at its next meeting the initial drafi of a strategy for CDB which when it is fully fbrmulated after consultation with our Directors and other members of our regional public, wiil guide the lending activities of CDB in the early years of the millennium. We anticipate that in our new environment. in which countries such as Dominica, will have to move away from a dependence on banana cultivation to a more diversified and service-oriented devel-
opment strategy and in which also, small countries will continue to lack easy access to global capital markets, CDB will have to increase and diversify its lending. The initial forecast by stafT is that in the five-year period between 1999 and 2003 CDB will be lending in its current set of BMCs on average about US$l4l million per year. The expectation is that lending in the social sec-
tors, including for human resource development, will expand substantially in this period. We shall also intensify our efforts to help eliminate structural poverty from with in our BMCs.
This new lending recall,
will
be
accompanied by well researched poli-
cy advice and be focused to avoid any danger of marginalisation of any of our BMCs. We intend to offer BMCs whatever reasonable support can help them overcome present implementation difficulties, so that they can take JUNE 1998
an
appropriate niche. They too
achievements
of two distin-
guished predecessors with advantage of our greater activity. A major f-eature of our new approach will be the partnerships we shall strive to foster with a wider range of institutions in our BMCs. We envisage that your organisation will have a vital role in our new approach and look forward to further discussions with manage-
both of whom I had the privi-
of serving. It is because they achieved so much that I am now able to think of these other things I would lege
like to see C.D.B., start to accomplish before the end of this century and carry on beyond. I am proud that under my leadership we could access the interna-
tional capital market and retain our favorable rating afier several market
ment in due course.
Notwithstanding our increased activity, we will still be required to fund only a relatively small part of the Public Sector Investment Programmes of our larger BMCs that have access to larger multilaterals and the private capital market. But we intend to participate in those countries in sectors where
our resources will generate considerable leverage and where our policy advice
will
be most relevant.
We shall continue to pay special regard to the LDCs in our BMCs but we intend to remain the development bank of all our BMCs. As our Charter
prescribes,
we are committed to
regional integration. This will become
in some ways an easier objective, but in others a more difficult challenge as the forces of globalisation impinge on our traditional bonds. C.D.B., intends to help our region preserve these in a way that does not inhibit its successful integration into large economic entities such as whatever Free Trade of The Americas eventually emerges, and the
larger global economy itself. I f'eel that C.D.B., will have to explore its lending fbr the new communications
industry. We are starting to
research
transactions. This has been a tribute to the whole of our region and it has just-
ly shared our pride. There are still other things C.D.B., can do to enhance the access to global finance for the Caribbean and we have started to work on some new initiatives.
I
do understand the anxiety that some feel about our present chances in the global economy, especially in the wake of so many changes in the pref'erential arrangements which were previously negotiated with us. For us this
could be a crisis. but in every crisi' there is an opportunity. I bclieve i have pointed to a vision of hclw our region could grasp its new opporrunitl.
I
Sir Neville Nicholls is Presidertt ol' Burtk
the Caribbean Developntent (CDB)
fntm a at the 42nd
(Excerpted
made
Feutltre Address
Annual General Meeting of the Dominica Coctperative
Credit Union League Ltd., April r
998)
)ii
o o o a o a o a o a a a o o o o o o a a a o o a o o o a o a a o a a a o o o a o a o o o a o a a a a o o o a o o o
Page 35
o
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE o o o o o O
o a o o a o a o a a o o o o o o o o a a o o o o o o o o a a a a a o a o o a o O O
a o o a o o o O
o a Page 36
A greatvision
For Integration lmost anything that I say about
Sir Philip Sherlock would
be
to gild the anthurium - the anthurium being the gift of a life of hope and fulfillment creatively crafted and deftly lived as part of a process of transformation, growth and develop-
ment of an entire society in quest of itself, of its reason for being, for over half a century.
Philip Manderson Sherlock has been at the beginning of all the great challenges facing the people of this grouping, West Indies, since the late
sister twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago in 1962. A persistent advocate of West Indi-
an integration even in the face of the ill-fated Federation of 1958-61, Sir Philip has lived to see the light rekindled and the hope restored in the hearts of a new generation which remains the legatee of the vision he has had for our Caribbean people in the surge towards a defi
nitive civilisation.
For him, as for other founding fathers, the twilight of colonialism was to herald a light rising from the West.
Thirties - whether it be the call for self-
"Oriens ex Occidente Lux." Every-
government followed by the birth' pangs of a society in protracted labour or the halting courtship leading to an
where else it rises from the East. Trust us in our determination to be different, special and unique!
attempt at union, or the bringing forth, complete with primal screams, of so many Independent nations starting with his own native Jamaica and her
Lord Milverton who, as Sir Arthur Richards the British Governor who detained trade unionist Alexander Bus-
tamante and other radicals in
193911940, told me
while researching
the early self-government movement in Jamaica, that on being instructed "by savingram" from the British Colonial Office to proceed to Jamaica and "restore order", he arrived in the island with characteristic gubernatorial ardour intent on teaching the troublemakers a lesson. To his amazement he found alongside the fiery and remarkable Bustamante and a few "egg-heads" like Dick Hart and Frank Hill, a highly sophisticated society with people like the
renowned lawyer N.W. Manley and bright young community leaders.
Among these he singled out a "bright young man named Philip Manderson Sherlock". That bright young man had progressed to being the ViceChancellor of the independent University of the West Indies at the time Lord
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PraspECTtvE o
story. the Mona Campus (another has since None of this should be surprising, been established at St. Augustine) to for Sir Philip is a great spirit, the avatar enrich the quality of life and to engage of all that gives fbrce, purpose, lif'e, the aesthetic sensibility of members of Milverton was relating this
hope and meaning to the turbulence, contradictions and chaos of our multisourced existence. He belongs to the chosen few we were lucky to have had at the helm of our social revolution the chosen t'ew who believed that the intractable problems of underdevelopment and the attendant immiseration of the mass of the population had to be met by the empowerment of our people through the exercise of their inteilect and their crearive imagination. Sc, himself has been poet as well as historian, f as well as classroom teacher,
he
Syria" and others after thent in delln- : ing self and society. is clearly evident o and beyond question. But he sees the o
need to tind urgent resglution lbr the O commu- original battle firr space betwcen o Afiica and Europe as the dorninant o The rest is history indeedl Only mode of "beco6in-g" in the r-cgi.n. if O
the University and the wider nity. The rest is history.
Hazel the creative potential ol'the West Indi- O Bennett The Story of the Jamaican an people are to be unleashed in the O People published by lan Randle Pub- service of their own developrnent. o lishers. At the ripe age of 95, Sir Philip A history of the Jarnaican people ; last year he co-authored with Dr.
belief "fiom an African-Jarnaican frath". o African than fr.oml a European point ol'view,' ; he therefbre sees as necessary a
has re-afflrmed his long-held
that until the centrality of the
t.
,
advance the discourse or
at
o
to [i::ii,::il:'J:llilT,'ji::- : pon.y-a.t..'in-.. ind urgeni resolution i|Tt:""',|i}"Jiii',i-i::t:: : sociar worker""a onlffii". for the original battle for ::ffijL,ffl'"::l't#i:,;:: : as well as administrator manorpubricarlairs. space between Africa ij",o,,ltl'J",#J,l;1il:ili: : and Europe as rhe domi. l'ilr"J.f;::,T,:J",',*11'l: .-,';l::T#l"i:::i[ : of the need to inform intellecr ,-ah,. 3'beGoltr' nant mode ,of tuat pursuits with the';;,' ;; il:T:'n#jifi:.:'l:ffi:; : the imagination, which in-tt iing" in the region, if the :iJt:"*:TilJ;:\1:"-::: enriched ,r,. I*lli! "0.*,i"" Universitv of the west lndies creatiue potGntial of the age the descriprion of iirre- : He sees,the need
and
lrom its fledgling years. As a rounding rather,- he actuary
wesr Indian peopr;';; admin-
helped to establish and ister the institution as its
flrst Vice Principal ancl Director of Extra Mural studies. By the time he became Vice ror, afrer tending,h.
Chancel
",;;;;;-
: _ tO be Unlga5hgd in the _ SefViCe Of. thgif OWn
of the St. Augustine branch of the UWI, the Sherlock vision of the creative arts and the humanities acting as a catalyst fbr ment
'
development. , ,
j3H{lJ?*$:'l;,. r. : delighted by such a put_down .nn-
the :
iil:]lil.lT:ii.ili.J.:-:];HjJ
cre_ ole language, preserving their Presence in the Caribbean ethos is natural love for Jrun*, ,ong, '-rusicl recognised and accepted, there can be drumming, fbr laughter sympathy and intellectual pursuits and remaining no sense of self or purpose among the wit. They crcated religious culti and handmaiden to the science and tech- majority of people who tenant his modes of self'-expression and develnology branches of knowledge, was Jamaica and the rest of the insular oped Jamaica's internal marketing syswell established. Caribbean. tem based, in the early years, on provi_ He institutionalised the vision partIt does not mean for him the laying sion grounds on marginal land. and on ly through the introduction of a cre- of exaggerated claims by one set of a network of Sunday markets and higative arts plank in the outreach work of West Indians over all others. Juclging glers." his Extra Mural Department with the from his lif'e-long work in education, He belonged to that generation ol' appointment of Staff Tutors in Drama community development, Caribbean Jamaicans who believed that any along with counterparts in Social regionalism and Caribbean culture, his change frorn colonial lil'e to self'-reliant Work, Trade Union Education and appreciation and respect for the com- nationhood had to be done uirr "change Radio Education. And he eventually mon struggles shared by later arrivants fiorn within" - the designation he gave established the CreativeArts Centre on "frorn India. China. Lebanon and to a project he rnastcr-minded arnong JUNE 1998
o
<letractors fbr he i. o vinced that it was ,.the African_ Jamaican peopte [who] laid O f^,,..r,,t;^- r^". r,." ,.,,r,,,-^ x,
fionl
values. by creating a vivid
:
o
: : : O a o O
o a O
o o O
o o O
o
Page 37
o
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE a a o o o a o o O
o o a o o o a o a o o o o o o o o a o a o o o o o a o a o o a o o a o o
encaging .flesh freedom and winged exaltation Of that first moment when the spir-
inner-city schools in urban Jamaica in the Nineties. He acknowledges the
pivotal role of those who exercise imagination and intellect in the shap-
it
.fair world till then so all-engaging" ("Ascension" by P.M. Sherlock) The spirit stirred, indeed, when the privileged beneficiaries of the freedom and winged exaltation
Centre on the Mona CamPus The
better Jamaica".
He is convinced that a Jamaica will come if the AfricanJamaican people know and treasure their story". The implications for the wider Caribbean are self-evident: a better Caribbean (West Indies) will
a o o o o a o
a o o O
a Page 38
indeed come if West lndian PeoPle begin to treasure their story. This fits into his early vision of the mandatory
development of indigenous institutions like the ill-fated Federation which
lasted a mere three Years,
the
Caribbean Community (Caricom) which has provided one viable alternative to the region's failed attempts to unite politically, the Caribbean Associ-
ation of Universities and Research Instirutes (UNICA) which sought to mobilise the intellect of the region into
collaborative action and his beloved University of the West Indies which not only predated the Federation but survived it and has maintained its pledge to invest intellectual pursuits
with an aesthetic sensibility rooted in the arts of the imagination forged in the crucible of Caribbean experience and lived reality.
Whether we have done justice to this particular dream of Sir Philip we must leave to history to judge.But while we continue in our efforts to attain cultural certitude and intellectual independence, we dare not tbrget the faith in self and society that his iconic presence provided succeeding generations of the likes of theatre artists Enol Hill and Noel Vaz, anthropolo-
of Sir Philip's
generosity. dedication. compassion and caring, named the Creative Arts
public and private sectors and political parties who are dedicated to building a "better
stirs
And moves with certitude.from the
ing of a modern Jamaica, insisting that his latest book was merely a contribution to work already "begun bY our artists, poets, writers, carvers, athletes, reggae musicians, the dub poets, rastafarians, the scholars, members of the
of whom he was among the first to recognise, to acknowledge and to facilitate on their way to full flowering.
What was recently said of Walcott can be said of Sir Philip, for they are kindred spirits. "For Walcott's 'Adamic' man the past of motive and event is not as crucial. not as creative a force, as his renewed vision and elation in the New World. Rather than a creature riveted to his past, he is a man capable of inhabiting any historical moment unencumbered by time, and because he is absolved from the histories of the old worlds. he is able to recreate the entire order from religion to the simplest domestic rituals. This was the transforming and creative process by which the New World slave has yielded his own past, invested the acquired Christian tradition with a new feeling and faith and began the new naming of things in the New World." For Sir Philip, as for Derek Walcott, "this effort of creation. with its force of revelation and its particular sensibility, is
the essence of history in the West lndies". ["Historv and Stvle in Arutther-L!k" by Nana Wilson Tagoe in The Art of Derek Walcott, ed. Stewart Brown, 19911. The work in the Creative Arts Centre is intended to catch, energise and celebrate that essence. His generosity of spirit has always made him have time and tolerance for the work of all the namers of our real-
gist M.G. Smith, novelist George Lamming, poet-historian Edward
ity. That spirit soared on seeing a drawing by Edna Manley way back when, jubilant, he wrote:
Kamau Brathwaite and the Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. the talents of all
This upward moving from
"This is the ascension the
Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts back in 1993. ". ..t Al great poet", Derek Walcott once wrote of Boris Pasternak, "achieves his level when he reaches what lEzral Pound once called "the language beyond metaphor", when he has found his wisdom in clarity, when
the naming of things, the simPlest things, like buckets, sof'as, the sound of rain, are merely, by the act of naming them, reverberations". The University of the West Indies which Sir Philip Sherlock helped to fbund was able to "reverberate" by being part of the renaming of one of its Creative Afts Centres in the presence of both this great namer of our things,
Sir Philip himself, and his devoted friend and lifelong supporter Lady Sherlock. " Black of night and white of gown White of altar, black of trees, Swing the circle wide again, Fall and cry, me sister now. Let the spirit come again, Fling away the flesh and bone Let the spirit have a home" ("Pocomania" b.t" P.M. Sherlock)
The pledge was to let the spirit have a home not only in the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts
at Mona but throughout the region served by the University of the West Indies whose remit embraces, still, the task of unlocking the creative potential of the people it was set up to serve.
I
Nettleford Professor of Continuing Stuclies and Pro-Vice Chancellor U.W.l., Mona, Jamaica. Re.r
)r.
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnspEcTtvE o o O
Sir
John
Compton
The Grand Old Man Of
Canbbean Politics his is a time merely for observance but for celebration. The
rocks of the Jamaica Referendum disappointed but did not stall the determination of V.C. Bird and the Caribbean leaders, and with three years of this
Caribbean who despite many setbacks
event which would have broken the spirit of lesser men. Here was V.C. inviting the two other Bs - Burnham of Guyana and Barrow of Barbados again to another Bay, this time in Dickinson Bay in Antigua to salvage from the wreckage some planks with
celebration of the spirit of many men and women in the
and disappointments, continue the pursuit of that elusive goal of the Caribbean unity.
Prominent amongst these outstanding persons is Vere Cornwall Bird, religious leader, social worker, trade union leader., political leader, Prime Minister and visionary. a man who "stayed the course". As the ship of Caribbean Unity sailed from bay to bay, in search of a save haven for the Caribbean people, V.C. Bird was always on board. He is the only surviving member of the crew when the ship sailed into Montego Bay and the idea of a Federation of a West Indies was first formalised. The wreckage of Federal ship into
JUNE 1998
which to build another ark to keep the spirit of Caribbean Unity afloat. From these planks were built the Good Ship CARIFIA a trading area comprising Antigua, Barbados and Guyana. As the ship remained afloat, others were attracted to its service an here again was V.C. Bird, in another Bay this time, Chaguaramas Bay when
CARIFIA was enlarged and expanded into full community of Caribbean Nations, the Caribbean Communitv.
The various organs of the Commu-
nity if properly employed would have provided the Caribbean people that safe haven which they sought from one Bay to another.
In this era when nation states are becoming an anachronism, and large trading blocs are being formed, when nations and groups of nations pursue their interests with uncompromising zeal, when ideological conflicts are giving way to economic nationalism, the Caribbean Community was intended to be our shield and buckler in a world that is becoming increasingly indifferent to the plight of small nations. The Caribbean Community clearly demonstrates the wisdom and foresight of the framers of the Treaty. The problem now is how effectively we collectively employ the instruments of cooperation available to us. In an age when nationalism is becom-
o a a o o a o o o a o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o o o o o o a o o o o a o o o a o o o o a o a o o o a a Page 39
a
CnntcoM PtnsPECTtvE o o
o ing increasingly outmoded, Caribbean o Governments cling to their sovereignO ty and their leaders puff themselves a with self-importance, which is noticeo able only at home. This is not the O course that V.C. Bird and the earlier o Caribbean Leaders sought to steer our a ship. At this 25th Anniversary of the o Caribbean Community, we must again O take our sights and start our course to O safe haven of Caribbean UnitY. V.C. Bird was first and foremost a O man, using his power base Caribbean a Labour Movement to Antigua the in o goals. his O Promote As a young man whose ideas were o in the turbulent thirties, V. C. moulded O economic emancipation as saw Bird a step to political emancipation first the O the used and Power of organised O the Power of sugar to break labour O maintained for centuries, who barons O on the economy of stranglehold their a Islands O Antigua, and other Caribbean in people a who continued to keep the aboliformal a subugation long after the O tion of slaverY. Although V.C. was dedicated to a Caribbean as a a the advancement ofthe his home neglected a whole, he never if Antigua was to felt that o base. He in the contribution worthwhile make a ; and political development. regional ; be must itself Antigua economic, ; strong. He was not economically made ; deterred from this by collapse of sugar ; in the 1960s. Rather he saw this as an ; for the economic diversiopportunity ; and used Antigua's geographfication ; midway in the Caribbean location ical : :! hetween Eurooe and North America, assets of superb a and their physical beaches to considerable advantage' :: Verv earlv. he saw the revolution would bring. and at tnat tfre i.t : "g. : sreat sac;ifice'. h. d.ueloped the first i", oo., in the Leeward and Windward ' islands. making Antigua the hub oi air : I transportation in the region and creat:o ed. throush tourism, financial sermanufucturing and air trans;- vices.. of the most diversified o Dortation. one in the OECS. From one of "..,n.,mies the lowest per capita income in the : Caribbean. nntigua has the highest per : Page 40
capita income in the OECS and one of the highest in the Caribbean Commu-
ism was the answer" to all our economic ills, urging education, hard
nity.
work and enterprise he opened the doors of education to all, so that through education of its PeoPle, Antigua and Antiguans could rid
Other subregional issues engaged the attention of V.C. Bird. After the unsuccessful attempt at the formation
of the "Little Eight" Federation, I remember flying home from Barbados
with Paul Southwell, V.C. Bird
and
Edward Le Blanc, we spoke of our disappointment. But not V.C. Someone produced a small bottle of whiskeY and we toasted "To West Indian Unity" to which Paul Southwell replied, "and to WISA while we wait." Hence on that journeY which could be filled with despair was born the sub-region, the West Indies Associated States (WISA) now the most cohesive subregional group - The Organisation of East Caribbean States - OECS' with V.C. Bird the first chairman' V.C.'s approach to domestic Politics was fashioned by his Christian upbringing - the bedrock of the Salvation Army in which he held the rank of CaPtain, a position which imbued in him the spir-
it of helping the weak and the downtrodden. His involvement in political activity gave him the opportunities to further these goals.
ln economics. he saw the value of fiee enterprise long befbre the term "market economy" became fashionable. He saw the need for fbreign capital and opened Antigua to outside investment at the same time ensuring l'or Antiguans the opportunities to par-
ticipate
in their
country's develop-
ment.
In
negotiating trade union con-
tracts he secured generous retirement benefits for the workers long before National Insurance Benefits became the norm in the Caribbean. In some circles his Political and
social learnings have been termed "Socialist". but his "socialist" inclinations had more to do with Christian Democracy than with Marx and he refused to accept any political label. When in the 1960s and'70s the waves of conflicting ideologies were battering the Caribbean shores, V.C. was not seduced by the siren cry that "Social-
themselves of the scourges of poverty and underdevelopment.
In CARICOM circles he resented the term of "ideological pluralism" which was being introduced to accommodate the events of Grenada. He felt that this was introducing into the
Community unwanted and unnecessary division which could destroy the harmony of the community and undermine the unity which is an imperative
to further progress. V.C. rejected ideology in favour of ideas and ideals, and would not be diverted from this course. And so great was the respect that he commanded in the communitY that caused him to
wholeheartedly suPPort the OECS Rescue Initiative in Grenada'
As V.C. Bird graduallY withdrew himself from governmental activity' he continued to keeP himself with regional events.He is happy to have seen Antigua and the other former British Colonies cast off the shackles
of colonialism. but this was not the destiny he foresaw when he first embarked on the journeY to Montego Bay. His perseverance has earned him well deserved honour of being named a Citizen of the Caribbean Community, but I am sure he would have Preferred to be a citizen of the West Indies Nation with all the dignity that this
would have implied. V.C. heeded the words of James Allen: " Dream lofrY dreams and Your dream you shall become, Your vision is the Promise of what you shall one day be. Your idea is the prophecy of what y'ou shall at last unveil."
I Hon. John
ComPton is Jbrmer
Prime Minister of Saint Lucia.
* JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnspECTtvE o a o o a o o a o a a o o o
George John
+
A Record Of Service
To The Region n
1996
Trinidad and Tobago's most
experienced politician, Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson, the then 7l year-old member of the coali-
years in the political life of Trinidad
votes were counted, it was clear that at
and Tobago.
least two PNM parliamentarians had
Robinson is Trinidad and Tobago's
tion Cabinet of the United National
third President since the country became a republic in 1976, 14 years
Congress which had won the general
after independence. Both his prede-
election 15 months before, took the Office of President, Head of State and Commander in Chief of Armed Forces.
Robinson, leader of the National Alliance for Reconstruction, the
minority partner in the coalition with just two parliamentary seats, had been holder of the portfolio with the unusual title of Minister Extraordinaire and Minister for Tobago, the other island of the two-island Republic. Additionally, he was de facto Deputy prime
cessors were elected unopposed by the
Electoral College which, according to the Constitution, consists of all the members of the Senate and all the members of the House of Representa-
broken the party line and supported Robinson in the secret ballot.
The PNM was Robinson's first party. He tells the story himself: "When I retumed home from my studies abroad early in 1955 one ofthe first
persons
I
called on was Dr. Williams then at the Caribbean Commission at
Kent House, Maraval" (ust outside
tives assembled together in a unicam-
Port of Spain).
eral body.
According to one report, he went to see Williams about contributing an article to a magazine he wanted to begin. He accepted Williams's invitation to join the new party. And so
The Opposition People's National Movement of which Robinson was a founding member before he broke with it in 1970 decided to vote against
his election on the ground that
the
began an association that brought the young aspirant and Williams together in party and in government until their
Minister. His election to the presidency however was marked by another of those
ing politician. This decision was not
controversies that have featured his 40
famous 1970 split which launched
popular with all in the PNM. When the
Robinson on a new political road.
JUNE 1998
presidency should be above politics and, therefore, should not go to a serv-
o o o o a o o o a o o o o a o o o o o o a o a a o o a O
o o a a a a o o o o o o a o a Page 41
o
CnntcoM PrnsPEcTtvE o o
o O o o o o o a a o ^ : : : :o o :o : : ? o : : ? o ? o o o
Slight
of build. an impressive
Democratic Labour Party's 20; there were three independents. But WIFLP had lost in Jamaica, the DLP claiming l2 ofthe 17 seats. and was beaten also
speaker, Robinson was born at Calder
Hall, a village just outside the Tobago
capital, Scarborough, on December
in Trinidad. the local arm of the DLP winning 6 seats to the PNM's 4,
16, 1926. He grew up in the little fishing village of Castara, on the north coast of the island of some 50,000 people. He is married to an economist. the former Patricia Rawlins. and they have a son and a daughter.
Robinson's being one of them. Sitting in a chamber in which twothirds of the government seats were held by representatives from the Windward and Leeward Islands, Robinson
RoUinson's older brother, Lionel Marconi. served in William's Cabinets from the 1960s to 1981. Castara. where Robinson grew up.
looked an uncomfortable figure. For across the aisle in Opposition were three Trinidad and Tobago MPs, for-
mer government ministers two of
remains an isolated fishing village. ln
1926 the environment would have heen close to orimitive. He had one advantaqe. His tather, James Alexander Rob]inson. was headmaster of the Methodist Primary School and preacher ol' the local church. Ray. as he is poDularly known, was the f,ifrh and last .nita or-rrir Darents. He won a scholarshiP to the Anglican Bishop's High School in Scarborough. then ttre o-nty secondary school
' ' o o o o o o o ' 'o 'o a o O o 'o a o a O a Page 42
in'Tobaso. He won a Junior
House ScholarJhip. distinguishing himself in Larin. Leaving school. he joined the
Trinidad und'Tobago Public Service and. studying privately. earned his Bachelor of Laws degree as an external student of London University. He lett for England in 195 1, and qualified as a barrister at Inner Temple. London. He entered St' John's College, Oxford, where he read for the Master of Arts degree in Philosophy,
Politics and Economics. He
was reported to be an enthusiastic debater
in the Oxford Union Society and was elected President of the West Indian Students Society and Secretary of the Oxford Political Study Circle. Back Home Robinson Performed a precarious balancing act - he kept one foot on the Trinidad end of the scale where he lived most of the time and the other in Tobago where he practised
his politics.
His first political opportunity came with the general election of 1956. Eric Williams led his fledgling PNM to an astonishing victory, winning l3 of the 24 seats to become the country's first
humanity.t
whom had been defeated by the PNM in 1956. The third had resigned from the local Parliament to contest the federal elections.
When the attacks by his countrYChief Minister. Unlike today when Tobago enjoYs two seats in the national Parliament. the island then was a single seat constituency. Robinson stood against the incumbent, Alphonso Philbert Theophilus James, better known as "Fargo", afier the British heavy truck used in the oil industry where he once worked, and lost narrowly in a poll of r
1.630.
Reports quoted Williams as indicating he would have preferred to lose one of his Trinidad seats and capture the one in Tobago. But his only public comment on the result comes in his autobiography Inward Hunger: "Our biggest disappointment was our defeat in Tobago by an old-school politician by a margin of 245 votes." He did not name Robinson. Robinson never lost an election in
his constituency after that false start. Up against James for the Tobago seat in the West Indies Federal general elections in 1958, the first and last, Robinson won comfortably. He sat on
the government back benches as a member of the West Indies Federal Labour Party (WIFLP) of which the Trinidad and Tobago arm, the PNM, was not a full member but an affiliate.
WIFLP had a narrow majoritY of two in the Federal House of Representatives, 22 seats over the Opposition
men against the PNM (not the WIFLP)
grew too outrageous to bear, and they often were, Robinson would bow to
the Speaker and withdraw. He
said
nothing particularly memorable from his place. except on one occasion when he described a motion moved bY a Jamaican MP which had considerable relevance to the political situation in that country and little to do with the Federation as "immoral, subversive,
ambiguous and abominable." ln fact he was the only government member to speak on the motion.
his Federal experience in words quoted in Robinson described
Caribbean Man,
a
book of his speech-
es: "I can say in retrospect, but in retrospect only, that the West Indies Fed-
eration was doomed
to failure. I
myself, then in my youthful days, passionately desired it to succeed. I could
not conceive of failure and was exceedingly disappointed when it broke down."
He did not stay for the tragic and depressing demolition of the Federation in 1962. Williams called him to contest the 196l Trinidad and Tobago general election for which Tobago had been awarded two seats. Robinson stood for Tobago East against "Fargo" James and took nearly 70 per cent of the vote. polling 3,401 to his opponent's 1.468, sending him into retire-
JUNE 1998
o
CtntcoM PtnspEcTtvE o ment from politics. Robinson was installed in the Cabinet as Minister of Finance, a portfolio he retained when Trinidad and Tobago moved to independence in 1962. His budget speeches were cleverly crafted
advantaged urban youths marched up
and down the country in "Black Power" demonstrations that came close to toppling the Williams government. Robinson spoke out against the proposed unpopular Public Order Bill,
and delivered while Prime Minister Eric Williams, who sat next to him,
which never became law, and detention of the activists. He quit the party
looked on fatherly and approvingly. He was already seen as the heir apparent to Williams, whose style of speech he copied unashamedly in those earliest days. At the same time, he moved up steadily in the party. He was the first Treasurer. By 1966 he had been elected Deputy Political Leader by vote of the party's general council.
and later Parliament.
Significantly, Williams
did
not
name him Deputy Prime Minister, and disagreement between the two surfaced when Robinson piloted successfully the Finance Bill in that year. His former Press Secretary described the bill as an attempt to revamp the country's fiscal administration to meet the needs of the times. The party conservatives close to Williams sought his ear, won him over and the Prime Minister reclaimed the Finance portfolio. He kept Robinson in the Cabinet, appointing him Minister of External Affairs. The break came
in
1970 when dis-
Departure from the PNM led to a
new phase in Robinson's political career. He moved to cement his position in Tobago. One of the finest par-
liamentary speeches on record urging internal self-government for Tobago within the unitary state was accompa-
nied by his deliberate effort ro strengthen his island and national credentials. First he formed the Action Committee of Dedicared Citizens (ACDC)
which,
by
1976, had become the
Democratic Action Congress (DAC). By 1986 he was the leader of the
National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), a formal grouping of a number of parties opposed to rhe ruling pNM. The general election that followed catapulted him into office as head of the government.
The period 1970 controversial time
to 1976 was a
for
Robinson. To
At the official opening of the Third parliament of rrinidad and robago, January 1987, then Prime Minister Robinson (left) and Foreign Atfairs Minister Basdeo eanoy, who is now pM.
JUNE 1998
the dismay of associates who thought his old party was down and ou, ul u result of the 1970 evenrs. Robinson
: : : orchestrated a successful no vote cam' paign for the general election the fol: lowing year. The PNM with 28 per : o cent oi the total vote won alt 36 seats. eight of them unopposed and token :: opposition in those contested. Robinson returned to the national O O Parliament in 1976 as member for his old Tobago East seat. then quit to con? test the election for the new Tobaso O House of Assembly. which was creat;d : due largely to his inspiration. affection ? for and deep knowleige of the hisrory ? of his island home. Hii DAC won and ' he became the first Chairman of the ' House. the de facto Premier of Tobaso. o By 1985 he was back in natioial O politics and was elected Political O o Leader of the National Alliance for o Reconstruction. He sought to make O the party a national movement, but in O spite of his internal responsibilities he remained the quintessential Caribbean a O man. In his acceptance speech he told O his followers: "The forces which have shaped us have created a unique o Caribbean environment and a distinc- O O tive Carib-bean humanity." O The election the next year was a triumph of tenacity, political sagacity O O and hard work. Robinson and his "party of parties" as it was called were O O swept to power winning 33 seats to 3 O for the PNM whose 3O-year reign was O brought to an inglorious end. O For Robinson as Prime Minister it was a testing time. First his alliance O O with other groups opposed to the pNM a broke apart. The section led by his deputy and, today's Prime Minister of O Trinidad and Tobago, Basdeo panday, O walked out during a resurrection ofold O grievances prominent in the time when a they were political rivals. O Then came in July 1990 the infaO mous Muslimeen terrorist invasion of O Parliament while the House of Repre- O sentatives was in session. The Prime O Minister, ministers and some civil serO vants were held prisoner in the buildO ing for six days. Robinson was torO tured, shot in the knee and at one stage : Page 43
o
CnatcoM PrnsPECTtvE o o
when given
O
a a o o o o o o a o o o a o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o
a
1960 and 1986, "Caribbean Man".
microphone
to urge surender called bravely for the presumably
The intenseness with which Robinson has driven
soldiers surrounding the Par-
liament building with full force."
to
himself in national
"attack
decades came to a head in his first year in office as President. While inspecting the
The crisis over when the
terrorists downed
arms, Robinson resumed his search
for a solution to the
Problems of a declining economy and was forced to take some more highly unpopular decisions. The
result was a stunning defeat in 1991, with the PNM back in Power winning
2l of the 36 seats. PandaY's break-
away United National Congress won 13, while Robinson's NAR held on to the two Tobago seats. Four years later, the PNM was back in oPPosition, with
Panday at the head
of the coalition
government and Robinson in the Cabinet as his deputy. From there it was a step up to the presidencY.
it
was not all local Politics. Robinson. as Prime Minister, found
Yet
time to launch his Caribbean Initiative which led to the establishment in 1990 of the West Indian Commission headed by Sir Shridath RamPhal.
O
o o o Page 44
In the words of the Commission report, Robinson Presented to the Caribbean Community Summit at Grand Anse, Grenada, in JulY 1989 a paper entitled "The West Indies
Beyond 1992". The report notes: "The Paper concluded that 'against this background of historic change and historic appraisal, the Caribbean could be in danger of becoming a backwater, separated from the main culrent of human advance
into the twenty-first century."
and
regional activity over four
The
paper called on Caribbean people to .'prepare for the future...to consider
how best to bring about real betterment in their condition of life' to achieve their full potential as free people responsible for their own destiny,
region for historical and other reasons is one of considerable fragmentation
constituting an area of weakness which can be exposed to dark and dubious influences. We are seriously concerned that voices which speak on behalf of the area should also speak in the interest of the area. And we are anxious that political solutions be not sought in the abstract but that they be related to the realities of the region and the fundamental interests and aspirations of the people who inhabit that part of the world. It must be recognised as a fact that excessive fragmentation can restrict and even nullify the power of self-determination." Robinson also found time to look
beyond the
region. He has camfor the establish-
paigned tirelessly
ment of a United Nations International Criminal Court. As far back as 19725, he was a consultant for the creation
ln 1916-17 he was for its establishDirector Executive to advance efforts his for ment. Then
of
such a court.
international criminal iustice and the rule of law he was given the Democra-
cy Award by
Parliamentarians for Global Action as well as the Distinguished International Criminal Law Award by the International Criminal Court Foundation in 1977. Two years later he was a member of the United Nations Experts GrouP on Crime and the Abuse of Power. He has written extensively, first in
the PNM party
newspaPer The
annual parade on Independence Day, August 31, last year, he collaPsed. He was rushed to hospital and diagnosed suffering heat exhaustion.
In
February he was
clogged arteries and he underwent heart surgery from which he has been recovering. Robinson's has been an amazing
career for the region and indeed for much of the third world. In and out of office, he has remained committed to the democratic way of life and respect
for the Constitution of Trinidad ment
in
March "remains the most
important document via which public policy and conduct of public affairs are guided." Federal Parliamentarian, Cabinet Minister, Prime Minister, Opposition M.P., Tobago House of AssemblY Chairman. Head of State, President Robinson has run the gamut of political office in Trinidad and Tobago. His two presidential predecessors each served two five-year terms. But even if because of the state of his health Robinson's tenure is limited to a single term he will have established a record of service to his nation and the region that will be outstanding for as long as time.
Nation. He is author of a number of publications, including the article in
I
Much earlier in 196'7, addressing the Youth League of the PNM, Robinson spoke of the importance of a unit-
Encyclopaedia Britannica on Trinidad and Tobago. His books include "The Mechanics of Independence" and the
Guardian.
ed regional voice: "The Caribbean
collection
between
and
Tobago which he said in his oPening address to the new session of Parlia-
and to improve their region's place in the community of nations."
of his speeches
in hosPital
again with chest pains. Tests showed he had a clogged artery and he was told to rest for three days. Five days later he was back in hospital with similar pains. New tests showed up three
George John is Consulring Edi' tor/Trainer with the Trinidad
\l/ zi
JUNE 1998
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE O
o o a o o o a a o o o o a o o o
+ Hillo
O
Beck
+
Mission
Accomplished he facts, Kwame Nkrumah, once said, constitute no more than the tyranny of common sense, and should often be ignored.
The truth, however, is seldom found in that quarter, and should be
intervention with respect to the legacy of a truly great and immensely impor-
edition of his fllstory of West Indiun Cricket. Inevitably, the subject of
tant West Indian
Lara's genius came to the fore, and participants in the discussion admitted to finding young Lara quite a phenomenon - a fieak of local history, so to
While ideally ferred
if
I
would have pre-
a West lndian, rather than
a
position of facts (or common sense) and truth, is not intended to provoke anyone into a philosophical discourse
Barbadian, organisation had sponsored this celebration. I concede that there is nothing wrong when a village within a nation stands upon a point of local order. since such an action enriches rather than impoverishes the collective well being. It is my duty, as an academic worker, to identify the bridges that connect
on the subject of collective wisdom vs subjective perception, but merely to indicate that the subject of cricket and
the local to the national, and to place Sir Garry Sobers, a Barbadian, firmly within his West Indian context, by
will
demonstrating the specific West Indian native of his contents. Some tirne ago I was in Trinidad, called upon by the Hon. Michael Manley, to deliver the feature address at the
pursued relentlessly, particularly while invoking the deeds of those who are still placed to participate in a lesponse to the invocation. This reference to Nkrumah's juxta-
inevitably be a contentious one, and so I am merely seeking to prepare myself by laying great cricketers
before you my terms of reference.
It is indeed an honour,
and more importantly a challenge. to make this JUNE 1998
official launch of the revised
second
speak.
The basis of their confusion had to do with an admission that Trinidad has a proud record with respect to producing competent players, but no claim to greatness at the Test level, and therefore, it seemed, logically Lara fell from the skies or, better yet, like Barbadian flying fish, he found himself mysteriously conceived and born in Trinidad just waiting to be reclaimed, as George Headley was in the 1930s, by Barbadian, as a native son.
None
of this, of course, makes
sense, given our understanding
is West Indian society, how
and how
it
of what works,
it is driven by historical
o o o a o o o a o o o o o o o o a o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o Page 45
CnntcoM PtasPEcrtvE O
a o o O
o o o o o o o o o O
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o a a o a Page 46
forces, but I will return to this! But for now, allow me to pose two fundamental questions? One, What is Gary Sobers? Two, What is the mean-
ing of a Gary Sobers? The issue of who is Gary Sobers is not relevant to any serious discussion about the nature of the West Indian condition. Great men, we are told, make histo-
ry, but only that amount that history allows them to make, and so we should begin by looking at history in the search of the 'what' - and 'who' will follow from our discoveries.
At this
stage it would be improper, sacrilegious, to proceed without calling my lirst and primary witness the greatest philosopher of cricket culture - the late C.L.R. James whose spirit remains our guiding star in all our intellectual deliberations. No one, it seems to me, understood how Gary Sobers was manufactured by historical and social circumstances in the way that James did. As always, he initiated his enquiries with an assumption of data deficiency, then with the posing of questions, through which he moved to historical analysis and ideo-
if not
logical assertion.
I will
give you
an
example of James at his best - and must provoking.. This is a letter written to his friend, hero and ally, Sir Frank
Worrell in 1963. Staverton Road Inn. NW 2 July 12, 1963
My dear Friend, I have nothing to write, except that I perpetually wonder that a little scrap
of
West Indian
tenitory has produced
Gary Sobers and you. Anything you feel I can do, or may be able to do, just let me know. C.L.R. James.
Six years later, he had ceased to wonder. He examined Sobers closely, studied his Barbadian roots and personal circumstances, and came up with the following statement: The pundits colossally misunderstand Garfield Sobers - perhaps the word should be misinterpret, not mis-
The stroke player in action.
understand. Garfield Sobers,
I
shall
show is a West Indian cricketer not merely a cricketer from the West Indies. He is the most typical West Indian cricketer that
it
is possible to
imagine.
That he is a genius is now a clich6
for children, but "geniuses are only persons who carry to an extreme defin-
itive the characteristics of the unit of civilisation to which they belong". Therefore to understand Sobers is to understand the West Indies, and to misunderstand him is to misunderstand the
whose being is manifested to the logical extreme the potential and capability of a people at a given moment in time. James says the same of Michelangelo and Picasso but, in the specific case of Sobers, he adds a qualifying term that speaks directly to a wider agenda and his view of history - "the masses of people". What then about Sobers, the masses of people, the small scrap of land in the Caribbean, and the creation of genius? We have some prior
examples
of
such vision
in
other
West Indies." Here, then, is part of the answer to
spheres of Caribbean life.
my first question, "What is
saint UOuverture was born into slav-
Garry Sobers?" The answer - the person in
Take for example Toussaint. Tousery, but organised his people, abolished
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPEcrtvE slavery, freed his people, and built the first society in the modern world based on universal recognition of liberty, social justice, and constitutional freedom. That we cannot forget. Another example
and coloureds access to cricket institutions which were now blessed by the colonial establishment. The majority community, howeveq did no see the cricket culture in the same way. In the hands of whites, it
is
J.J. Thomas. Marcus Garoppressed section of Jamaican colonial society, but succeeded in building the largest
vey hailed from the most
was an instrument of class elitism, social exclusion, racial segregation,
West I and to
anti-colonial and socially liberating movement the world has ever seen.
and general ideological conservatism. For the blacks, however, it was a cultural space, an institution to be deseg-
What of Sobers and all of this? Where does this history locate him in its
regated, democratised, and liberated as
a symbol of the rising democratizing ethos that had been unleashed by
relentless flow? We do not need James at this stage because as natives from that part of the
emancipation and marked by the strug-
West
West Indian nation, we have little
gles
I
direct knowledge of the physical and
social environment that
produced
Sobers. We know that he came from the section of Barbadian colonial society that was most materially impoverished - the economically alienated
urban working class. We also know that such a circumstance placed him in an unfavourable relationship with edu-
cational facilities, and therefore the poverty was endemic, and perhaps seemed inescapable.
We also know that, like most fami-
lies in this structural condition, there existed no relationship between material poverty and intellectual capability. The 'respectable poor' has never admitted its intellectual defeat - but speaks ofdefiance. This fact, I think, is key to understanding West Indian history, and the development of Sobers' enormous mathematical competencies. It is the kicking away of the scaffold, and the liberation of the emerging edifice, that speaks to the question of the human essence in search of free-
dom.It has allowed the world's from Calcutta to London,
oppressed
Capetown to Sidney, to claim Sobers as a man, "sprung from among the masses", sending a signal of hope for collective redemption. This is no ordinary fact of history.
Neither is
it to be submerged in the
footnotes of historical narratives. Here was a young man in his early thirties, born and raised in what we may now call an inner-city depressed area, cap-
JUNE 1998
tain of a victorious West Indies team, leader of a Rest of the World team, without the benefit of
a
solid secondary
education. no university exposure. standing before the world as the 'Greatest Cricketer of All Time' - the world's greatest, produced in a West Indian urban village not yet independent, colonial. This brings me to my
second question
-
what does
it
all
mean? We must begin, I think at the beginning, somewhere during the early l9th
Century, when this most English of games was introduced into the West
Indies.
of
J.J. Thomas, Paul Bogle,
Samuel Jackson Prescod, Frederick
It is important to note that
cricket made its West Indian debut during the final stages of the collapse of the slave system. The extraordinary build-up of military forces in the region by England to
keep the rebellious slaves in s.ubjection, to prevent other European powers
from 'stealing'their colonies, created a new circumstance in the islands. The imperial soldiers started playing organ-
ised cricket among themselves first, and later against resident white planters and merchants. Records from Antigua, 1790s, and Barbados, l8l0s, illustrate this quite clearly. By the end of slavery in the 1830s, West Indian whites who embraced and domesticised this cricket culture, started play-
ing amongst themselves, and in the process established a new system of cultural apartheid by denying blacks
Douglas, and many others. It was in fact this tradition that produced radical cricketers in the democratic progressive movement such as Learie Constantine, Herman Griffith, George John, George Headley and organisa-
tions like the Barbados
Cricket
League.
By the
1950s this struggle had
swept aside racial privilege as the basis of selection. allowing merit to rise in
the form of the "Three Ws"' and of course the juvenile Gary Sobers. This cricket revolution was a principal part of the wider democratic movement, articulated and organised by men like C.L.R. James, and finding concrete focus in the rise of Sir Frank Worrell in 1958-95 as the first black man to be
appointed captain with tenure of the West Indies cricket team. It was a long struggle indeed. It took over 100 years to complete this process, and Sir Frank Worrell stood at what seemed then to be the end of history. But it was what Sir Frank Worrell said and did at that historical moment
that indicates what C.L.R.
James
meant when he said that a genius is merely a person who gives extreme logical definition to a historical process that is endemic to a people. James
recalled
a
discussion between Sir
Frank and himself in 196l about who would replace him a West Indies captain. He wrote: We talked about the future captaincy- of the West Indies. Worrell was as
o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o a o o o a o o o a a o o o a o a o o o o o o o a o o a o a o o o o o o a o o o Page 47
o
CnatcoM PtasPECTtvE o o o a o a a o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o o o a o a o O
a o a o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o a a o o o o a o o Page 48
usual cautious and non-committal. He said, yes, so-andso is tt good man, capable, and so on. Then, when that stage of the conversationwas practically at an end, he sud-
West Indian team became for
denly threw
1966. 2:0. As leader he placed our team
the first time, the world champion - having defeated the Australians in the West Indies in 1965,2:1, England here in 1966, 3:1, and India
in India in
in: "l know that
in Australia whenever
I
had
to leave the field, I was glad I was able to leave Sobers in
where his own personal reputation resided - at the top, and this to my mind is where Sobers'greatness truly lies in his ability to place his personal genius at the disposal of his nation, and to inspire it
charge". "He knows everything?" I asked. "Everything", Worrell replied. We are therefore speak-
ing about something
much more than what is now called in the fancy language of economists, "sustainable development" - though that is part of what we speak. When at
age 28 a man can be described as acquiring the entire stock of wisdom and knowledge accumulated by four past generations, we are speaking of the very steep learning curve that constitutes the signs of genius. The record then speaks for itself. I do not need to speak of it, because you all know it much better than I do: The record 365 atage2I; the record 7 sixes in county cricket; the record Test centuries for the West Indies; other count-
less extraordinary achievements, the artistry, dignity, and high-cultured performances, the celebration of excellence and humility, all wrapped up in a personality that represents humanism at its finest. But there is more - not only documented by the statistics and supported by the memories of spectators, but
underlying the process of political
development generally referred to as the'independence movement'. Sobers represented not only the
ultimate triumph of the ideology of merit as the sole principle of social organisation
symbol
in a democracy, but a
of what the
independence
movement was all about. Before him there were great bowlers, great batsmen. great fielders and great captains. It was a division of labour that was promoted by the colonial regime, and used as evidence in the argument that West Indians were not ready to rule
themselves or to take their place with dignity in global affairs. In Sobers, history brought together the fragments of a disintegrated consciousness and culture. and said to the world, here is proof that the West Indian can master all aspects of an enterprise, redefine its standards, and establish new rules and levels of operation.
Sobers the
all rounder - Jack of all
trades and master of all. We therefore went to the Colonial Office to demand our independence invested with this example of pride, loaded with self-confidence, and optimistic of the future. James knew this. He told Frank Wonell this is 1960. By 1963, it was common sense. Yes, the little scrap of land that had produced the greatest. were now saying to the imperial ruler, we are perfectly able to manage our own affairs, thank you, and if you have doubts, look at Gary Sobers the next time he steps out at Lord's. He gave us a new sense of completeness and readiness that no other individual could in that way. This is what in turn we West Indians gave back to English cricket, and
to cricket in general. We said to the English, thank you for the gift of this remarkable game, now take in retum these new standards of excellence by which to judge your own performance culture. My belief is that the greatest gift you can possibly give is the gift of high standards. Outside of his own personal heroic achievements, it was under Sobers' leadership that it can be said that the
collectively to global leader-
ship. It is this bond between self
and
society that was affirmed and canonised, passed on to Lloyd and Richards, and is now awaiting reaffirmation from the Lara generation.
The thesis, of course, which this generation will have to study, is that Sobers was not only a master of the game in its various department, but master of his mind within the context of the game. There was with him no abandonment of mind as is now the case with today's team, but an applica-
tion of mental power which you have all seen, and for which he became well known. For James, he was the "living embodiment of centuries of a tortured
history". For me, he is further social evidence of the internal integrity of a philosophical discourse that promotes mind over matter. consciousness over
constraints. as demonstrated once again in the second journey of Nelson Mandela. Each generation has a mission with
which to come to terms. It can either fulfil that mission or betray it - but never compromise it. Sir Gary did the best he could. and fulfilled his mission.
Tribute delivered in London on 2l May, 1996 to the Barbados Youth and Friends Association.
a
Prof. Hilary Beckles lectures at the University of the West Indies, Faculty of Humanities, Cave Hill, Barbados. ut\
JUNE 1998
a
CnntcoM
Pe
nsPEcrrvE
A Personal Perspective Of
Michael Manl.y
a o o o o o o a o o o O
would like to start by
+
directly the Caribbean members of the audience. I want to sav this to you: know your history; know your culture; know your roots; know your heroes and your heroines. For if you don't know where you're coming from, you won't have a sense of self, a sense of purpose, and a sense of direc-
Norman Manley's was to launch the national movement for self-determination and to forge a national identity where none existed before. In the closing speech of his political career, the elder Manley declared that the mission of his generation was to secure political independence, while winning economic independence was the mission of the generation to follow.
The younger Manley was to take up the challenge. The goal proved elusive. Today, some would say it is irrelevant in the era of globalism. I beg to
differ. Its substantive significance, I will argue remains as relevant at the close of the 90s as it was at the begin-
ning of the 1970s.
JUNE 1998
History
parents were indeed a hard act to fol-
+
low. But for Michael, theirs were the only act he could follow. As a youth, Michael signalled his instinctive intolerance of injustice when he chose to leave, prematurely, the elite high school, Jamaica College, rather than to accept a caning from a
Michael's mother, Edna Manley, was a brilliant and talented artist whose forte was sculpture. She is
bol of Jamaica's colonial educational
Normon Girvon
tlon. So this is about Michael Manley. It is a personal perspective. Michael Manley was born to privilege, but he spent most his life fighting down the entrenched structures ofprivilege in his native Jamaica and in the wider world. His father. Norman Manley, had been in his youth an outstanding athlete, and was a veteran of World War I, who went on to become Jamaica's most outstanding barrister of his day, and then to become, in effect, the father of the Jamaican nation. If Garvey's mission was black pride and pan-Africanism, and Bustamante's was to launch a national labour movement,
- his monumental of West Indies Crickel. His
the best is the last
addressing
widely credited with inspiring and nurturing the Jamaican art movement that paralleled the emergence of the nationalist movement of the 1930s-1940s and hence, with being the "mother" of Jamaican art. Michael Manley grew up in a household in which political ideas and events were the fodder of daily conversation, artistic expression was a passion. and sport of continuing interest, in a family which had embraced service to the nation as a lifelong voca-
tion. When Michael won the leadership of the Peoples National Party in 1969, in an election in which everyone agrees his father maintained strict neutrality, an intergenerational cycle of political leadership was confirmed. But it was a tradition, not a dynasty. Throughout Michael's own life, he seemed to wrestle with the manifold drives of his two unusual parents: of political struggle, of love of sport, and of artistic expression; the mind, the
body and the spirit. The tension, if never f'ully resolved, became the wellspring of his own unique brand of creativity. There are still those who argue that of his books which included A
at the Wtrkpluce, The Politics of Chatrye, and Struggle in the Periphery', Voic'e
headmaster widely regarded as a symculture. As his f'ather was, by that time, already campaigning against Jamaica's colonial political order, it is a safe bet that Michael was applying at school the political principles he was learning at home. After a stint with the Royal
Canadian Air Force he went to the London School of Economics. where he majored in Government and was strongly influenced by the great socialist political philosopher, Harold Laski. His involvement with the cause of labour began almost immediately after his return to Jamaica in 195 l. It was his mission to organise the National Workers Union as the Trade Union base of the PNP, which had recently lost its base in the labour movement as a result of the expulsion of the Marxist- left in the Party, which controlled the Trades Union Congress. Michael soon established a reputation as a skilled negotiator who combined an excellent grasp of the tactics of bargaining with a remarkable capacity to
communicate complex issues with great simplicity, and, in doing so, to find common ground between management and labour.
If it was his strength, it may also have been his weakness. The experience of a remarkable string of success-
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fully resolved labour
bauxite levy, the Democratic Socialist project prospered at first and Manley's PNP won an overwhelming election victory in 1976.
disputes in which he was able in effect to persuade man-
agement to make concessions in their own long-term self-interest, was to be put to use in the 1970s. In effect. Michael tried to Jamaica's reform structure of class entrenched and economic power by a combination of mobilisation
But the consequences of capital flight, retaliation by the bauxite companies, a US-sponsored campaign of
economic and political destabilisation, and exces-
sive public spending, brought the economy to the
of the masses and persuasion of the classes. On the intemational front he campaigned for a New International Economic Order by a combination of strategic alliances with radical governments in the South and progressive leaders in the North, supported by careful reasoning and brilliant rhetoric. But, as we now know, the structures of power, both domestic and international proved
stubbornly impervious to the formula
that had seemed to work so well in labour-management negotiations. Perhaps the confidence in his own capacities which Michael had devel-
oped in his Trade Union years made him unduly optimistic about the possibilities for negotiated change. But I anticipate myself. One cannot fail to note that Michael's vision for labour developed beyond immediate concerns of wages and working conditions to embrace broader questions of worker power. The fraternal relations that Michael developed with Hugh Shearer of the BITU, and their joint bargaining with the sugar and bauxite industries, spoke of an approach in which Trade Union rivalry was subordinated to the broader interest of the workers.
Further, in
A
Voice
at the
Work-
place, Michael Manley outlined his proposals for worker participation in management - a programme that was to be adopted as official policy in the 1970s and resurrected in the 1990s in the form of an Employer Share Ownership Scheme.
My own father, Thom
Girvan,
worked with Norman Manley
in
the
brink of bankruptcy and into the jaws of the IMF. I joined the Administration in early 1977 as part of a Jamaica Welfare movement which the latter founded in 1937. I myself first
met Michael Manley in the early 1960s. At that time I could have been
described as a Leftist nationalist, and Michael was, if anything, suspicious of the Left which tended to view his
father, and by extension him, as
an
irredeemable "middle-of-the-roader". After his election to the Party leadership in 1969, however, Michael Manley welded together a remarkable
coalition of PNP old guard, young black nationalists, socialist populists an disenchanted capitalists. to sweep the polls
in 1972. The Manley Admin-
istration set about implementing the most sweeping programme of social and economic reform that Jamaica ever seen in so short a time. The aim was to drastically reduce unemployment, poverty and inequality; to distribute land to landless small
farmers; to guarantee the rights of workers, women, and those bom out of wedlock; to provide training and educational opportunities for the disadvantaged and excluded, and to wrest the levers of economic control from the multinational corporations and the local elite. Internationally, he joined the campaign led by OPEC nations, for
a New Intemational Economic Order, fought for an end to the isolation of Cuba, campaigned militantly against apartheid, and generally became a thorn in the flesh of Uncle Sam. Helped by the revenues from the
group charged with finding an alternative production programme to the package of devaluation and spending cuts advocated by the Fund. In the end Manley went to the Fund, largely because there was at the time a sympathetic Administration in Washington and neither the Soviets nor the oil-rich states could come up with the money that the Fund could offer. The rest, as they say, is history. The private sector never put their confidence back in the PNP. In spite of the IMF programmes. investment continued to falter and the economy continued to deteriorate. The 1980 election was to be fought in a setting marked by acute shortages of basic goods, and
who loved him, voted him out of office. They had their reasons. Two remarks, in my view, summed it up. In the words of one man: "I love
Michael, but
I
voted for Mr.
Seaga
because he knows how to get the money. Next time I'll vote for Michael because he knows how to spend it." And in the words of one woman: "I love Michael, and that's why I voted for the Labour Party. If the PNP had won, the Police and the Army would have taken over, and they would have killed him." Such is the wisdom of the working people.
it
But for Michael Manley, was perhaps the bitterest disappointment of his life. It is impossible, in my view. to understand Manley's later ideological turnaround without a sense of the trau-
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE ma that the 1980 defeat inflicted on him. To add to this, there was the dramatic shift in the global balance of power in the decade of the 1980s, a
facade for the untrammeled power of global players on global financial markets, and ofthe Transnational Corpora-
including organised labour and a wide
tions, to garner profits whenever and
global economy,
decade that began with the ascendance to power of Margaret Thatcher and
wherever they wish throughout the globe, no matter what the social and political costs, and that far from meaning the end of the nation state, it weak-
Ronald Reagan, that continued with the Latin American debt crisis and the
entrenchment
of
neoliberalism and
structural adjustment, and that ended with the collapse of state socialism and of the Soviet Union. If Manley had embraced the theology of globalisation and the market by 1989 when he was re-elected to office, it stemmed from his own personal dis-
illusionment with the aspects of the 1970s experience, together with a pragmatic reading of the global constellation of forces. He was in effect doing penance for the harm, which the polarised politics of the 1970s had done to the people and his beloved Jamaica. There was, in my humble opinion, a genuine convic-
tion that the market could
succeed
where the state had failed, in bringing
improved conditions
of life for the it was
population. And for Michael, results that mattered.
What can one say now, of these politics, after the structural adjustment of the 1980s and the currency and
financial liberalisation
of the
1990s,
and as the juggernaut of market and financial globalisation tries to sweep aside everything in its path? Sadly, the Jamaican economy has continued to
falter, with little growth or negative growth in the 1980s and 1990s, steep devaluation - after Guyana, Jamaica's currency is the lowest in the Englishspeaking Caribbean - and recurrent bouts of high inflation and high interest rates.
The experience of currency and financial liberalisation has been disastrous, with a bill for financial assistance to troubled financial institutions that now approaches US$1.6 billion equivalent to about one-quarter of Jamaica's annual GDP.
As for globalisation,
it
should be
clear to everyone after the Asian finan-
cial crisis that this is nothing but JUNE 1998
a
ens some and strengthens others, par-
ticularly the United States. In other words, the neoliberal experience shows that there is no substitute for a socially managed economy, both nationally and internationally, an economy in which the market is guided and regulated by an active civil society,
spectrum of citizens organisations. And this principle holds true for the
if global poverty and inequality are to be effectively addressed, and if the planet's life support systems are to be sustained in the interest of present and future generations. In short. the market must be subordinated to the Common Good. Michael Manley's death, one year ago, elicited a collective outpouring of
love amongst Jamaicans, the likes of which I have never seen before. The closest thing, in my experience. was the love poured out to Nelson Mandela
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on his triumphal visit in l99l though, I have to say, I was not in Jamaica at the time of the funeral of Bob Marley in 198 I or of Norman Manley in I 969. The newspapers' banner headlines, for coverage occupying the entire front page in several editions, tell the story:
..NATION MOURNS MANLEY'',
"They Called Him
Joshua",
''FAREWELL, MICHAEL'" ..HERO'S FAREWELL'', "MANLEY BURIED'"
o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o o a o
passed away. That leader has gone. His watch has ended ... From our van-
O
tage point, and
o o o a o o a o a o
us that history was made in Europe and in the United States, and that in places
like
Jamaica,
time only
passed.
Michael Manley, by a fusion of Faith, Action, Politics and Culture, demonstrated that the view was a lie". From a political opponent, Bruce
Golding: "He was one of the Caribbean's heroic political figures. His capacity to move people and to change society by the power of his oratory, ideals and
As I read the papers one year later in preparing this tribute, I could feel the chills running up and down my
personality evoked images
spine, and I began to choke up, as I did when I filed with thousands of others past his lifeless body, and thought about the Michael Manley of the 1970s, this beacon of hope, this David
this century. From Owen Arthur, Prime Minister of Barbados:
who took on Goliath, who stirred the minds of men and the hearts of women with his eloquence, his passion, his vision, and his love. The tributes from every quarter were revealing: From Lloyd Goodleigh, President
of the Caribbean
Congress of
Labour:
"A
custodian
of this nation has
for my generation
English colonialism sought to
-
assure
of Martin
Luther King ... Michael Manley was surely the greatest Caribbean orator of
He was one of the
Caribbean's
heroic political figures. His capacity to move people and to change society by the power of his oratory, ideals and personality evoked images of Martin
Luther King ... Michael Manley was surely the greatest Caribbean orator of
this century". From Julius Nyere: ... "His participation in the struggle for international democracy, so that the Rights of developing countries should be respected in both political and economic affairs, was an aspect of that same commitment."
From Tony Blair: ... He played a key role in spreading the message of social justice and economic progress to the people of the Caribbean and Latin America." Rex Nettleford quoted one of the
world's leading newspapers: "For to claim Cheddi Jagan and
death
Michael Manley on the very same day is one of those double blows of which history is arbitrarily capable, and a loss
notjust to the people ofthe Caribbean.
Their passing deprives Guyana and Jamaica of their most inspirational domestic politicians and their most resonant international statesmen of the post-colonial period ... as well as of two of the most fanatical cricket-loving leaders."
But the last word is from
the
Jamaican cartoonist, Clovis. He shows
Michael Manley and Cheddi Jagan, both having just passed through the Pearly Gates of Heaven looking mischievously angelic, and Michael is saying "Cheddi, are you thinking what REFORM this
place!"
One Love Michael. One love Cheddi.
I
Norman Girvan is Professor of Development Studies, IJWI, Mona, Jamaica.
o o o o a
(Presented
ctt a
Conference on
Caribbean Perspectives on Labour and Politics: The Legacies of Michael Manley and Cheddi Jagan to mark the First Anniversary of the passing of the
O
Page 52
From Jimmy Carter: ".. A true hero, whose courageous and principled leadership was a blessing to Jamaica."
I'm thinking? Ler's
O
o a o a o o a
From Fidel Castro: "I have lost a friend." From Harry Belafonte: ".... A remarkable human being..." From Andrew Young: "... A courageous leader ..."
Michael Manley launches his government's National Fitness for self reliance programme, April 1977, two days before raunching the National production ptan. To nis right, Olympian Herb McKinley and then Minister of Sport Hugh Small.
two leaders, jointly sponsored by the Africana Studies Department and Department of Urban and Labour Studies of Wayne State IJniversity in Detroit, Michigan,
USA)
)!.
JUNE 1998
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE
West Indies Cricket
On The Brrnk? dcnce. openly displaying itsclf not sinrply ar"nong ordinary lans through
he signs are plentiful. all around
us worrying. Every which way we look, they tell us that West lndies cricket. the abiding passion tlf Caribbean people fbr whom the Eng-
lish language and a British colonial background are common bonds. is in trouble.
+
boycotts. demonstrations and abuse of selcctors and players but within with thc West lndies Cricket Board (WICB)
Tony
itsell'.
Cozier
Possibly as a consequcnce clf all thcse negatives. the annual first-class tournament thiled to tind a sponsol in l99t{ l'or the lirst time sittce it was ini-
+
For all the welcome success against England. recent results at inter-
national level have been generally
unacceptable. more especially at "A" team and under-19 level where the
future lies.
Interesl among the Young
has
declined to such an extent that a survey
of
schools
in Antigua. one of
stl'ongest cricket cultures Regirtn. indicates thut the gantc
JUNE 1998
in
the the
it tl,tu
third to basketball and soccer in popularity, a situation that is far tiom isolat-
ed. Territorial matches that
once
attracted thousands through the gates now number attendance in dozens. Insularity. the inevitable bane of small territories separitted by water. has become more pronounced with the
advent of individual political indepen-
tiated as the Shell Shield in 1966. Even at lower. yet equally important. levels, such as thc high-profilc Barbados Division I club cornpetitiot't and annual Windward lslands' inter-islancls tournanrent. sponsors havc abandonetl the one cndeavour. abovc all tlthcrs. that has made the West lndics littlrtlus. With such a melancholY back-
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it is easy to accept the assertion of Jack Warner, the dynamic
ground,
Trinidadian who oversees the Intema-
tional Football Federation (FIFA) administration in the Central American, Caribbean and American Area, that our cricket is dying.
If it is an understandable
pessimism, it ignores the reality of history. West Indies cricket has passed this way many times before and, each time,
1980s. Both turned mainly
to the
In both
instances,
it
meant two
West Indies teams were simultaneously engaged against international opposition and both more than simply held their own. In 1984, the official West Indies Test team reeled off an unprece-
itself and return to robust health. Its
dented | | consecutive victories over Australia and England while their unsanctioned countrymen clinched a series over South Africa 2- 1. This contrasts sharply with the
influence and significance transcends sport for, as a host of eminent historians have pertinently noted, it has been an integral part of the social and polit-
recent situation. In the 1996 World Cup there was the loss to Kenya, a team made up of part-time club cricketers, leading to the
has been resilient enough
ical
development
to
of the
revive
former
colonies to which it has become a way of life. Indeed, the outspoken pre-war fast bowler Herman Griffith once com-
mented that had
it
not been for
the
common bond provided by cricket, the two separate races in Barbados might
have long since eaten each other. It was obvious hyperbole but his point could not be refuted. Tn-e first West Indies team was formed in 1886 and toured Canada and
the US. The first trip to England was 1900. Nothing else identifying itself as
West Indian can claim nearly such longevity. The University of the West Indies (UWI) has just celebrated its 50th anniversary, CARICOM is about to mark its 25th. Federation dissolved in failure after four years in 1962. Yet cricket has been buffeted not only from inside but from outside as well. In the past 20 years, at a time when it was arguable at its strongest. its resolution was severely tested by unauthorised competition from Australia and South Africa. For the similar reason that they were shunned by the game's establishment and with the
money needed
to attract willing
recruits to their cause, the Australian media magnate Kerry Packer set up his World Series Cricket in 1978 and the isolated South Africans, desperate for the international exposure denied them because of their apartheid policies,
organised the "rebel" tours
in
the
resignation
of the captain, Richie
Richardson, the dismissal of the coach, Andy Roberts, and the installation of a new dispensation at the Board. Less than two years later, between December and January last, the pride and self-confidence West Indians have always had in their cricket was further drastically undermined. In Pakistan, all three Tests were heavily lost, two by an
innings, the other
by l0
wickets,
a
humiliation only ever endured once, 6l years earlier. In South Africa, the "A" team, comprising players next in line for highest honours, were suffering a similar thrashing while the under -l9s were finishing a shameful l2th in the Youth World Cup, falling to Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
The cumulative shock was accentuated by the fact that all this came within three short years of such West Indian domination as has never been
known in cricket or, for that matter, any other major international sport. The statistics, usually so bland and boring, are breathtaking. For 15 years, between 1980 and 1995, the West Indies were not beaten in a single series. Of the I 15 Tests, 59 were won, only 15 lost. Twice, both times against England, there was a clean-sweep
of all five
There was such a sense of invinciseemed impossible. When England's David Gower was criticised for his lack of enterprise in delaying his decision in the Lord's Test of 1984 so that the West Indies needed
bility nothing ever
Caribbean for their players.
matches. The all-round power was such that they amassed I I totals over 500, conceded only five; routed opponents 24 times for less than 150, against a mere six of their own,
321 to win from just before lunch on the final afternoon, they knocked it off for the loss of a solitary run-out wicket with I I overs to spare. At Kensington Oval, in 1984, Australia amassed 429 in their first innings and lost by l0
wickets; at the same ground seven years later, they bowled the West Indies out for 149 on the first day and were still trounced by 343 runs. The basis for such unrivalled paramountcy was the quality of the players, fired by a strong sense of unity and commitment, developed under the astute and understanding leadership of Clive Lloyd. It was purpose honed fur-
ther
in the fiercely
competitive and
high-quality seasons of Packer's WSC and subsequently maintained under the assertive captaincy of Viv Richards. Of those involved at the zenith of the Wonder Years, in the mid-1980s,
Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Lloyd, Desmond Haynes and Richie
Richardson - were all to aggregate over 5,000 Test runs and average better than 42 an innings. Five devastating fast
bowlers
- Andy
Roberts, Michael
Holding, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall and Courtney Walsh - collected more than 200 wickets each and the wicket-keeper, Jeffrey Dujon, claimed 2'12 victims in addition to scoring 3,322 runs. It was an awesome combination the likes of which it is unrealistic to expect in the near future and unfair on its successors for comparisons to be made. Yet its record was so outstanding and its span so long that expectations are immense and comparisons are inevitable.
So how can those heights
be
approached again?
Not every generation will
be
with such a lucky chance of coincidence. To be sure, the present captain, Brian Lara, possesses talent blessed
beyond the ordinary as do Carl Hoop-
JUNE 1998
o
CnatcoM PrnspEcrr,t er, Curtly Ambrose
and
intervention - West Indies captain Brian Lara's agent
Courtney Walsh but there
are times, as now, when
has claimed his client
such class and experience
could be on US$l million this year - they cannot begin to match those of the Americans, whatever they are playing. And small, financially-strapped tele-
will be in short supply.
Such droughts tend to come
after periods of plenty and the West Indies should be well prepared for them.
What followed
in
vision stations in
the
aftermath of the triumphant era of the 1960s, when
1::-.::::
there were quality crick-
with increased coverage of international cricket.
eters in like abundance and
a captain, Sir Frank Worrell,
as
As it is, those stations
influential as Lloyd,
is similar to what is
have
hap-
pening now. Under Worrell and the incomparable Sir Gary Sobers, the West Indies established their claims to
be the best in the world with successive series wins over India and Eng-
land (twice) and Australia. Suddenly, the leading lights all aged together and took their leave and, in the four years between the first Test against New Zealand in January, 1969 and the first against England, at the Oval in London, in July 1973, a total of 20 frustrating Tests went by without a single
victory.
According to the West Indies Cricket Annual of 1973 "public despondency touched rock bottom". There was bickering over selection, insularity flared and no more than 2,000 spectators a day watched the final Test against Australia at the Queen's Park Oval. The story is familiar.
As the 2lst Century approaches, the factors are somewhat more complex.
Technology has brought television coverage of international sports into clubs, bars and living rooms in even the most isolated of places. As the satellites are beamed out of the US the images are mostly of American profes-
sional pastimes such as basketball, baseball, grid-iron football and car racing with a sizeable chunk of world soccer thrown in. Cricket, in the under-
standing
of
most Americans
insect rather than the religion
JUNE 1998
the
Region cannot afford to counter the satellite stuff
a
tiny
it is for
millions scattered around the globe, does not figure. With such exposure, it is not entirely surprising that the Antigua survey,
conducted
by the Professional Man-
agement and Project Development Company, should find basketball the "most preferred sport" of 37 percent of the boys between the ages of 11 and 20 interviewed - against 15 per cent for cricket. And this in an island-nation of 70,000 inhabitants that has produced
Richards, Roberts, Richardson and Ambrose, four of the finest cricketers of all time. The trend is the same everywhere. The majority of schools can no longer raise enough numbers for cricket house matches and it is not uncommon to find teenaged boys, completely ignorant of the score in a West Indies Test match, who can readily recite Michael
Jordan's present points tally
for
the
Chicago Bulls.
In his introduction to his Antigua survey, Timothy Prime identified other
reasons for basketball's burgeoning popularity as "powerful and effective media advertisement focusing on messages of money, personalities, attire and shoes such as Nike and Reebok". "The impact is accentuated by the
fact that the NBA is dominated by black athletes, making them more identifiable with our own athletes who themselves aspire to become rich and famous, "Prime adds". Even though players' fees have increased significantly since Packer's
just
managed to
piggy-back on the global networks who have paid hefty rights fees to carry live every Test and oneday series in the Caribbean since 1990. It means that such a coverage is also beamed live into West Indian homes, the effect of which is immediately obvious.
Once cricket
is on the box,
the
parks and the streets and the beaches are again alive with boys aping their favourite players in impromptu matches with improvised bats and balls, as used to be commonplace. But it is transitory for soon the TV fare switches back to basketball and they are again transformed into Michael Jordan or Scottie Pippen, rather than Brian Lara or Curtly Ambrose. The answer to the imbalance, for which the WICB and media have vigorously campaigned, is more cricket but that means more money and more air time on already packed local schedules.
Ironically, television and the comfortable lifestyles of the day have combined to be a catalyst for a completely new phenomenon. Tests and one-day intemationals have attracted the attention of a young, avant-garde group of fans who travel to the various venues, waving their flags, singing their calypsoes and generally having a good time.
in their unity as West Indians, for all their separate identities as Trini, or Jamaicans, or Bajan posses. Perhaps, from this unlikely quarter, an antidote will be found to finally supThey rejoice
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CnntcoM PrasPECTtvE o o o o o o o a o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o a o o
press,
if
not completely cure, the dis-
of insularity. The West Indies Board has been the whipping boy for whatever has gone wrong, seldom credited with whatever may be have gone right. It has never done itself any favours with
ease
its appalling public relations but it to deal with a plate fuller than it
has
ever had and,like the old Federal Gov-
ernment and now CARICOM, frequently finds itself stymied by the contrasting agendas of its affiliate members.
In the past 25 years, it has had to affange 200 Tests and 350 one-day internationals home and away, not counting the schedule for
"A"
and age-
group teams and its domestic Programmes. In the 45 years before that, the count had been a mere 143 Tests, not a single limited overs match and
nothing
for an "A"
O
o a o o o o o o o o o a o a o a a o o o a o o o a o a a
has
West Indies captain Brian Lara holding the Wisden trophy aloft after the team
completeda3-1 series win over England earlier this year. Will the win help to bring back fans disappointed by recent chinks in the W.l. armour of invincibility or help the spon to better compete with basketball and soccer?
team that didn't yet exist. To keep pace with opponents who are using increasingly sophisticated methods to attain the heights the West
ing senior and under-19 versions, divided the first-class and limitedovers competitions into separate seasons and scheduled series for the "A"
Indies once commanded, the WICB
team on a regular basis. It is carrying the preparation of its
its secretariat and is now concentrating its efforts on areas such has expanded
as coaching, development facilities and marketing. Its thrust is comparatively late and its permanent staff appreciably smaller than that of the other major Test countries. But it is now pumping much of its revenue earned mainly from profits on overseas is
tours, television rights and what
received from international sponsors -
into these areas. It has appointed directors ofcoaching and marketing and installed permanent coaches for Test and age-group teams. It has added a regional annual under- l5 tournament to the long-stand-
players beyond the field of play, into the classroom with educational programmes for all of its teams. President Pat Rousseau was recently stunned by reports from team managers that illiteracy was a problem among the under- l9
and under-15 players has moved quickly to correct it. It is a laudable campaign that has been misunderstood - or perhaps mischievously misinterpreted - in some quarters. Repeatedly advised of the self-evident truth that sub-standard conditions will produced sub-standard cricketers, and grossly embarrassed by the fiasco in Jamaica when the recent first Test against England was abandoned because of a dangerous surface, it has turned its attention to pitches, not before time. Anxious that club cricket, the nursery for the West Indies team, should be boosted by the presence of the leading players, it has got agreement from the relevant governments to contribute to a fund that would allow a designated group to be placed on a contract that would retain them in the West Indies to play, coach and inspire.
There are those who oppose any Government involvement, apparently equating it to control. Yet, the game has reached a stage where it cannot be entirely self-sufficient. It needs financial help and, given its impact on the national economies (the recent England visit to Barbados is estimated to
have accounted for US$15 million in tourist spending) and on the national psyche, the governments now seem to appreciate their moral obligation to contribute to the restoration of its strength and its image at a time when it faces competition. not to say opposition, from more sides than ever before.
I
ktny Cozier is the Caribbean's lead-
ing cricket w'riter and commentator.
!,
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JUNE 1998
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CnntcoM PtnspECTtvE
Youth Challenging
The Future he 1989 United Nations Programme of Action for Youth to
+
the Year 2000 and Beyond states that "the capacity of our societies is based, among other elements,
in their capacity to
ducated, disabled and on the street: The fact that the life experience of
youth and access
Heother Johnson
incorporate the
to
infbrmation,
resources and power over their lives
are significantly less than fbr older people, makes them vulnerable to
contribution and responsibility of youth in building and designing of its future". Youth constitute a significant percentage of the population of the
+
neglect, abuse and exploitation. The focus of social policy and social legislation in the Caribbean has tended to be on children, adults, indigenous peo-
Caribbean Community, and are therefore a potentially powerful sector. In
the ages of 15 and 24 or older, and in public policy and social orientation 25 - 30 years or even older. Danns, Henry and LaFleur note in "A Situational Anal-vsis oJ' Youth in the Common-
ple, the elderly and women. Issues relating to youth, particularly where
reality, however, they are at risk through a number of social and economic challenges which, if not effec-
tively mastered, will militate against their ability to contribute actively towards the construction of present and future society.
The Situation of Caribbean Youth
Children and youth comprise
a
substantial portion of the populations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The 1990-91 census demonstrates a marked variation in population between countries for children 0 l4 years, from a high of 44Vo in Belize to a low of 24o/o in Barbados: and for youth l5 -24yearsfromahigh of23Vo in Guyana to a low of lTVo in the
British Virgin Islands. Youth is acknowledged globally as a transitional stage between childhood and adulthood. There is, unfortunately, no harmonised definition of youth
in the Caribbean, and what exists is confusing: definitions are exclusively chronological in nature, and vary from place to place, from time to time, and from CARICOM Member State
to
Member State; persons 18 years or older are identified by Caribbean law as adults, but youth are generally con-
sidered
to be those persons between
JUNE 1998
wealth Caribbean" (1991) that
the
extended outer margin of youth effectively widens the margin of immaturity well beyond childhood and creates a generation of uncertainty if not despair within the region's population. The challenges facing Caribbean youth at this juncture are diverse, and
of them are
perceived by the West Indian Commission in their 1992
many
report to reflect the social problems and issues confionting the wider society. These challenges are summarised below: an emerging subculture of crime and violence a range of health and education
problems including drug
abuse,
teenage pregnancy, HIV- AIDS and high dropout rates; high levels of youth unemployment and underemployment coupled with inadequate opportunities for education and vocational skills training; inadequate youth participation in the social, economic, political and cultural development of their countries and across the region as a whole; marginalisation and alienation, particularly for youth who are undere-
inadequacies are perceived to exist, have been dealt with in the past as a
A recent upsurge in government activity to promulgate legislation on youth has been special social category.
noted.
This is not to suggest, however, that the plight of youth has been ignored. On the contrary, Caribbean governments and regional and interna-
tional agencies have spent a significant amount of money on youth development initiatives over the past twenty years. By and large, however, these initiatives have not been well planned, documented or executed have been primarily conventional and adultled
and have generally fallen short of achieving their stated objectives. Danns el a/ assess the situation of Caribbean youth as "a marginal, estranged and poorly prepared generation which sooner or later will be saddled with the region's future...treated as a stigma of denial rather than symbols of hope". In so doing they highlight the absence of legal and legislative recognition ofyoung people in the Caribbean; the inadequacy of formal provisions enabling them to successfully make the transition from youth to adulthood; and the socially constructed
ideal and goal
of the "autonomous
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o o o o o o o o o a o Page 57
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CentcaM PrnsPEcTtvE o o o a o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a a o o o o o o o a o a o o o Page 58
adult" whose rights, privileges, obliga-
that youth brings with
significant
ing self in an ever changing era,
tions and responsibilities are clearly defined, yet difficult to achieve.
assets. The challenges associated with youth are not modern inventions. as we can see from the writings of Plato, who described youth in his time as "rebellious and undisciplined". We are appropriately reminded by
teenage pregnancy, negative youth
Youth as a resource or a problem? Ramesh Deosaran states in "Youth in Paradise Losf'(1992) that:
"lt
has become a firm part of the
political rhetoric across the Caribbean to glorify youth and assure them that future is in their hands ...these public pronouncements from adults merely serve to heighten the fact thctt the bulk of Caribbean youth have long had dim the
chances
for high qualit.t' secondary
and tertiary education, job opportuni-
ties and even ffictive participation in the public affairs of their respective
countries. The story of Caribbean youth is a story of hope and broken promises".
The West Indian
Commission
(1992) also states that "it is perhaps time that we went beyond platitudinous statements to the effect that youth represent the future of the Caribbean and let them do so". The Caribbean's record of allocat-
ing
adequate human, financial and institutional resources to youth devel-
opment
is poor, but by no
means
unique. In no way, however, should this be interpreted as an indication of the value that the youth sector holds for the region's leaders. Indeed, the first meeting of the Bureau of the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government, held in Guyana in December 1992, took the opportunity to reaffirm the importance of youth in building and maintaining a viable community into the twenty-first century. As the Community prepares to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas
in
1998, the Conference has again
selected "youth participation in the consolidation of democracy in a civil society" as one of the commemorative themes.
The problem seems to be associated with the fact that our societies have
it
the Commonwealth Draft Plan of
Action for Youth
Empowerment
(1998) that "young men and women are a vital part of society, not only as the generation of tomorrow, but also by virtue of their youthfulness - the dedication, creativity, new ideas and questioning they have can make an essential contribution to the dynamism and development of nations".
Clearly young people who
are
understand their peculiar needs and circumstances. There is a gap of understanding and appreciation between young people and adults, and before it
is
acknowledgement and appreciation of the resources that each has to offer; an acknowledgement of the commonality
ductive, contributing members
bridged there must be mutual
and
ofgoals and objectives; and an accep-
societies. Equally clearly, the issue of facilitating youth develop-
tance that the creativity and energy of youth are the natural complement to the wisdom and experience of adults. On the issue of Caribbean leadership, youth perceived the decisions affecting Caribbean Member States to
leaders
of
ment is a complex one, and transcends
human, institutional and financial resources. The challenge must there-
fore be thrown out to adults. as
the
ones who are "passing the baton", to
be determined at the international
provide the kind of enabling environment that empowers a generation at risk to take responsibility for their lives and to contribute positively to the society in which they live - not tomorrow, but today.
level, and believed that leaders were powerless to eff'ect changes facilitating the growth and development of the citizenry in a sustainable manner. They
From the Perspective of Youth Convinced of the desirability of obtaining first- hand an in- depth appreciation of and insight into the concerns
tariat
in
of young people, the
Secre-
1996 convened a youth con-
sultation on a regional youth policy. The concerns voiced at that meeting, as detailed below, are instructive.
One participant reported on
the
results of a random survey which she had conducted of youth on the streets of Trinidad and Tobago. The survey
revealed youth concerns such
as
times fail to recognise and appreciate
tunities, social mobility, crime, defin-
with youth that we
sions at personal and group levels; to reject their morals and music and generally to be unwilling or unable to
ronments have the potential to become a dynamic and positive force in shaping the future of their nations as pro-
some-
associated
ceived adults to be inherently convinced of the immaturity of youth and their inability to make important deci-
involved in positive, supportive envi-
racism, integration within and external to the Caribbean, life chances in the face of inadequate educational oppor-
become so focused on the problems
stereotypes, unemployment/underemployment and illiteracy. Young men and women voiced feelings of hopelessness, social alienation, uselessness and a fear of dying before reaching adulthood; they per-
questioned whether tomorrow's Caribbean indeed belonged to youth, or to the architects of global capitalism; accused governments of treating them like a political football; and deplored what to them seemed to be excessive red tape, lack of political will and favoritism. They challenged the region's leaders to be less complacent and to adopt a bold paradigm shift in addressing the problems of youth, informed by the lessons of the past.
Vision of Caribbean Youth The CARICOM youth consultation
articulated a vision of the ideal Caribbean which is characterised by the following tenets:
a society which values mutual respect and equal fundamental rights; and which understands and believes in JUNE 1998
a
CnntcoM PrnspECTtvE a the ability of youth to shape
and
change society in progressive ways:
a society in which the polirical hierarchy affords young men and women opportunities to make a mean-
ingful contribution to national
and
regional development;
rights as human rights, and as
a
process whereby young women and men are enabled to gain greater control over their lives and determine their own development as a crucial part of
the medium and long-term development of their community, society and
a society in which institutional
nation as a whole. The more people are
infrastructure permits youth access to
empowered, the more the nation is empowered. Given an enabling environment, young men and women are both willing and able to, the philosophy of youth empowerment is reflect-
resources, employment, education and a forum for advocacy at the highest policy-making levels; a society free from discrimination due to age, class, religion, educational attainment, sexual orientation, gender or other factors.
Towards Youth Empowerment
If the Caribbean is to achieve its developmental goals, it must build a vibrant and enterprising population of
youth. The challenge facing the Caribbean as it prepares for the new millennium is to make sure that a range opportunities and responsibilities that contribute to youth empowerrnent are made available to youth not tomorrow, but today; to provide an environment that is conducive to releasing the vast potential ofyouth and channelling it into activities that contribute towards personal as well as social, cultural and economic development at the national and regional level. The Commonwealth Youth program defines youth empowerment as "recognising and promoting youth
of
ed below:
young men and women have the
right to enjoy political participation in
formuand evaluation processes to ensure that their specific needs and concerns are addressed. diverse groups of young men and women in civil society must be included and consulted in social, political and economic programmes to consolidate social cohesion. the needs and concerns of disadvantaged groups must be addressed. The Caribbean must, as a matter of urgency, focus its energies and responwomen must be a part of policy
sibilities on empowering
which must be acknowledged
young women and men to be empow-
diminishing
ered.
youth
and addressed differentially to enable both
education, vocational training, business and community activities are
all areas in which young people can use information technology to create better skills, business and employment opportunities. access to education, training and
employment are the sine qua non of youth empowerment. diverse groups of young men and
O O O
o a O O O
o O O
a a a generation a
struclevel. The current philosophy ani practice as it relates to youth development recognises the value of and need to inu.,tu*" key stakeholders, including youns people, in programm. ptuniini uni implementation processes: to rationalise the introduction of new initia-
decision-making processes, and fundamental educational, health, social and economic rights as human beings and valued citizens of the Caribbean Commonwealth. young men and women have different needs, concerns and constraints
:
lation, project implementation
at risk and instituting supportive tures at the national and resional
tives: and to wisely use increasingly r"rour.", available to
devel,opment.
The Community. for its part. has taken up the challenge of providing an enabling environment for
; : : o:
: : : o :
O
' o
? sustainable o
youth development through the expan- O sion of opportunities for youth micro- O O enterprise and employment support for
the work of youth organisations and o the creation of supportive enterprise o development networks at the
national a of a
and regional levels. The future
young people, and of the Caribbean O O Community, is at stake.
o
I
Heather Johnson is Deputy
Pro- a
gramme Manage4 Community o Secretari- a a at. Development, CARICOM
*o
the future Community,
The youth hold hope for the of the
a O O O
o ["jJ:1,&'ii:l"il, a social, aspects of cultural, and
political economic development.
O O O
o O
JUNE 1998
Page 59
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CnntcoM PtnsPECTtvE o a a o o o a a a o a o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o
Linking I(nowledge
\fith Education for adults and out of school youth
he decision of the
Second Hemispheric Summit on Education to select as one of its
themes: "Education: The KeY For Progress" underscores the emerging
political
determining factor
confront the challenges of the
2I
(i)
+
will be a
in the etlbrts
ed:
Holl
of policy makers,
hemisphere, that education
as a matter of priority, that the following specific measures would be adopt-
Kenneth
scholars. and business leaders in the
consensus
The Heads of Government agreed
+
to
st cen-
tury.
cy. These objectives also guided the
In the "Third Wave" of economic. technical and social change that will become a reality in the 2lst century, knowledge has emerged as the Predominant factor in the creation of wealth and prosperity. A new Paradigm is emerging or has emerged
Policy Declaration on Education by
which has forced fundamental rethinking of such vital issues as the principles that guide organisations, the way competition will be conducted, new
Page 60
organisational structures that will influence their operation and complexity, new challenges for leadership, rethinking the assumptions of the mar-
ketplace, and the architecture of the global environment. Central to this new Paradigm is the link between knowledge, the quantity and quality of human resources and the education system. It is the recognition of this new change that has prompted
leaders like President Clinton to declare: "Now, looking ahead. the greatest step of all - the high threshold of the future we must now cross - and my number one prioritY for the next four years is to ensure that all Ameri-
cans have the best education
in
the
world" in his 1997 State of the Union address. He has also issued a "Call to Action for American Education" based on ten principles designed to improve equity, quality, relevance and efficien-
the Ministers of Education Hemispheric meeting preparing tbr the Second
Hemispheric Summit on Education. The member countries of CARICOM
fully
associate themselves
with
this
Declaration.
We in the Caribbean have also placed special emphasis on education' From our perspective, education has a much wider scope. Motivated by the desire to achieve rapid social and economic development. and to retain and build upon our cultural identity. to prepare our workforce fbr the economy of the 2lst century, and to benefit fiom the technolog-
ical revolution accompanying
these changes, we issued at the end of the | 997 Conference of the Heads of Gov-
ernment, the Montego Bay Declaration which contains our commitment to restructure and re-equip our education system.
In that Declaration. we committed our governments to a holistic development of our human resources that would give priority to: . increased productivity
. research and development . science and technology
.
15 per cent enrolment
of
the
post-secondary age cohon in tertiary level education by the year 2005, with annual output targets to be set in relation to this objective;
technical and vocational educa-
tion . the promotion of microenterprises
(ii)
universal qualitY secondarY
education be targeted for the year 2005 with attendant annual targets set; (iii) the introduction of Programmes for achieving appropriate levels of competence in Spanish and other languages among secondary and post-secondary graduates with the tar-
gets to be achieved set and Programmes designed by 1998; (iv) the identification bY June 1998 of desirable learning oulcomes for the language units, especially read-
ing and mathematics at different grades of the primarY school, and thereafter ensure that they are achieved through regular in-service teacher education workshops and careful monitor-
ing of progress;
(v)
a target date to be set bY 1998
for full enrolment of the pre-primary age cohort in early childhood education and develoPment Programmes; (vi) the determination bY 1999 of a formula to guide national governments in achieving optimum allocation and efficiency in the deployment of national resources to the education and training sector. The Conference also agreed that in all initiatives, appropriate emphasis be
given to:
(i) the concept of lifelong learning and the importance of continuing education to ensure functional literacy and JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPEcrtvE a o a o o a o o o o o o o o o o a o a o o o o a
ln the "Third Wave" economic, technical and social change that will become a reality in the 21st century, knowledge has emerged as
of
the predominant factor in
the creation of wealth and prosperity.
numeracy and the continuous upgrading of professional and technical competence in the public and private sectors; (ii) enlargement of the knowledge base through accelerated research and development pervading all sectors of
our economies, and giving increased impetus to higher productivity and greater international competitiveness: (iii) the culture of excellence already demonstrated in our region which should continue to be the cornerstone of our ongoing efforts to develop our human resources; (iv) the importance of science and
technology and the advances in telecommunications as an all pervasive
factor which must be effectively and appropriately used; and the application of these to the production of goods and services and in the delivery of educa-
tion;
(v) the role of sports and the performing arts in education and training; (vi) the recognition of the role of tourism and the environment in national development, and the need for educating our society in order to maximise the benefits to be derived from tourism;
(vii)
the enhancement of teacher education and upgrading.
JUNE 1998
In order to finance these activities. the Conference agreed: (i) to enlist the active participation of the private sector in policy develop-
ment, planning implementation
and
financing of Human Resource Development programmes;
(ii)
efforts.
to attract through their
best external resources from the
Caribbean diaspora. donor counlries, and international agencies to complement national initiatives. Caribbean Governments will do
our part, but
it is clear that we will
need assistance so we fully endorse and support the call for assistance from the Organisation of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to provide substantial resources. We will also look to our partners to provide any assistance in sharing the responsibility in this fundamental programme of reform to make the education system the base of our prosperity.
In light of the provisions of the Policy Declaration and the strategies adopted and commitments made by national governments in the Hemisphere, we urged the Hemispheric Summit to go further in four respects: (a)
Set a target for tertiary enrol-
ment to complement the target set at
the secondary level, because
ofits critical importance in filling urgent per-
O
sonnel needs at managerial, supervisory and professional levels. In particular, because of the vital contribution required from tertiary education for the development of quality teachers and teaching for the secondary and prima-
O O O
ry
levels. (b) Give further endorsement to the central role that education should play in promoting democracy and good governance through inter alia the provision of education leadership at community, local and national levels. (c) Set an indicative target for research and development (e.9. 3Vo to
O O O O O O O O O
mance.
o
a
a O
o
3.5Vo of GDP) as a means of encourag- a ing countries to focus and step up their O R&D activities, and arrange for regular O Hemispheric reviews of R&D perfor- O
Underscore strongly the role a that education must play in a crusade O against the dangerous build up in our O schools and communities of violence,
(d)
a
dishonesty and crime, juvenile preg- O nancies, drug use, and crass materialism based upon instant
gratification.
I Dr. Kenneth Hatt is Principal Mona, Jamaica.
O O
IJWI, : :!. o o
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CnntcoM PrasPEcrtvE o o o
The Changing Geopolitics Of
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o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o a a a a o o a o o a o o o o o o o o a o o a o o o o a o o a o Page 62
The Carrcom Carrbbean he Caribbean is
America but has, until recently, only seriously looked to North America for relationships which conduce to economic growth and development
and social and cultural exchange. Geopolitically and geo-strategically issues of military security in times of war, illegal drugs interdiction, ideolog-
ical differences, trade and territorial integrity have occupied our attention. The weight given to each has varied over time but these challenges remain
with
The belief of Caribbean state leaders that dire consequences would flow to
located
between North and South
us.
The Caribbean has always been considered as an area of strategic and economic importance for colonial expansion and so, from the first pene-
tration by Europeans in the late l5th Century. imperialistic competition thwarting the development of internal democracy and indigenous economic development, placed the Caribbean on the international political agenda. Our geography made us victims; and for more than half a millennium. our peoples have been subject to outside forces and controls. Now. these are
being loosened somewhat as new spaces for a higher degree of autonomous action have opened up. The oftentimes contradictory processes of globalization and regionalisation, coming in the wake of the end of the
"Cold Wars" provided such a new opportunity.
Geopolitics is an approach to for-
+ Neville C, Duncon
+
eign policy which attempts to explain
and predict political behaviour
military capabilities in
and terms of the
physical environment. From the point of view of powerful nations it is usually comprised of pseudo-scientific perspectives along with a mixture of geographical metaphysics. economics. anthropology and racism. Considerations such as these led the USA to declare the Caribbean sea and its accompanying states and territories its mqre nostrum, or its backyard, or part of its manifest destiny, to which a significant number of USA doctrines and
law applied
-
Munroe doctrine, the
Platt amendment, etc. ln 1979. Basil Ince noted that for
most Caribbean and Latin American countries. the USA acted as a "validating power" in respect of the'foreign policies' they pursued. This "geographic fatalism" was influenced by our geography - a complex of such fac-
tors as size, location, climate
and
topography. More to the point, however, is the fact that it is humankind and not geography which makes and determines political events and responses.
their countries if they dared to openly follow their principles and true needs was more important. Indeed, there was no shortage of confirmation - for examples, the repeated US interventions in the Caribbean which eventually spilled over into the Anglophone Caribbean in Grenada in 1983. Nevertheless. there were other situ-
ations
in which the
Anglophone
Caribbean was not sure on whose side the US would wield its considerable military power - in the cases of the territorial disputes which both Belize and Guyana had with their neighbours. There were also other situations where a unified Anglophone Caribbean position would probably have created more profitable diplomatic spaces for less f61 g1zrndependent development ple, they could have pressed for the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) to be
a truly multilateral agreement established by treaty instead of accepting USA offers on
it.
Yet, that occasion,
and others, would have been passed off on the expedient that beggars could not
have been choosers! So, at that time, CARICOM countries were acting on the tacit or overt approval of the USA.
Diplomatic Assertions
It was not
a complete accommoda-
tion as countries, at various times and on certain issues, asserted independent
positions. Up until the 1970s
and
JUNE 1998
o
CtntcoM PraspEcTtvE through the 1980s, because of geographical location, physical size and limited resources, the Anglophone
order (NWIO) through the Nonaligned Movement (NAM) and UN
Caribbean states
did not think they could assert their own distinctive
agencies but that interlocutory space quickly closed as the rich Western
diplomatic stances. This belief was articulated by the late Errol Barrow, former Prime Minister of Barbados,
countries regained their confidence
Creating Spaces
and composure and conceded almost
In this context several new geopolitical opportunities have opened up
quite effectively, when he declared that his country would become "friends of all, satellites of none", in an address in the UN on the attainment of Independence from Britain, but this was scarcely manifested in practice by Caribbean independent states. There was the noteworthy effort by Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Guyana
and Barbados to open formal diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1974 but even this was preceded by President Nixon's equally remarkable sudden
(NIEO) and a new world information
nothing. Almost as soon as the heady mid- I 970s arose the 1970s closed sharply with clear signs of suffocation of radical and socialist movements. The room for autonomous manoeuvfes disappeared.
The Caribbean area has lost a significant amount of geo-strategic significance to the USA. Trade. the move-
ment of battle ships, oil tankers through Caribbean waters and through the Panama Canal or around the southern tip of South America have all been transcended
by major shifts and
visit to the People's Republic of China So a diplomatic space was
restructuring processes in the global political economy. Cold war tensions
already created.
have all but evaporated.
in 1972.
There was the moment
in time
when there were massive transf'ers of currency to the oil producing
economies when leaders such
as
Forbes Burnham, Michael Manley and Dr. Eric Williams were challenging for a new international economic order
Even the urgency
to
incorporate
Latin and American countries into NAFIA or the FTAA has substantially declined. We are already witnessing domestic interests within the USA rising up against free trade and the new
liberalism with a deeper intensity than
o o
the confused earlier years of restruc-
turing in capitalist economies in
the
1980s. This is only the beginning of new mercantilism.
and are being opened
up. Indeed,
a
one
of the unintended (by USA that is) effect of trying to "negotiate" the FTAA is a new dynamic has emerged among Latin American and Caribbean countries where it almost does not seem to matter any more that the USA did not secure fast track authority to really negotiate. The new links and new institutions of integration and regionalisation outside of the FTAA have conduced to a new geography of economic, political, social and cultural dynamism which has taken on a life of its own, never to retreat. CARICOM countries are now following through on establishing new networks of association with different economic zones in this hemisphere. The effort has been testing the capacity (financial, technical and human) of these states to the limit, and may recoil painfully in some instances to the
O
o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o a o o o a o a o o o o a o o o o O
o a a O
a O
o o o o o O
a o o o o CARICOM Member States have chosen an independent path in relations with Caribbean sister nation, Cuba, whose President Dr Fidel Castro (centre) has equally demonstrated a commitment to regionalism.
JUNE 1998
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0nntcoM PrasPEcrtvE a o o o o a o a o o o o O
o o a o o a o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o a o a o a o a a o o o a o o a
time and to cut losses or to
of
these states. The single most important factor for CARICOM is the
detriment
secure special
question of special consideration that smaller economies deserve and the exact man-
Questions
Our geographical space
is now becoming highly complex. It is no longer
ner in which their particular needs will be met in the overall FTAA process as
merely with the US, UK, EU, and Canada. It is also with large multilateral
well as with other subregional groupings in which
arrangements (GATT, and maybe the FTAA). Should we be engaging in so many international and Hemi-
the Caribbean has expressed an intention to open negotiations for participation. The institutions of the Caribbean Community have grown steadily in reputation and competence. The CARI-
spheric trade negotiations? Will we really have the
capacity to implement each and every agreement to the letter in a timely manner? It may be that this new
COM Secretariat grew in stature, the renewed Heads
of
CARICOM government Conferences produced a series of hopeful post-conference Memoranda, the Caribbean
ty for its entry into the FTAA. This
Development Bank proved invaluable in the development effort, and other associated institutions such as the University of the West Indies grew rapidly.
the task of negotiating a
Page 64
same mechanism is also charged with successor
agreement to the LOME with the EU.
Considerable
effort is needed to
achieve the required outcome.
The petroleum dollars earnings that enabled the CARICOM countries to
The geo-politics of smallness is now proving a real benefit for CARI-
feel the weight, for a time, of "middle
COM states in consort with other small
powers" such as Mexico and Venezuela, and even Trinidad and Tobago, also facilitated the strengthening of these institutions. This double effect made CARICOM states more aware of the necessity to be involved in arrangements which had the potential to minimise conflict in the Central
American and Caribbean Region, beyond membership in the Organisation of American States (OAS). The formation of SELA, CDCC and ECLAC were earlier manifestations of
economies
in the FTAA Process.
Twenty three economies, of 34 in the negotiating process, consider themselves smaller economies requiring special consideration if equity and fairness are to be achieved.
United in their fear that participation in the FTAA could deePen the
tions. The RNM was given the task of
existing economic differences between the big and smaller economies if effective account is not taken ofthe lack of capacity of smaller economies to prepare themselves to benefit in an equitable manner from free trade and economic liberalisation, the new geography could prove of considerable value. If, however, the CARICOM countries are not careful, even in this group there could be a dangerous loss of identity
ensuring the effective preparation and
and place.
participation of the Community and Member States, and to continue the
The trick is to establish a series of ever-widening concentric circles of relationships in this hemisphere which
this need.
Today, CARICOM established
mutual
advantages.
a
Regional Negotiating Mechanism (RNM) to enhance the coordination and execution of its extemal negotia-
developing of a coordinated and cohesive strategy to prepare the Communi-
geography has to be urgently re-thought. It is the view that truly small economies such as ours would do best to stay clear of most of
these blanket-typâ&#x201A;Ź arrangements and
pursue far more discriminatory and limited objective ones. Yet, we are on the path to complexity and every sup-
port has to be given to the titanic efforts now in train. We are losing our sense of victimhood and are reaching out more and more to forge a special place for ourselves in this hemisphere and in the wider world. It is important not to tie ourselves into commitments which reduce our flexibilities simply because it is the thing to do in this moment and we must go with the flow. This we know: the process now called globalisation will soon pass as nation-states reassert themselves (at least the very powerful nations). We enter the current and steer our way
safely on the margins knowing that tomorrow it will be a new form of mercantilism again. Our geography, in all senses, permanently requires this approach of us.
I
Dr Neville Duncan is a Political Scientist, U.W-l., Cave Hill,
allow for strategic retreats from time to JUNE 1998
a
CnntcoM
Pe nsPECTtvE
Security And Stability
In SmaIL States Belize and Guyana
t took the unprecedented arrest and near assassination
Prime Minister for his fellow Heads of Government to agree '...on the necessity to review existing
in support of regional security.' That sudden concern with regional security arose as the flames arrangements
ignited by the insurrection
Conference
of Heads of
Government
of the Caribbean Community in Kingston, Jamaica (3 l July - 2 August 1990) coming even before the Trinidadian terror had subsided.
Barbadian Prime Minister, Mr Erskine Sandiford, gave the most caustic criticism of the assault on Trinidad's democratic Government and made the most persuasive plea for the
system of collective security to prevent the recurrence of such a situation. Mr Sandiford felt that closer cooperation in security matters among the member states of CARI-
setting up
of a
COM was a crying necessity.
He
lamented the fragility and vulnerability of the small states and called for: ... the expansion and consolidation of the existing Regional Security System IRSS] in the Eastern Caribbean to incLude as many CARICOM stdtes as possible. I would urge that the RSS be invested with the authority and resources to deal with
all
aspects
of
regional securitv including the interdiction of drug tfficking, surveilleutce of our coastal zones, mutual assistance in the event of national disasters as well as threats to constitutional democracy from criminuls, terrorists, mer(e' naries and other enemies of democracy...The preservation of law', order and JUNE 1998
have been threat-
respectively; one state - Grenada actually invaded by the USA.
Dovid A, Gronger
-
was
The second threat is secession, especially in multi-island states.
+
Anguilla successfully seceded from the
colony of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla (1961). There has also been strong
of
the Jamaat al Muslimeen on 26 July 1990 still smouldered in Port of Spain; the decision of the Eleventh Meeting of the
-
ened with invasion and territorial seizure by Guatemala and Venezuela,
+
of a Caribbean
national security contibutes to growth and development through the promo-
tion of stability. We must therefore expand our integration efforts to include the area of regional security...
separatist sentiment in Nevis, Barbuda and Tobago, serious enough to warrant special constitutional measures for the
devolution of power. A violent rebellion broke out in the Rupununi region
consideration given by the Conference to the situa-
of
tion in Trinidad and Tobago was embodied in the Kingston Declaration which, among other things, committed CARICOM 'to the establishment of a
Venezuela.
The sympathetic
regional security mechanism.' As a result, a Committee was set up to 'look into the matter and report before the Twelfth Meeting of Conference.' Such a decision in itself was a significant departure from previous practice. although, eight years later, except for the expression of interest by Guyana to
join the RSS, a security regime for CARICOM as a whole is no closer to
Guyana (1969) with the aim of secession and with the support of The third threat is of infiltration or penetration, initially with a criminal purpose, and destabilisation.Antigua was used as a territorial base by the Space Research Corporation to facilitate the illegal shipment of arms and ammunition to South Africa and again to Colombia (1918-19 and 1989). But the most common threats of this nature are from narco-trafficking, smuggling of other commercial contraband commodities and illegal fishing in a country's marine space.
Grenada, Guyana and Jamaica
reality.
which the state is protected from inter-
under Prime Ministers Maurice Bishop, Forbes Burnham and Michael Manley, respectively, complained of destabilisation - the process of interfering in the internal and external affairs of a state so that the government is weakened and becomes incapable of carrying out its policies - when their domestic policies veered towards
nal insurrection or external aggression.
socialism and their external policies
The most grave threats have
were seen as pro-Cuban.
Threats to regional security Since the process of decolonisation got under way in 1962, there have been several serious threats to the security of the small states of the Caribbean.
Here, national security is defined in a limited sense to refer to a condition in
been
direct invasion, incursion, intervention or mercenary attack. Two states -
The fourth threat is that of insurrection carried out by local bands of
o o o o a o o a o o o o o o o o a a O O
o o o o o o O
o o o o o o o o a a O
a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o Page 65
o
CnatcoM PrasPECTtvE a o
O dissidents with the aim of replacing the state security. O government; such actions include Approaches to regional security a coups d'6tat, military mutinies and The need fbr a Caribbean regional a revolts. Grenada was the scene of a coup d'dtat (1979); Dominisecurity regime has been exemplified O successful (1981), Jamaica (1980) and Trinidad most definitely by the secession of O ca and Tobago (1970 and 1990) also were Anguilla (1967) and the invasion of O threatened with conspiracies or unsuc(1983). In ditferent ways, Grenada O cessl-ul attempts to overthrow their these crises validated the maxim: O sovernments. 'diplomacy without fbrce is like an ^ External threats became more viruorchestra without instruments.' : lent in the vears after 1962 wirh rhe Both crises represented failures for ; impending withdrawal of British Caribbean diplomacy and resulted in ;I administrators and armed forces. For the imposition of military solutions by 'a example. it was in 1962 when British the United Kingdom and the United Guiana attained internal self-governI States, respectively. O ment and started to clamour for indeThe Anguilla crisis was precipitatO pendence that the Venezuelan Govern- ed by referendum of May 1967 . by O ment took its territorial claim to the whichthe Anguilla voted to secede tiom United Nations and started a long cam- St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. Following : paign of military conlrontarion. Simithe consideration of the report of a ? o i*ri. in 1964. when British Honduras fact-finding mission of CommonO was granted internal self-government. wealth Caribbean officials which visitO Guatemala broke diplomatic relations ed St. Kitts and Anguilla. a conference O with the UK and started provocative among the four independent states O fioop movements in the border areas. Barbados. Guyana. Jamaica anda Internal threats also became more Trinidad and Tobago and including O frequent since 1962. Although the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. Anguilla O colonies had always been affected by itself and the UK. was held in BarbaO labour and political agitation, a new dos from 28 June to 4 July I 967. O trend started in the post-Independence Several points of agreement were O era when grass-roots moven ents fell reached to put an end to the secession: O under the influence of Pan-Africanism. these included. among other things, the O Marxism-Leninism and Rastafarian- setting up of a peacekeeping force O ism, in some areas. Students, soldiers, drawn from the fbur Commonwealth O workers, peasants and academics were Caribbean Governments. The force. O caught in the ferment. The security however. never materialised and the O significance of these movements, and entire plan was abandoned. The O of their campaigns of agitation Jamaican Government withdrew from O throughout the 1970s, became manifest the Agreement. The Anguillans themO on 13 March 1979 when one of them. selves repudiated the Agreement. O the New Jewel Movement, overthrew replaced their representative who had a the Government of Grenada. The ease signed it and reaffirmed their secesO and speed with which 46 poorly armed, sion. Caribbean leaders appealed to O largely untrained men could seize state the UK to guarantee the territorial O power alerted the Region's Prime Min- integrity of St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla a isters to the vulnerability of their own but Britain eventually intervened with O regimes. The subsequent meeting of paratroops and policemen, without a representatives of three progressive Caribbean participation. In the tlnal O Governments from Dominica, Grenada analysis. the separation of Anguilla a and St. Lucia on 13 - 16 July 1979, and from St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla succeedO the publication of the Declaration of ed. The Anguilla secession was one of O St. George's, forewarned that a wave of O radicalism was about to sweep through the earliest and most serious threats to O the islands. This reinforced fears of the territorial integrity of a Caribbean O insurrection and stirred concerns about state. At that time. the opportunity was Page 66
not taken to establish a mechanism to deal with a recurrence or with crises of a similar nature. In the case of Grenada, ostensibly in response to a request by Jamaica,
Barbados
and several
Eastern
Caribbean states. the US mounted an 'invasion by invitation' on 25 October 1983. When Caribbean Heads of Government met in Port-of-Spain on Satur-
day 22 and Sunday 23 Octobel four - The Bahamas, Belize, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago - opposed states
military intervention, but, nevertheless, the invasion went ahead.
Caribbean states contributed about 350 soldiers and policemen to the invasion called 'Operation Urgent Fury'; they were designated the 'Caribbean Peace-
keeping Force' (CPF) and assigned non-combat duties such as guarding installations and captives. Despite the
controversy which surrounded the invasion and the hasty assembling of disparate groups of troops and policemen, the Caribbean Peacekeeping Force (CPF) was a sort of innovation in collective security policy and practice
in the Region. Colonel Kenneth Barnes of the JDF was given commandl but although the CPF was kept away from combat, it set a practical precedent for servicemen of separate states to conduct joint operations.
Apart from these two practical 'tests', there were other theoretical approaches aimed at creating a collec-
tive security mechanism. One, under the rubric 'Scheme fbr Mutual Assistance' (SMA) had started since the Eighth Conference of Heads of Government in Georgetown, Guyana, in 1973, even prior to the tbrmal creation of CARICOM. The issue languished for eight years until it was taken up by the Standing Committee of Ministers Responsible for Foreign Affairs (SCMFA) for a further four years.
Thereafter,
it
reappeared
never seemed to have as a substantive issue
before the Heads of Government until the Trinidad and Tobago crisis erupted
in
1990.
Another step in this direction was taken by Prime Minister J.M.G (Tom) Adams
of Barbados in Januarv
1979
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PraspECTtvE when he attempted to coordinate mar-
itime security patrols among Antigua
ful.
In November
1982, another step
divergence soon became evident, when Grenada was invaded in October 1983.
and Barbuda. Barbados. St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The
was taken in security coordination, this
time at the CARICOM level. Three
Towards a regional system
Eastern
options were considered: the first was accession to the Inter- American Treaty oJ' Reciprocal Assistance which bound member states of the Organisation of American States (OAS) into a pact of mutual defence in the event of external attack; the second was a 'Scheme for Mutual Assistance' which was intended to be exclusively Caribbean; and third was the signing of non-aggression pacts with potentially hostile neighbouring states as guarantees of
The most successful step towards creating a regional security sysl.em was taken when the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), also con-
plan was to divide the
Caribbean into two securily zones along the traditional lines of demarcation between the Windward and the Leeward
Is.
The UK provided some
material assistance but eventually, nothing was achieved fbr the Leewards and only Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines managed to cooperate.
Purposeful moves towards developing a collective approach came only a month after the Grenada coup d'dtat. On 30
April 1919, the Prime Minisrers
of Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago signed a memorandum in Port of Spain noting the 'complexity' of the security
situation which had arisen
in
the
Region. On 9 August 1919, the Barbados Defence Force was established. but no further action was taken to combine the resources of the two states to deal
with that situation. Another move was made in Octo-
ber l98l with the signing of the Commonwealth Pact under which The Bahamas, Barbados, Britain, Canada, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago agreed to meet and
cerned with promoting common
defence, was established in July 198 I and initially included Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis. St. Lucia and St. Vin-
cent. Article 8.4 of the Treaty
estab-
lishing the OECS made provision for the setting up of the 'Defence and
safety.
Security Committee' which
The SCMFA reviewed a paper entitled a 'Scheme for Mutual Assistance'
charged with:
and the implications
of CARICOM
states adhering to the Inter,American Treu4, of Reciprocal Assrstance, at its
meeting in June 1983. A working group of representatives of member governments was set up but no consensus emerged as it appeared that plans lor an SMA lor the wider community. and those for a RSS for a smaller community, were moving on parallel courses and could not be merged. The consequence, if not the cause, of this
...responsibility
for
was
coordinating
the efforts of Member States Jbr collec-
tive deJence and the preservation of peace and security against external crggression and for the development of close ties among the Member States of the Organisation in matters of external defence and security, including measures to combat the activities of merce-
naries, operating with
or without
the
support oJ' internal or national elements, in the exercise of their inherent right of individual or collective self-
o a a o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o o o o o o a o a o o
consult'regarding appropri-
O
ate action to be taken' in the event of a threat to the Independence of Belize. The defence aspect of the Pact
a o o o o o a o o a a o o o o
has never been activated although the diplomatic side apparently has been success-
Regional leaders met US President Bill Clinton in Barbados, May 1997, to discuss security matters including the Shiprider Agreements for pursuit ol international drug traffickers.
JUNE 1998
O
o a o o a o o Page 67
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CnntcoM PrasPECTtvE o o
o o o O O O O O a O a ; ; : : : : o o o o o o o o o o 'o O O o o a o O a o o O O O a O o O O o o O o o o o
defence recognized by Article
5l ofthe
Charter of the United Nations'
This Treaty was the first legal instrument providing for collective
security among Commonwealth Caribbean states, but no mechanism was ever put in place to give effect to the Committee. This might have been deliberate since ideological rifts between Grenada and the other states had already become evident; it was not unlikely that the former was looked upon by the latter as a threat to securitv^ and vlce-versa. The next stage in the evolution of a regional s.curitl, system came on 29 oiioue, 1982 w'hen a Memorandum of understanding was signed among Antisua and Barbuda, Barbados. Dominica. St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The oumose of the Memorandum *u, .*pluin.d in Article 2. by which the signatories agreed: ...io prrporc corringency plans and
assist one another
on request in
nafional emergencies, prevention of smuggling, search and rescue, immi-
gration control, fishery protection, customs and excise control, maritime pohcing duties, protection of off-shore installations, pollution control, nation' al and other disasters and 'threats to nafional security. Remarkably, the Memorandum excluded Grenada, which was a founding member of the OECS, and included Barbados which was not even a member of that Organisation. Barbados, moreover, was assigned
a central,
if
not dominant, role in the
new regime. It contributed 49 per cent of the central fund (Art. 13); furnished the operational centre out ofthe Barbados Defence Force (BDF) Headquarters at St. Ann's Fort (Art. l8); provid-
ed the Central Liaison Office (Art. 7) and maintenance facilities for coast guard vessels at Willoughby Fort (Art. 31) where all the vessels' spares and documentation were kept. Throughout its existence, the BDF Chief of Staff has been the Regional Security Coordinator (Arts. 8 and ll). The Memorandum was signed and
to have been the main legal basis for the establishment of the
seemed
Regional Security System. One year after the RSS was established. several small states contributed soldiers and policemen to the USorganised Caribbean Peacekeeping Force which occupied Grenada. Within three months of the invasion, Prime Minister Adams attempted to advance the collective security process by proposing the creation of a Caribbean Defence Force (CDF). \On 22 January 1984, the Prime Minister declared that Plans were being made to establish:
...afull regional extending the protection available defence
force, thus
against...adventures, other external agg,ression, domestic revolution or othe r violent episodes... The idea was to form a 'regional' force to replace the various 'national' defence forces. The projected size of
such a force was set at about 1,800 troops, costing about US$ 100 M in the first five years. US Secretary of State, Mr George P. Schultz, who visited Barbados on 8 February 1984, promised to consider the proposal.
Later, Brigadier RudYard Lewis, Chief of Staff of the BDF and Coordinator of the RSS, briefed the US House
Armed Services Committee on
the
Adams and the RSS staff itself. The
main opponents of upgrading the Memorandum were Prime Minister James Mitchell of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who replaced Mr Milton Cato, and Prime Minister Errol Barrow
of Barbados who replaced Mr Adams and, his immediate successor after his in office. Mr St. John. Prime Minister Barrow took an unequivocal approach to the issue in a letter of 2 September 1986 sent to the Prime Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda,
death
Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines which stated in part: ...this govemment has strong reser-
valions over lhe use of our resources
for
militaristic purposes or
for
the
unjustifiable usurpation of the sovereignt-t of our country b.t alien influences. Consequently, the government of Barbados is not prepared to elevate or upgrade the Memorandum Io the status of a trea$' and does ttot suppot't the proposal that this should be done. Although there was oPPosition to upgrading the status of the Mentoran-
dum, the training, equiPPing
and
financing of the constituent units of the RSS proceeded. Under the auspices of the US, UK and Canada, SPecial Ser-
vice Units (SSU) were formed in all the independent states which did not
need to develop a permanent security force for the Region. The US demurred and Prime Minister Adams was obliged to admit that, once the excitement of the invasion of Grenada had passed, the US attitude: ...has tended to be bi-lateral rather than multi-lateral. TheY have approached each island and, very generousl.v, they have offered sPecial training to the police Special Service
have defence forces. The SSUs were nominally under the civil police but they were to be coordinated by the RSS in a crisis.
Ilnit and to the military units in each island. But thev seemed to be a little hesitant about dealing with the
Tradewinds
started for the joint training of Caribbean SSUs under
Regional Securitl' System as a body. Apart from US reluctance to support the formation of the CDF. other Caribbean governments also began to resist the attempts to upgrade the Memorandum of [Jnderstanding to the status of a full treaty as envisaged by Mr
forces.
Their training, uniforms
and
weapons set them apart as distinctly paramilitary in purpose. The states, furthermore, received patrol vessels for their coast guards, and maritime activity was also coordinated. A series of mif
itary exercises -
elements
Erercise
- was also
of the US and UK
armed
The main sponsor of the upgrading
of Caribbean
security forces
in the
post-invasion period was the USA. This was done largely through the Military Assistance Program (MAP) and
the International Military Education
o Page 68
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PtnsPEcTtvE and Training Program (IMET). The RSS survives as the only permanent. collective security apparatus
the small states from the danger of extra-continental aggression. In the US conceptualisation of its strategic
Strategy and security
what it perceived to be a 'strategic vac-
ferences assistance programmes and bilateral treaties with the Caribbean. For example, in a series of agreements signed in 1995, six small Caribbean states permitted US Navy vessels full freedom of action in their territorial waters. Under these so-called 'shiprider'terms. Caribbean officers would be placed on board US vessels to authorise immediate access into territorial waters which would be off limits under international law. Even the circumstances under
uum' created by the UK withdrawal
which Caribbean troops were mar-
The still incomplete process of decolonisation (since 1962) in the
from the Region.
shalled into the 250-strong CARICOM contingent to participate in the US-led military intervention in Haiti - Operation Restore Democracy - in support of the UN Security Council Resolution 940 emphasised the subordination of the small states. While larger Latin American states
in the Commonwealth Caribbean
with indispensable US and UK participation. The question may well be asked whether it is the best of states, but
all possible systems appropriate to regional conditions and what modifications could be considered to make it mosr useful
to all the
CARICOM
USA therefore moved quickly to fill
states.
Commonwealth Caribbean highlighted the problems of preserving the security of small states. There are several reasons why this was so. First of all, the British Army and Navy, which had the
tasks of quelling internal unrest and protecting the colonies from external aggression were withdrawn. to a large extent, in the post-colonial period. Secondly, when the West India Regiment was disbanded in 1962 with the disintegration of the Federation of
the West Indies. its three battalions were distributed between Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, which gained Independence that year, to become the foundations for new,'national' defence forces. As a result, all the other tenitories which gained Independence later
had to create new defence forces or rely on their old police forces to meet their national security needs. The third reason was that the international situation, especially during the era of the Cold War which raged from
about 1948
interests, the Caribbean basin was regarded as a single geopolitical entity - America's fourth frontier. The US view was that the smallness and weakness of Caribbean states made them unable to safeguard their own security and their incapacity created additional problems for it. The
to
1988, posed various
The disintegration of the USSR merely re-emphasised US hegemony in the Region and removed the sources support for socialist regimes and guerilla movements in the circumCaribbean. As a result, the US was able to change its priorities, paying less attention to purely strategic issues, and increasing its efforts to block the ille-
of
gal migration of Caribbean peoples particularly from Cuba, Haiti and
-
and interdicting the illegal importation of narcotics, particularly from the South and Central American littoral, through the Caribbean islands into continental USA. Jamaica
Caribbean security By the start of the 1990s, the initiative in formulating Caribbean security strategy clearly had passed from the states of CARICOM to SOUTHCOM, the US military command headquarters for the Region and ultimately to the US
Atlantic Command.
It
was this new headquarters which convened the Caribbean Island Nations
threats to small states.
Security Conference (CINSEC),
The conflicts of the major powers were carried on vicariously by political
annual review of strategies and tactics
parties. labour unions. business organisations, civic associations, peasants' movements and other groups, frequently creating disorder and disrupting stability and security. In this period, therefore, the new states of the Caribbean became more susceptible to threats to their peace and safety. Finally, as the UK withdrew from the Region, the US came to be seen as the superpower which would protect
JUNE 1998
aimed
at
an
expanding cooperation
between the USA and the small states of the Region. This US Conference is the only forum at which the Caribbean's seven defence forces seem to come together, the Kingston Declaration of 1990 remaining, essentially,
unfulfilled. Unsurprisingly, the US preoccupa-
tion with illegal migration and narcotrafficking has become the paramount concern of the military exercises. con-
such as Brazil and Venezuela criticised
the proposed military intervention, the
small states of the
Anglophone
Caribbean displayed a zeal for collaboration in that operation unmatched by
their efforts towards other forms of integration. The Caribbean Community, mystifyingly, has never succeeded in establishing a mechanism to safeguard the security and stability which its member states need to ensure the safety of their
citizens and the prosperity of their economies - a regional defence and security system for quelling insurrection or resolving inter-state disputes such as fisheries violations or territori-
al
claims. Indeed, as CARICOM the new century, the absence of a viable regional security system may yet prove to be its Achilles' heel, a flaw which imperils the huge body of functional cooperation and economic integration for approaches
which so many have toiled for so long.
I
Brigadier David A. Granger (ret.)
former Commander of the
Guyana Defence Force and National Security Adviser to the President.
o o a o a o o o a o o o o o a o o o a o o o O
o o o o O
o a o o a o o o o o o o a o a o o o o a o o o o o o o o o Page 69
o
CnatcoM PrnsPECTtvE o a o o o
The Challenges Of Membership
O
For Hafir
o O
O
o a o o o o o O
a a a o a a o o a o o a o o o o o o o o o a o a o o a o o a o o o o o o o o o a Page 70
duct of member states. the functioning
n July 3, 1997, following the Heads
in
of
States meeting held
+
Jamaica, the Republic of
Haiti was admitted to membership in the Caribbean Community (CARI-
Froncois Severin
COM). Integration in this community implies in itself that both a common interest exists between Haiti and
+
CARICOM's Member States and that there is a desire to collaborate on various matters of mutual benefit, such as trade relations. Haiti's acceptance in the most pres-
tigious transnational institution of the Caribbean was brought about by the eflbrts and determination of Haiti's President Ren6 Pr6val. However. this great achievement brings with it benel'its and challenges alike.
The first benefit of membership is of a political nature. Shortly afier the total diplomatic isolation of Haiti, this acceptance into membership sym-
bolises the reinfbrcement
of
the regional solidarity which was so greatly demonstrated during the coup d'etat, and the acknowledgment of the victory on the side of democracy. In fact, since its creation on July 4, 1973 by the Chaguaramas Treaty.
CARICOM has never accepted
an
application fiom any nation ruled by dictatorship. Thus. despite the repeated efforts over many years on the part of the Duvalier r6gime to gain mem-
bership, Haiti was relegated to an observer status only and its participation was limited to CARICOM's five technical forums held between 1974 and 1984. Haiti's membership in the Caribbean Community and entry in the Caribbean Common Market - CARICOM - is therefore the logical outcome of a long process towards a state where the rule of law prevails, con-
Obtaining harmony in any community is frequently undermined by econolrrie and geographic disparities,.. firmed by the return of the constitutional authorities in October 1994. Howel'er. to assure Haiti's successtul
of their institutions as well as in
the pace of the development of the integra-
tion movement. Obtaining harmony in any commu-
nity is frequently undermined by economic and geographic disparities as well as by old rivalries between those countries which are more developed than others. This. in turn. reduces the common exploitation of natural resources leading to reduced export revenues fbr most of the countries and insufficient progress in the commercialization of agricultural products. As Caribbean countries have limit-
ed and similar exportation bases, which considerably hamper interregional trade. states are ofien led to develop competing production policies and strategies to attract fbreign investment.
By ioining CARICOM. Haiti
is
acutely aware of the challenges to competition for which creative solutions to the agricultural. commercial and industrial sectors will need to be developed. Regarding the agricultural sector. Haiti will have to produce, not only to meet domestic needs, but also
to adjust to CARICOM's regional
islation. its government infiastructure
qualitative standards for exportation to other countries. Consequently, there is a need for sound modernization of the agricultural sector and extensive eupi-
and in its production and trade mecha-
talization
economic integration in the Community, Haiti must make changes in its leg-
nisms.
Difficulties, Challenges and Advantages
The
enormous advantages to
Haiti's membership in CARICOM should not overshadow the numerous problems inherent in the lif'e of a community which are ref'lected in the con-
to small-scale farmers to increase their production potential. In
the industrial sector. to become or remain competitive, local investors will also have to reposition themselves to ofl-er local consumers standardised products that comply with regional standards of quality. A similar approach will promote a local investment policy specifically aimed at JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnspECTtvE
responding to open regional competition consistent with industrial produc-
tion standards of Caribbean instituClearly, as Haiti is joining
tions.
CARICOM. the Haitian privare secror
Finally, competition in the region a new criteria and sets the
imposes
debate at a new level to guarantee constant improvement of the resource supply and adopts new technologies on an
is facing a challenge - having to conquer the domestic market while playing the free competition game, producing to generate high export revenues, and gaining its share of the regional
gration. CARICOM's partners
market by diversifying its products. This is what is at stake in the process of Haiti's integration into CARICOM.
counting on the modernization and restructuring of Haiti's economy to assure Haiti's smooth entry into CARI-
Furthermore. efficient management of this process will enable Haiti to market its know-how in other ways with CARICOM members. From sculpture to painting, from craftsmanship to cultural events, it is in Haiti's interest to export its products as well as its expertise. The strategy is, there-
on-going basis. The economic reform programme undertaken by the Haitian government is very timely in the context of its inteare
COM.
Tourism: Point of Liaison Tourism is a potential sector from which Haiti and its allies can widely benefit. A source of hard currency
A study sponsored by the Organisation of American States revealed that the added value to the tourism sector can range from 13.5Vo
of the
Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) in Jamaica to almost 33Vo in The Bahamas. The
potential reinforcement
of Jamaican
tourism has definitely proven itself inasmuch as the sector represents approximately 50Va of its GDP and provides employment fbr two-thirds of its active population. The future of Caribbean tourism relies on the capacity of the region to pool its resources to collectively promote itself. In 1995, during the annual meeting of the Caribbean private
sector, the Haitian Secretary of
of Haitian cultural goods that are already being exported
year period ( I 980- l 984) the number
of
Tourism underlined the necessity for the Caribbean region to learn to share its visitors by offering a diversified product that would be more competitive on the world market. The concept of "multi-destina-
throughout the Caribbean as well as to other countries.
visitors doubled from 6.7 million to 13.6 million in 1984.
and/or regional marketing strategy.
fore, to institutionalise a substantial industry
JUNE 1998
sought after by many countries around
the world, tourism in the Caribbean region has grown remarkably during the past fifteen years. In just a four
tions" should be the centre of any local
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o o o o a o a o a o o o o o o o o o o o Page 71
a
CnntcoM PtnsPECTtvE o o
O Since the Caribbean is now widely o challenged by other tourist destinao tions such as Southeast Asia, the a Mediterranean as well as South AmerO ica, CARICOM has a stake in strongly O promoting the tourism industry. Haiti O has substantive potential: natural beaua ty, historic monuments, a flourishing O handicraft industry, legendary painto ings. These remain highly treasured O and constitute well-known assets in the O tourism field. Toward global integration : The process of Haiti's integration O O into CARICOM is bound to call uPon O community experience as well as offer O new prospects for the Americas. The a nations of the Caribbean, beyond the o wealth and diversity of their culture, o belong to three international strucO tures: the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific O (ACP) group under the Lom6 Convena tion, the Caribbean Basin Initiative O (CBI), and the Association of a Caribbean States. Because of the a requirements of globalization and o development, the conquest of new O markets can no longer be conceived O outside the context oftrade integration O movements within economic blocs. a Already the Central American ComPresident of Haiti Rene Preval o mon Market is sending clear signals to CARICOM. . Haiti's entry in the Caribbean ment to identify the means to strengthDuring the Nineteenth Meeting of a Common Market should be viewed in en this initiative and smooth the road o Heads of State of Central America, towards the Free Trade Zone of the the context of the broad hemispheric 13, O held in Panama on JulY l2 and ties market of 2005. In Miami, the 1994 Americas at the start of the third milo 1997, the proposal toofstrengthen Summit of the Americas, attended by lennium. In particular, the signatories a between the countries the Caribbean 34 democratically-elected Heads of of the Santiago Declaration committed and those of Central America dominat; themselves to fight any form of excluState and Government from througho ed the discussions. moving towards a out the Americas, provided the forum sion or discrimination among the We are therefore : to launch the idea of a partnership for States, promising that "the FTAA : raoorochement between the Caribbean negotiating process will be transparent the Americas. uni C"nt.ul America. which will give : The excellent work of the various and take into account the difference in rise to an even larger market. Signifi: confirms this the levels of development and size of cantly, after the summit, the main lead- follow-up committees : option and forces the the economies in the Americas, in :o .r, oi'C.n,rul America, in a joint pub- preferential Region's states that do not want to be order to create the opportunities for statement. committed themseives to full participation by all countries. o lic "settins uo an institutional framework left behind to adopt intelligent strateOut development. gies promote their to to in.r!ur" the capabilities ofthe coun: of the Second Summit of the Americto face the internaresion tries in the ' held in Santiago, Chile in April I Mr Francois Severin Chief of Staff :O tional challenies of globalization and as, of President o.f Haiti. make better use of the natural 1998, a declaration and action Plan will the confirmed which was adopted :o resources and human capital that are of the 34 Heads of State and Governx
o Page 72
the most valuable
urr"t, of th" region."
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE
The tusembly Of Caribbean Community
P arlramentarrans the tenth Heads of Government of CARICOM in 1989 in Grenada. The
he integration movement of the
Caribbean community (CARICOM) secured its first parliament when on August 3,1994 the legal
inter-governmental Agreement to
establish the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians received the required number of signatories from Caricom member countries. The Assembly held its inaugural meeting during May 27-29, 1996, in Bridgetown, Barbados.
+
paper, inter alia, was based on the following premises: I that CARICOM states all sub-
L. Erskine
Sondiford
scribe to the principles and goals of
+
democracy, peace and develoPment; I that each CARICOM state Possesses representative and deliberative parliamentary institutions, all of which are essential elements of a modern
democratic statel
I that executive, administrative, legislative andjudicial organs are necessary in any efficient modem democratic system; and that within CARICOM; the executive functions are performed by the Heads of Government, the Common Market Council of Min-
of
a parliament for the Caribbean integration movement was conceived by me, following on the break-up of the West Indies Federation. In 1963, I had commented: "In the case of the West Indies one possi-
The idea
bility is that upon the independence of, the Eastern Caribbean group, the three powers could f'ederate. This possibility seems remote. The second possibility is that the territory could increase the number of common services among themselves, and extend this co-operation to include British Guiana. Some twenty years later, and some
seven years before the West lndian Commission was set up by the Caricom Heads of Government. noting a disconcerting weakening in the underpinnings of Caricom, I introduced a following resolution in 1982 into the House of Assembly of Barbados calling for the establishment of an Assembly of Caribbean States composed of
parliamentarians chosen from national parliaments on a proportion-
the
ate basis JUNE
to party strengths in
.I998
those
isters, and the meetings
of various
groupings of Ministers;
The administrative functions
are
perfbrmed by the CARICOM Secretariat headed by its Secretary-General,
but the legislative functions awaited parliaments.
Establishing the Assembly
One
of my early actions upon
becoming Prime Minister of Barbados in 1987 was to suggest to the Eighth Conference of Heads of Governments
of CARICOM in Saint Lucia that an Assembly
of
Caribbean Community
Parliamentarians, composed of representatives from both government and opposition members in the parliaments
of CARICCM
states. should
be
created.
The paper was presented by him at
the establishment of an Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians, and the judicial functions awaited the establishment of the CARICOM Court of Appeal. The conference welcomed the proposals and agreed in principle to the
establishment of the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians. The next stage consisted of the preparation and approval of a draft inter-governmental agreement for the establishment of the Assembly. That process was completed on August 3, 1994.
o o o o o o o a o a o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o O
o o Page 73
o
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE o a o o O
o o o o a o a o o o o o a o a o o o o o o o o a o O
a o o o a o a a a a o o o o a o o o o a o o o o o o Page 74
Caribbean parliamentarians and guests meet and greet at the the first meeting of the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians in Barbados, May 1996.
Notable Decision The creation of the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians is one of the significantly notable decisions taken within the Caribbean integration movement in recent years. For what that decision did was to take
all. the West lndies Federation (195862) had a directly elected parliament. Other types of Caribbean integration movements also had General Assem-
blies. and were the weaker
to
the extent that they did not possess such bodies.
the entire inovement closer to the masses of people in CARICOM whence the will of the people, popular
Modest Powers
authorisation, true empowerment and
this stage somewhat modest.
mandating authority in CARICOM and in any democratic community
deliberative and consultative body for consideration of matters falling within
should emanate.
the CARICOM TREATY. and for
The powers of the Assembly are at
It is a
not at the outset have come into being
passing resolutions on such matters. It can also consider matters passed to it by CARICOM organs. it can requesr infbrmation from such organs, and it can make recommendations to those
in full panoply. CARICOM member
organs.
Preference For Direct Elections
It is regrettable that an Assembly, directly elected by the people, could states were not yet ready for that step.
These powers should give the
Rather, the parliamentarians are chosen indirectly from among the mem-
Assembly scope to bring the values, insights. aspirations and sensibilities of its members to bear on the issues aff'ecting CARICOM. At the same time the existing powers should enable the Assembly to begin the process of
of their respective parliaments. It is expected that in due course the Assembly will call for the direct election of its members. After
bership
holding the CARICOM execurive, the Heads of Government. accountable to the people of CARICOM with respect
to CARICOM matters. The Assembly is composed of representatives chosen fiom the parliaments of CARICOM member states. Each member state is entitled to not more than four representatives, while each associate member state is entitled to not more than two associate members.
Infrequency of Meetings The Assembly is required to meet at least once in every year, with other
meetings being convened
by
the
speaker with the assent of the majority
of Assembly members. Alas, it is now almost two years since the inaugural
meeting of the Assembly was held, and no meeting has been held since then. The CARICOM authorities must take the blame for that,
It is shocking that this new instirution should be stymied in its operations even before it has properly got its
JUNE
.I998
a
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE teeth into its work. The vigorous promotion of the
The Ga
democratic ambience of
CARICOM, transparency and public accountability
tat
within CARICoM. the rights of CARI-
m
human
COM oeoole. the exoression oi poputar senrimenr through the articulation of
all of
-
these possibilities have been stultified
through the infiequency of meetings of the Assem-
CO
Parlia
institutio into th
bly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians. That institution must now claim and establish its place as an independent institution within CARICOM, with control over its adminis-
tration and budget.
The Caribbean integration movement is seen as the best means fbr the disparate. small territories of the Caribbean Community to achieve greater political, social, cultural and
fulfillment.
Co-operation and integration are seen as the key elements fbr achieving the fulfillment of the aspirations of Caribbean people rather than the false gods and mirages
of
separation and isolationism. Yes, there are some functions which we
wish to perfbrm and have control over as separate states. But there are other very important functions which we should perfbrm and have control over as a co-ordinated and integrated entity. The Caribbean is our fatherland
and motherland. The Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliaments is a vital institution to help bring us into that patrimony. The Secretary-General and staff of the Community Secretariat have played a significant role in get-
ting the Assembly off the
ground.
Their role is not yet ended. Complex Problems
The problems f'acing the regional JUNE 1998
to think,
however,
that these issues can be resolved by governments alone. or
technocrats alone: for they raise serious issues of governance
requiring the understanding and involvement of peo-
nity is ,a vital p bring us limony. :: :::
ple and their representatives.
The Assembly of
Caribbean Commu-
nity Parliamentariis expected to grow into a key ans
institution within the
regional integration integration movement now and into the foreseeable future are, and
will
be,
varied and complex. Some of these problems will relate to Caricom, its institutions, mechanisms and modali-
Caribbean Aspirations
economic
:
ls our
and d. Garibbean
Thg ASSem
the CARTCOM parliamentarians specially selected for that purpose
n
would be fallacious
movement. As such it will be called upon to play a focal role in the deliberation on the problems identified as well as on others not mentioned.
ties. Some will relate to the movement and its relationship with the wider
A New Regime For Caricom
Caribbean, the Americas, Europe, Afiica. the Middle East. and the Asia-
Caribbean Community Parliamentarians will have to make an important contribution to the issue of ensuring that an adequate regime evolves fbr the government of the integration
Pacific region. The problems will include the following: the need to increase total output and real per capita incomes within the movement: the need to enhance the
performance and competitiveness of export sectors. particularly agriculture. manuf'acturing, and the services resulting in greater intra-regional and extraregional trade; the need to deal with issues of sustainable development and health conditions: the need to come to grips with globalization and the new trading regimes; the need to develop more rapidly the human resources of the region: the need to increase rates of savings and investments leading to greater .job creation and increased flows of foreign direct investment; and the need to better manage debt, economic and financial matters.
Above all the Assembly of
movement.
It is clear that responsibilities are being placed upon the movement for which it has neither the legal or constitutional framework. the financial ability, nor the human resources to cope with them.
The approaches set out
and
implied in the Treaty of Chaguaramus of 1972 have played themselves out, and revisiting them now will not help.
New approaches are required, a process that calls for the inputs of many streams of thought, including the thinking of the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians
These problems certainly present I Edited.front an article prepared bt grave challenges to the CARICOM The Rt. Hon Erskine Sandiford, fttrintegration movement. But they also nrcr Prime Minister Barbado.s. present opportunities for the application of prudent policy interventions. lr
)i<
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o o o a o o o Page 75
o
CnatcoM PrasPECTtvE o a o o a
Achievement, Con tradiction And
O
o o o o o o a o o o o a o o a o o o o a o a o o
Complexity ust over 25 years ago the newly elected government of Michael Manley set up a Task Force to advise on the measures required to improve the status of Jamaican women and to enhance their participation in the country's development. This move
symbolised the emerging power of women in the party and signaled the beginning of initiatives by CARICOM governments to set up special mecha-
O
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o a o o a o Page 76
nisms for focussing on the role and status of women in their countries. That these initiatives were taking place in
the context of the United Nation's launching of Year (1975), and later a Decade for International Women's
Women (1975-85), should not detract from their significance. By the end of the Decade most CARICOM governments had established special mechanisms, designated
variously as Women's
Desks,
Women's Bureaux, Advisory Commit-
tees,
or
Departments
of
Women's
Affairs. In addition, women throughout the region used the heightened awareness of their position in
+ Peggy Antrobus
+
ence on its affairs. The University of the West Indies established two programmes - the Women and DeveloP-
ment unit. WAND, of the School of Continuing Studies in 1978 and the Centre for Gender Studies, with branches on the three campuses. which began as the Women and DeveloPment
Studies programme in 1982. The Caribbean Association for Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) was
the experience of the diff'erent counParticipation in decision-making
According
to the
CARICOM
Report (prepared for the Fourth World Conf'erence), the relatively low level
of participation of women in
parlia-
mentary assemblies and at the top levels of decision-making in government and industry point to a more fundamental problem of women's alienation fiom the prevailing "traditional, auto-
cratic, non-participatory leadership styles". The statistics fbr participation
In addition to these. mention must be made of the institutional arrange-
parliamentary assemblies show wide variation between the countries (in 1980: from 5.67o in the Turks and Caicos f slands to 15.4Vc in Anguilla)
in 1985. and the Women's Desk of the CARICOM Secretariat was established in 1980.
of
multilateral and bilateral aid programmes, and especiallY of the ments
the Soroptimists and the Business and Professional Women's Clubs (BPWC) to reflect the new activism among women worldwide. At the regional level, in addition to the Caribbean Women's Association (CARIWA) inaugurated in 1970. three initiatives launched within the past 25
has provided critical support for
women in the region and their influ-
this region, as well as the fact that there is a fair amount of variation in
established
work of UNIFEM, the UN Fund for
advance the position and condition of
towards women in general. In all of this bear in mind the very powerful influences of international trends on
tries.
Caribbean society to launch new projects or to refocus existing organisations like the YWCA, the Girl Guides,
years have played a particularlY important role in stimulating and supporting programmes which seek to
towards each other. women toward themselves and society's attitudes
Women which. since the establishment of a Caribbean regional office in 1986,
women's programmes in the region. In assessing the programmes for women in this period I will focus first on concrete achievement in terms of
political participation. institutional
arrangements and legislation. I will also review gains or losses in the key areas ofeducation, health and employment. Finally, I will consider the less tangible factors such as women's leadership and empowerment. and changing attitudes: those of men and women
in
and f'luctuating patterns (in 1985 the situation had improved in some countries but had worsened in others, with the same fluctuations in 1992).
The same is lrue tbr particiPation in senior positions in the government, although at a much higher level than the participation rates in parliamentary
assemblies. The report cautions against making comparisons between countries. however, due to differences in data collection methods and definitions.
Participation at senior administrative and managerial levels in the public service the highest, reflecting possibly the high level of education of women as well as the relatively low JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPEcTtvE level of wages (when compared to those offered in the private sector) in
this sector. A growing trend fbr women to assume leadership at this
CAFRA, complementing the work
women in this period. maternal mortal-
of the CARICOM Secretariat through
ity rates per 1,000 live births showed a significant increase in Guyana, from
1985
its own project on "Women in the Law", has tbund that the three principal areas in which women continue to
senior administrative and
fhce disadvantages are: family law,
managcrial posts in Jamaica were held by women). While all the independent countries have established special mechanisms on the role and status of women, all were operating with inadequate stafT and budgets and most were heavily dependent on funds from overseas agencies. Indeed. according to a comparative review of these mechanisms by a consultant who had carried out an assessment of their operations in 1983, ten years later (1994) they had become even less efl'ective. By 1991 however, eleven countries had reported hav-
labour law, and domestic violence; and is currently involved in coordinating a campaign against violence against women initiated by UNIFEM.
level was however noted (in 56.37o
of
ing national policy statements,
and
gender training is increasingly used to raise issues of gender differentiation in planning and programme implementation. More significant progress has been made in the area of legislation. Since 1980 the CARICOM Secretariar had initiated consultations with governments aimed at reviewing and revising legislation in compliance with the gen-
eral guidelines of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW). which has been signed by all independent countries in the region. An outcome of this has been the preparation of "model legislation" in eight
Unemployment has tended
in CARICOM countries. and this
Statistics
conclusive, some interesting facts emerged. In most Caribbean countries f-emales have more years in school than males. However, in the 12 year period covered by the study ( | 980-92) male enrolment exceeded f-emale in most countries at the primary level, while f'emale enrolment exceeded mafe at secondary, except in 1984-92 when f'emale enrolment in secondary schools declined in Antigua/Barbuda,
St.Lucia
Montserrat.
St.Kitts/Nevis.
first three above). JUNE 1998
change over the period. Trinidad & Tobago's identification of abortion as a leading cause of death among women, and the high level of maternal mortality in that country suggests that maternal mortality may, indeed, be related to the lack of abortion services. However.
apart from Barbados and Guyana (where there is legislation on abortion) none of the other countries appeared to be working on this issue. Breast and
cervical cancer, a major cause ofdeath
among Caribbean women,
were
increasing in some countries (Saint. Lucia and Dominica), while lung cancer was also reported to be on the increase.
While the data reported on education enrolment were too mixed to be
enrolment
male or female. the rights of citizenship. This is followed by legislation against sexual ofl'enses (Trinidad & Tobago. the Bahamas. Barbados and Guyana) and domestic violence (the
has
in many countries.
areas: sexual harassment. sexual
The largest number of countries has taken action in regard to Citizenship: seven countries have refbrmed their laws to permit a spouse, whether
be
not changed over the years except in Grenada and St.Lucia. In these countries there were slight increases in male unemployment over f'emale, perhaps because of the higher proportion of women employed in tourism and in the export processing zones. At the same time the percentage of f'emaleheaded households has also increased
off'ences, domestic violence. inheritance, citizenship. equal pay fbr work of equal value, equal opportunity and treatment in employment, and child maintenance.
to
higher among women than among men
0.4 (1980) to 2.24 (1990) and in Trinidad & Tobago from 5.4(1985) tol2.0 (1992). However, only a few countries reported figures for 1980 so it is difficult to generalize on the
At
and level the
In the
area
of
health. the new
development which was
of
greatest
concern was the increase in HIV/AIDS among women. In Guyana between 1990 and 1992 the number of women infected had increased from I 5 to 46 (a 207Vo increase) while the increase among men was from 69 to ll8 (a7lqo
increase). Similar to experience in other countries, the spread of the disease among heterosexuals is increas-
ing significantly, shifting the pattern a disease predominantly affecting men. While the ratio of l:2 in favour of
from
by 1992 all countries
women is still common, the trend in the increasing number of women contracting the disease suggests that the
reported higher female enrolment in tertiary institutions. The Report fbund that while women predominate in ter-
ratio gap is closing. In l99l it was reported that in Saint.Lucia women accounted for 44.47o and men 55.56Vo
tiary institutions, their fields of
of the cases. Contraceptive prevalence rates are high in the region and fertility rates are
of
tertiary
females increased over
the period so that
spe-
cialization tend to be in the humanities and social sciences, including education, while men go for technical disci-
plines.
Nevertheless, significant increases in the number of women entering the non-traditional fields of engineering, medicine and law have been noted.
Regardin-s
the health status of
falling (fertility averaged between 2.6 and 2.8 in Guyana, Jamaica, St.Vincent and the Grenadines and The Bahamas) with Barbados having the lowest (around 1.8) and Belize and Grenada the highest (4. I and 3.5 respectiVely), although Belize had
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CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE a a o o a a o o o o o a o o a o o o a o o a a o o a o o a a o o a a o o O
o o o o a o a o o o o o a o o o a o o o Page 78
My own assessment rs
reduced its rate from 6.0 in
that the greatest gains have been in relation to a heightened awareness of gender issues in the region and to women's increasing confi-
1980.
All countries reported
an
increase in the number of reports of violence against women. However. there is
speculation as to whether the increase in the number
dence and willingness to enter into fields fbrmerly dominated by men. Whilc
represents an increase in the
incidence
or in
in terms of the quantifiable of political participation and institutional
reporting.
Either way it is clear that this is an area of concern.
areas
arrangements as well health and employment the losses may have outweighed the
Child abuse figures are also rising in some countries.
The issue of domestic violence is the one in which there has been the greatest
activity among women's
organisa-
tions. Counselling centres and public education programmes have been set
up in many countries by in some
organisations and
women's countries
links have been made with the police to institute programmes aimed at changing the ways in which these cases are handled.
in
the All progress education. of health and areas
countries reported that
had been undermined since the mid1980s by policies of structural adjusr ment. These policies have also had an impact on f'emale employment, since women predominate in these sectors and bear a disproportionate number of losses when these services are cut. Finally. cuts in social services. especially in health and welfare have implications for women's health: when family members are sick or disabled it is
job
women who must fill the gap created by cuts in services.
Poverty
Next to violence, poverty is
the
to CARICOM women who bear its greatest issue
of
greatest concern
burdens. In the first place, women are disproportionately represented among the poor. Secondly, because of their primary responsibility for the care of children, the elderly, the sick and the
disabled. as
well as for
household
maintenance tasks such as cooking, cleaning and laundry. women in poor households have a harder time per-
forming these tasks. In situations of poverty, the homebased goods and services that women produce, many of which fall outside
the market economy, become
even
more vital to the sustenance of households. Moreover, when their eamings are the only (or a significant) source of
income tbr the family, women must perform the dual roles associated with
breadwinner and household maintenance. In many ways women's multiple roles in economic production and social reproduction is the ntost centrttl gender i.ssue. Unless and until this is addressed by society as a whole women will always be at a disadvan-
tage
in relation to men in terms of
income, employment and political par-
ticipation.
The Report's conclusion is that. although change had not been even, there was a sense of gradual progress toward improvements in the status of women throughout the region. The areas ofclearest advancements for women were in education, legislation and awareness of women's rights, although "in all three areas, qualifiers on those advancements deflate what could otherwise be considered a success story for women." (p.76). The
Report further points out that while "Countries have also almost unanimously their governments' assent to major intemational conventions" they have "almost invariably...commented on the gap between ratification and implementation."
gains, there is more awareness on the part of women
of their power as a constituency. This is expressed in women's clarity in incorporating gender considerations into their social analysis and in their articulation of a vision of a future in which gender equity forms the basis of social transfbrmation. Advances in awareness, analysis
and articulation were reflected in the leadership of CARICOM women in non-governmental organisations across the region, as well as in international fbra. Women head, or play leadership roles. in many of the region's development-oriented NGOs. It was women's organisations that
first raised questions about the
nega-
tive impacts of structural adjustment programmes adopted by CARICOM governments as the policy framework for the region from the 1980s onward.
The first call from civil society in the region for governments to review these policies came from the representatives of women's organisations at a
in Barbados in March 1985. The way in which the Caribbean regional meeting
women's movement set about defining its agenda and organising against the uncritical acceptance of SAPs illus-
trates the extent
of
communication
between women fiom local to international level. At the Barbados meeting, for example, information on the implications of these policies for the poor,
and especially for women. was introduced as a result of my exposure to the
JUNE 1998
a
CnntcoM PrasPECTtvE analysis of the impact of structural adjustment programmes on women in Latin America. This had been presented at a meeting convened to prepare a
platform document for the Third World Conference on Women. The document, Development, Crises and Alternative Visions: Third World Women's Perspectives, led to the launching of the DAWN network, which has provided a link between the women's movement in the Caribbean
the Barbados delegation played a piv-
otal role in securing the new framework for women's 'health, empowerment and rights', a paradigm shift
from the traditional, demographic approach to population issues); and finally, poverty, employment, and security' at the World Summit on Social Development held in Copenhagen in 1995). At all these conferences women from the CARICOM region helped to deepen the analyses
and the global women's movement.
of the issues and to advance new agen-
This link, in turn, has helped
das.
to
strengthen the awareness, analysis and of Caribbean women in the region and in international fora. Since the 1970s, when Gloria Scott of Jamaica was instrumental in having the theme of 'Development', included as one of the themes of the Interna-
articulation
tional Women's Year, CARICOM women have played key roles in a number of UN conferences - and not only those focussed on women's role and status. The contribution of CARI-
In their own countries CARICOM women are actively engaged in the many fora of civil society continuing to raise the issues and secure the gains achieved at the international levels. However, their roles in decision-making still tend to be overlooked in the more formal settings of public policy formulation, and the significance of women's contribution to the integration movement through the pivotal
roles they play in the transnational family, in inter-regional trade and in
COM women to World Conferences on Women continued when Lucille
their organisations continues to
Mair of Jamaica was appointed
largely overlooked.
the
be
of the Second
At the official level, the special
World Conference on Women held in
mechanisms set up within the structures of government to serve as focal points for enhancing women's role in development continue to be understaffed, marginalised and misunder-
Secretary-General
Copenhagen in 1980. Dame Nita Barrow of Barbados was appointed Convenor of the NGO Forum of the Third World Conference on Women held in Nairobi in 1985. Both women also served as their country's ambassadors to the United Nations. But it was at the international conferences of the decade of the I 990s that CARICOM women showed that their
concerns were not limited to those related to women's role and status but to wider developmental issues. Environmental degradation (at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development - UNCED in Rio in 1992); human rights (at the International Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993 when the statement that 'women's rights are human rights' was first adopted at a UN conference); population (at the International Conference on Population and Development - ICPD in Cairo in 1994 where JUNE 1998
stood, while women are having to defend their gains (as contradictory as these are) against a male backlash promoted under the banner of 'Men in Crisis'.
ment policies has hampered progress
in areas of importance for women in this region. The advent of the World
Trade Organisation (WTO)
and
increasing globalisation of political, economic and cultural spaces place the
small island states of this region in even greaterjeopardy. The WTO ruling on the region's banana industry signals what is in store as our economies come up against competition from the multina-
tionals. Now more than ever CARICOM countries must find alternative paths to sustaining the livelihood of the majority of the region's people who are being increasingly marginalised in the global economy.
New Challenges
As they did under the structural adjustment programmes of the 1980s, the region's women will bear the brunt of the problems created by globalization. As we move into the next century, therefore, CARICOM governments and other institutions will need to review the support women need to meet the challenges that lie ahead. Continued failure to do so will mean that a vital source of the region's human and spiritual energy, resilience and strength will continue to be used for mere survival, rather than for creative transformation.
Twenty-five years
of
experience
demonstrates that the best results come
These limitations are indicative
of
the complexities of the issue of gender relations in CARICOM. Although the word 'gender'is frequently used today,
there is still a great deal of confusion as to its meaning. By many
synonymously
There is little doubt that the crisis in socioeconomic development in the 1980s generated by structural adjust-
it is used
with the
word
'women', or, at the other extreme, to refer to 'men and women'. Used correctly, the term highlights the struc-
tured asymmetry
in the
when governments apply the emPowered agency of government to the analytical and grounded agendas developed through the work of civic organisations, including those of women. These new agendas, implemented in the wider democratic spaces of a revived political vision are the key to CARICOM's success in coming generations.
relations
between men and women that contribute to the perpetuation of poverty, violence and the marginalisation of large sections of our population.
I
Antrobus is the former Tutor' Coordinator of the UWI's Women and Peg,gy-
Development
Unit.
:r.
o o o a o o o a a o o o o o o a o a o o a o o a o a a a o a o o o o o o a o a o o o o o o a o o a a a o o a a o a Page 79
o
CnatcoM PrnsPECTtvE o o o a o a o a a o
Challenge Of Implementing
The Beij ing PIan
O
o a o a o a o o o O
o o a o o o o a o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o o a o o Page 80
fter an initial loss of momentum fbllow-
+
ing the Beijing Conference, regional preparation for the work of implementation began when the CARICOM Secretariat contracted
Andoiye & Gemmo Tong Noin
+
a
consultant to prepare a CARICOM Plan ol Action to the year 2000. The Plan, which is designed as the regional "translation" of the Beijing Platform, is infbrmed by an earlier
Regional Policy document. Both CARICOM documents move beyond action to address the immediate. mate-
rial situation of women and girls
Conference on Women in
and
outline the work of relorming institutions. Both link gender equity to the broader issue of social equity and to the search fbr sustainable development
The shared goal of the Regional Action Plan and Regional Policy is to build "new structures of power-sharing
at the household, community and regional levels, where ... men and women can participate fully in developing a system of cooperation in decision-making, as equal partners in the sustainable development of their societies." This gives rise to two strategic objectives: one, mainstreaming gender in the culture and organisation of rele-
vant institutions, including their policy-making and planning, and in public debate and concern; and two, initiating a process of structural reform in identified areas, for example, gender socialisation. The mandate for the preparation of
the Post-Beijing Plan of Action had stressed the need for the widest possible consultation, and while consulta-
Latin America and Caribbean held
.8
tion inside the Secretariat was poor, the consultative process in the several countries visited was good: the process included discussions with government Ministers. among them Ministers responsible fbr Women's Affairs. Women's Bureaux, representatives of key government departments including Economic Planning, Information, Edu-
cation. Health and Legal Affairs, and members and leaders of women's NGOs. In at least one country each of the fbllowing groups was consulted: First Ladies. Prime Ministers. leaders of the opposition. trade union leaders and members. lecturers in gender studies. the private sector. organisa-
tions
of
people with disabilities,
domestic worker associations. Serious consultations were also held with other regional agencies and NGOs and their programme priorities were included in the CARICOM Post-Beijing Plan of Action. The Plan and the Regional Policy were approved by CARICOM Minis-
ters with responsibility for Women's Affairs late in 1996 and were published by the Secretariat in 1997. Also in 1991 . Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to implementation of the Beijing Platform and the CARICOM Plan at a Post-Beijing Encounter held in Guyana in August and the Regional
the
in Chile
in
November.
What follows is a partial report on post-Bei.jing activi-
ties. Emphasis is placed on activities of national governments and the CARICOM Secretariat, but activities by
NGOs and multilateral agencies on one priority (access to power and decision-making) is included to indicate the possibilities for synergy if the post-Beijing activities by governments, NGOs and agencies are coordi-
nated. Some
of the infbrmation
on
national government action was taken from reports presented at the August 1997 Post-Beijing Encounter referred to above. Of the priorities established by the
Community, violence has dominated the agenda of most member States. Given the level of violence against women (Trinidad and Tobago, for example, reported a l007o increase in rape between 1996 and 1997), this is the issue which most unites women in the search for gender equality. Before Beijing. several countries had enacted domestic violence legislation; accord-
ing to the reports of the Post-Beijing Encounter, legislation was subsequentpassed by Saint Lucia (1995, month not given), the British Virgin Islands
ly
(March 1996), Jamaica (May 1996) and Guyana (December 1996). In Dominica. a Domestic Violence Bill was in the stage of public discussion, along with a Sexual Offences Bill to give protection to children, especially the girl child. Other government initiatives JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PtnspEcTtvE o reported on included: A policy on sexual harassment in the workplace was being formulated in Barbados, using CARICOM model legislation as a guide. A Co-ordinating Committee for the Elimination of Violence against Women was established in the first quarter of 1997. The Ministry of Women's Affairs
in
Grenada was running
a
public
awareness campaign using the print
and public media. Other initiatives included the establishment of halfway homes for battered women and the appointment of counsellors, as well as a telephone hotline with 24 hour counselling service. A toll-free national Domestic Violence Hotline (800-SAVE) bcgan operation in Trinidad and Tobago in August 1996 as a 24 hour, 7 day a week service providing victims and perpetrators with crisis intervention counselling. referrals to appropriate agencies and other information.The programme also plans a male support committee, a public awareness programme, community-support mechanisms, and a Domestic Violence Unit. A 24 hour hotline served by trained volunteer counsellors was also established in Antigua and Barbuda in August 1997, and training of related services had begun with programmes
with the police. Although most of these government-led activities are not yet in the direction of identifying and challenging the root causes of violence, they are important because they aim at changing the environment in which violence is tolerated. Action by governments
on two
other major priorities has generally been less systemic. Anti-poverty activ-
ities have ranged from training for women in non-traditional skills, for example, electrical wiring and installation in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the allocation of funds to the Women's Affairs Bureau to support women's organisations and other agencies to alleviate poverty in Guyana. Another kind of approach has
been to target household poverty via JUNE 1998
legislative reform on child mainte-
A significant development in Trinidad and Tobago was the passage of a Bill to nance and maternity leave.
count unwaged work; however, follow up has been slow. On a third priority, access to power
and decision-making, although Commonwealth Caribbean countries have agreed, through the Ministers responsible for Women's Affairs, to work towards a 3070 presence of women in all levels of decision-making, relative-
ly little concrete activity
has been car-
ried out in this area
by governments.However, Guyana has a potentially significant initiative in the Women's Leadership Institute which it launched in late 1997, and Trinidad and Tobago's Women's Affairs Division proposes a Women's Leadership and Enhancement Institute.A few governments, for example Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, have held consultations and workshops on the issue.
Regionally, action in this area has been powered by NGOs with the support of multilateral agencies, for exam-
ple, UNIFEM and the Inter-American Development Bank: UNIFEM's programme priorities include gender and governance, with special reference to promoting women's leadership capacity, a new understanding of leadership, gender sensitive policies, and legisla-
tion, while the IDB plans leadership training and capacity building of NGOs through a Fund for Women's Leadership and Representation. In June/July 1997, the Commonwealth Secretariat, in collaboration with CAFRA and the Caribbean Association of Local Govemment Authorities, organised a workshop in Saint Lucia on engendering local government,
with participation from local government councillors and NGOs from
throughout the
Commonwealth
Caribbean.
The present phase of action by NGOs to increase women's participation in political leadership srarted pre-
Beijing with the formarion of the Women's Political Caucus in Jamaica
in 1992, the Women's Parliament : Forum in Suriname tn 1994 and the O Women's Parliament Forum
in
O
Trinidad and Tobago in 1995. All three O groups are cross-party in their compo- O sition and/or outreach. While in all O three countries women remain a
small a
minority in their Parliaments, the impact of the groups is visible. most
O O
clearly in Suriname where the work of O the Women's Parliament Forum O increased the number of women in O Parliament at the last elections, partly O because the group was able to capiO talise on the immediate post-Beijing j momentum.
The Jamaica Women's
Political :
Caucus and the Women's Parliament _ Forums of Trinidad and Tobapo ancl : Suriname all parricipateO in I May : 1998 workshop organised by the Nei: work of Non-Governmental Orsanisa- : o tions of Trinidad and Tobaco io. th" o Advancemenr of Wbmen uni Cnf'Ra-
supporled
by UNIFEM. which lor-
:
malised the creation ol' a Caribhean ' Sub-regional grouping of the Global : O Network of Women in Politics which o was formed at Berjing. Outside of the thiee maior nriori- o ties. (violence, poverly and"acces, to ? O
power and decision-making), other areas of concern identified Uu CAnf -
O
their
a
COM women during the Beiiing o o preparatory process were: women's health. particularly
sexual and reproductive health: this O has been an area of low-level activity O in member States, with action lbcused O
on education and information dissemi- o nation on breast and cervical cancers, O and on Sexually Transmitted Diseases o
including HIV/AIDS. In Saint Lucia, a collaboration with WAND produced O four one-day workshops on health and sexuality targeted particularly at young
a
O O
women. The rights approach has not yet become the focus of interventions a O in this area.
to women:
the inadequacy of mechanisms
promote the advancement this is reported on in the
of
concluding
article. the impact of migration on women; and the plight of women in section of the
O O O O
a
:
Page 81
o
CeatcoM PtasPECTtvE o o
O O O O O o O O o o o ; o : :a ; ; :o :o o o o
a O O o o o o o o o ' :o o 'o o o o o
Management Systems, and the Commonwealth Secretariat is expected to locate a
non-indePendent territories: these were not among the critical areas named bY the UN, and no sPecific action
consultant
on them has been taken Post-
and with much more urgency.
it
placed on pre-Beijing preparation. One
."^rnn for this has to do with resources. but it also points to a tendencv in the region to mobilise around euents at the Jnd of which attention
tums elsewhere.
What Is Needed for Effective Implementation of the Plan of Action
that the approach being adopted is too narrowly technical. Jamaica has acted to review its National Industrial Policy and Poverty Eradication Programme from a gender perspective while GuYana has completed a document on mainstreaming gender into the country's draft National Development Plan. Belize reported at the 1997 post-Beijing encounter in
Georgetown that
In earlier sections, this article out-
stages
of
it
was
in the final
a
Post-Beijing
creating
a
lined the kind of action CARICOM
national plan; this can be
women have identified as necessary to achieve gender equality and social justice. The Regional Policy document outlines the "-new and bold action" on
towards mainstreaming. The CARICOM Secretariat and the Centre for
which successful implementation of
mainstream gender in the region's edu-
such an agenda would dePend: strengthening the capacity of the
CARlColi4 Women's Desk. regional asencies and restructured national niachineries to integrate gender analysis into mainstream development' using methodologies guided by the
'o o o 'o o o o o o o Page 82
prinliples
of
gender equality
and
administrative staff. But much more is needed,
On the whole. the region has not maintained the kind of focus on Post-Beijing
,hu,
1998.
agerial, professional
has begun.
...
Kitts/Nevis
Inside the Secretariat itself, a survey is being conducted to ascertain the awareness of gender issues and needs for gender training among man-
Beijing. The CARICOM Plan of Action also identified work related to indigenous Peoples and separately, to People with disabilities as Priorities. but no action on these
implementatiol
in St
to begin work later in
and
social iustice;
two. building the necessary interactive linkas", *ithin sectors in the
CARICOM lecretariat and between the Secretariat, functioning as an integrated unit. and the parallel and intelrated function areas at national level iRegionat Policy Document. ppl3-l'11' It is fair to say that both national governments and the Secretariat have
begun work to meet the strategic objective of mainstreaming gender, although some fear has been expressed
steP
Gender and DeveloPment Studies of UWI have undertaken a Project to cation system.
In May 1998, the CARICOM Secretariat Women's Desk convened a meeting of key gender trainers in the region to discuss the production of a generic module on gender training. The Secretariat has also carried out an analysis of 1990 census data of CARICOM countries (other than Suriname) from a gender Perspective. At another level, several countries - for example, The Bahamas - have initiated or participated in gender training programmes for PolicY-makers and planners. St KittsA,levis, St Vincent and The Grenadines and Antigua./Barbuda have expressed interest in and carried out preparatory work on piloting the Commonweath Secretariat's
strategy
of
mainstreaming gender
through the introduction of Gender
Evaluations of the Women's Desks at national and Secretariat levels have consistentlY
described them as under-resourced' though post-Beijing, Jamaica has moved to restructure its Bureau and a few other member States have reported some improvement in the allocation of resources to their Bureaux. The same cannot be said for the Women's Desk of the CARICOM Secretariat which, over the 18 years of its
existence, has
not moved from
a
human resource capacity of one individual. Coordination is the key to effective implementation of the Plan of Action. An initiative by the Jamaica Bureau which has led to the funding of a com-
munications network
linking
the
national and Secretariat Women's Desks provides one material base for
such coordination.But unless the Women's Desk at the Secretariat is itself strengthened, it will not be able to play the lead coordinating role which donor funds allowed it to begin
to play in the
Pre-Beijing Period through the employment of consultants and the hiring of a small administrative staff on a contractual basis, and which the Plan of Action envisaged that it would play post-Beijing.
I Andaive is the consultant who prepared the Caricom Post-Beijing Regional Plan of Action. Gemma Tang Nain is Head of the Women's Affairs Desk, CARICOM Secretariat * JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPEcTtvE o o a o o o
Surinamese Women In Politics:
A Historrcal Look uriname is one of the youngest members in the region to join the Caricom-family. However, her political history has always been intertwined with the history of her fellow Caribbean states. Although the road to independence was different
in
name.
The colonial period (f650-f940) Under the colonial rule. women did not have the right to vote until 1948. Up to 1936 only taxpayers could vote when in that year. Capacity-vote was introduced. This meant that only people having a certain level ofeducation were allowed to vote. It is no surprise that women were neither among the taxpayers, nor the highly educated. In 1937 women were allowed to put up a candidate for "De Koloniale Staten" (the Colonial Parliament) - Mrs G.
Schneiders-Howard was the first woman to take a seat in Parliament in 938.
Towards independence (1940-197 5)
World War
II,
and the dramatical changes in political relations worldwide, did not leave colonial Suriname untouched. Most of the political parties emerged in this period. The three political parties that would dominate the political arena towards and long after independence had been estabJUNE 1998
Morijke
Djwolopersod
+
lished along ethnic lines; the National Party Suriname (NPS) represented the descendants from African slaves: the "Verenigde Hervomings Partij" (VHP) the Hindustanis (descendants from contract workers from India), and the "Kerukuman Tulodo Prenatan Inggit"
(KTPI) the Javanese (descendants from contract workers from Indonesia).
In the years towards independence the political spectrum was broadened
by different progressive
parties.
Although some of them made serious attempts to involve women in decision-making at all levels they did not succeed in making a major change, mainly because they failed to get a seat in Parliament. If women were granted a place in the structures of political parties, this was mainly in advisory boards, women sections or working groups. This meant in practice that they were very
present campaigning, rallying
and
working, but very absent when it came to decision-making, stage and spotlight.
Independence,
the military
it.
From
until
1989 there was one woman in parliament, as opposed to 38 men. 1973
+
each,
today they are all struggling to establish a firm stand in a rapidly changing world. And in so doing, they are striving for a kind of development that is beneficial and which enables them all to develop fully. The notion that sustainable development of a democratic and just society requires gender-equity, is starting to hit solid ground in Suri-
I
did the cabinet that followed
O
coup,
and elections (1975-f990) The cabinet that led Suriname from a colonial state to an independent republic had no female members, nor
The military coup or revolution, of 1980 made an end to politics as Suriname had known it. It would take 5 years before Parliament was installed again. It was renamed The National Assembly, and consisted of 3l members. Surprisingly enough 5 of them were women (167o). The first cabinet in the military period saw two female deputy ministers. Politics was hectic in those days; no less than 6 Prime Ministers followed each other in rapid succession as Head of State.
In
1987
a new Constitution
was
adopted by referendum. Without fully abolishing the parliamentary system, a shift was made to an Executive President. A system was created that would lead to a concentration of power with-
in the structures of political parties, without leaving much space for unorthodox thinkers or change-agents. Only in the last elections has it become very clear where this double system has led us to.
The new Constitution increased the
number of Parliamentarians by 20, which made it a rotal of 51. Only 4 women were elected, which meant a downfall in percentage from 16Vo to 87a. The cabinet consisted of I woman and 12 men. This Cabinet however was sent home by another coup in 1990. (The so-called telephone coup.).
Democracy the Structural Adjustment Programme (1991-1996)
Election
in l99l
showed a disap-
in the National Assembly. However. interestingly enough on the local level women pointing score for women
o o o o o o a o o a o o o a o a o o a o o a o o o o o o a o o a o o o o o o a o o O
o o o o o o o O
Page 83
a
CnatcoM PrnsPEcrtvE o o o o o
leaped from l3%o to l7%o, which brought the overall percentage of women in politics to l5vc,3 Vc higher
O
than
in 1987. For the first time in the
a a
political history of Suriname a woman was elected by priority votes.
O
be
o o o o o o O
a a a o o o a a o a o o a a o o o a o o o
Probably this rise could
explained by a growing awareness that
sustainable development
is
only
brought about by the bottom-up approach, and that real democracy demands more than going to the poll once every five years. The leadership that was brought along by the economic crisis, and the Structural Adjustment
sion-making processes. Thus WPF was born. WPF decided to use the opportunity of the upcoming elections (May 1996), to proclaim 1996 the year of Surinamese Women in Politics. The campaign under the slogan "Choose with Awareness, Vote for a Woman" was launched in December 1995. Priorities of the campaign were the
dissemination
of
information
and
awareness on gender and politics, empowerment of women in politics and women willing to be in politics.
Campaigning was full-fledged:
Program following it, played a major part in stimulating this awareness. Non-governmental organisations.
printing leaflets, formulating and drafting political demands, producing two videoclips, designing T-shirts, organising neighbourhood meetings, visiting
alongside local government and tradi-
political rallies, and targeting
tional leaders. worked hard to soften
media with articles, radio and televi-
the social-economic blows for the most vulnerable in society.
sion items. The results of the campaign were. at least. remarkable. Both inside and outside political parties women began to claim room. The number of women parliamentary candidates increased in one election period from 5Vc to227c ot
NGOs were strengthened by international donor agencies, who realized that apparently they were the motor
O
o o O
o o o a o o o o a o o o o o a o Page 84
behind community-based develoPment. As in other countries. a number of NGO's are dominated by women. It was therefore inevitable that women would demand a say in their own future. However, it was the creation of a platform called the Women's Parlia-
ment Forum (WPF) that really made women in politics a national issue. The WPF was founded in 1994 bY a group of about 40 women who had come together from all the ten electoral districts in Suriname to discuss issues in the context of women, population and development. Problems and possible solutions were easily identified and agreed upon during these discussions, whether it was a question of discussing the economy, health, education or development.
60 women. Political parties
the
had
9 and 13 women candidates on the national level (The National
between
Assembly). Per party this was an average of about 20Vo of the total candidates.
The women/men ratio of candidates on the national level went from 1:17 to l:5 in 1996. The result of the elections was that parliamentary representation by women had gone from 6Vc (3 women) in l99l to l6Vo (8 women) in 1996. It dropped to l4Vo after one of the women became a cabinet member. These elections also brought a historical breakthrough; it is the first time in the history of Suriname that a woman was elected Speaker of the National
The main barrier to problem-solvwomen, whether from the urban or rural areas, was the fact that none of them was part
Assembly. At the local level, again there was a rise. now from l77c to
of the decision-making
A result considered equally important was the noticeable effect of awareness raising in the community and the
ing and development of
processes, which could have an imPact on the direction of the issues at stake. They immediately decided to cre-
ate a platform of women demanding access to, and control over the deci-
20%. This brought the total of women in politics to l8%c.
willingness of women from political parties to work together on a common agenda.
Towards an inter-Caribbean Woments Agenda
Article 13 of Beijing Declaration says:
"We are convinced that women's
full participation in the decision-making process
empowerment and their
and access to power, are fundamental for the achievement of equality, development and peace."
This conviction tells us that. in spite of all the good results achieved, there is much more to be achieved. In order to realize full access of women to power, we will have to face the challenges of creating a political structure that guarantees democratic values. If we are to be ruled by Parliament, it must be possible to bring forward independent candidates. And if we are to be ruled by a President the people must be able to choose him or her directly.
that in a political structure that flourishes on partly-disciplined behaviour, female parliamentarians do have the courage to come together on a common agenda. Additionally, they do trust each other to bring forward gender issues and support of another. In this context, it is interesting to note that female parliamentarians will participate in estab-
It is remarkable
lishing the Caribbean Network of Women in Politics (Trinidad, May l518,1998).
This Network will monitor and evaluate the Caribbean Regional Action Plan, as derived from Beijing Action Plan. Furthermore it will provide the Caribbean point of view for the Global Women in Politics Conference, to be held in August in the Philippines.
Surinamese Women in Politics are ready to join hands with their sisters in the Caribbean. CARICOM is just the
kind of family that can bring sisters and brothers together in achieving equity for women in all spheres of society, in order to develop the region towards equity, progress and peace.
I
Ms Marijke Djwalapersad is SpeakAssemblY of the Republic of Suriname.
er of The National
JUNE 1998
a
CtntcoM PrasPEcrtvE o o
Dream And Reality of [Jnity:
These Islands Now Now" is an excerpt Scffiing Of Islands". The title of this paper is "These Islands
taken
It's up to you and me to make sure
from the paper "A
+
meant to suggest the link between economic necessity, the desperate struggle to survive ("scffiing" ) and the insular
Gordon Rohlehr
conflicts ("scffiing" in another sense of the word) that have attended all
+
efforts at Caribbean integration. The paper contends that calypsonians and poets have always been aware of both types of scuffle and undertakes an account of their commentaries from the Roseau Conference of October 1932 into the 1990s. Calypsonians hadfrom the turn of the century monitored the movement of the island awayfrom nom-
Federation as a means towards this end. Poets suchas Louise Bennett, Eric
Roach and Derek Walcott had all shared in the dream of a unified West Indies. In the case of Roach and Walcott, anger and disillusion felt at the
in CLR James'Beyond a Boundary, whose title Rudder invokes, much more than a game. It becomes a manifestation of the spirit, potential and human excel-
lence of the West Indian people, the perception of which had inspired and ignited the original dream of FederaJUNE 1998
need
to be at
someone's mercy? Little keys can open mighry doors. If Stalin advises Caribbean people and States to seek such neutral spaces as might exist between hotly or coldly
tionary history and potential,
can
achieve.
Early in the decade
of
the
1980s,
Chalkdust, reacting to the cultural and economic penetration of Trinidad and
break-up of the West Indian Federation in I96I darkened their portrayals ofthe post-Independence e ra.
Caribbean people what they must avoid until the dawning of the new age, Rudder's Rally Round the West Indies (1987) is more positively prescriptive in advising them on what they need to affirm. That calypso is indeed about cricket; but cricket becomes, as
In a divided world that don't island no more Are we doomed forever
warring ideologies, Rudder warns them
Indian artists to promote the idea of
f Stalin in Isms Schisms ends with prescription that tells the
fail
Soon we'll have to take a side Or be lost in the rubble
that they will be forced to choose, "to take a side ... in a divided world that don't need island no more." The "side" that he prompts them to take is their own. The West Indies team has provided them with an example of what that side should be, demonstrating what skilled West Indians, imbued with a collective sense of their own revolu-
inated and towards representative government, and were among the first West
a
that they
the Caribbean by the United
tion. It is no mistake that the cyclic fall and rebirth of West Indian
States,
concludes that "the Caribbean belong to Uncle Sam." Many calypsoes of the decade chronicle the steady erasure of anything like a Caribbean conscious-
by American values, lifestyles,
rise,
ness
cricket are compared with the ebb and flow of the Haitian Revolution
goods and services that are as mindless-
... when the Toussaints go The Dessalines come We've lost the banle
But will win the war Towards the end of Rally Round the West Indies, just to make sure that his listeners recognise that cricket is a
metaphor for much more, Rudder explains: This is not just cricket This goes beyond the boundary
ly absorbed by Caribbean people as they are resolutely marketed by American capitalism. Merchant, employing the metaphor of the fete, celebrates the emergence of a unified Caribbean consciousness and
in Caribbean Connection (1988) four years after Valentino employs the self-same metaphor in aesthetic
Thini Gone through, his unremittingly negative portrayal of an "irresponsible andlazy nation," "running last in their
a o a a a o o o a o a o a o a o a o o O
o o o o a o o a o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o O
o o a Page 85
o
CnatcoM PrasPECTtvE o
o
O work ethics," "onlY conO scious of moneY," a "Petty''' " jealous''' O "heading in the wrong in O direction," "sinking "on a hoPecorruption." a o less trip/Rocking a sinkship." O ing Chalkdust, with o a
slightly more laughter
o o o o O o o o O o O a O O O O O a O a O a ; a o o o o o o
but considerable acerbitv fills out the Dortralt
n.*t vear with Rum mania ( 1985). Local.
regional or international
crisis means nothing to
the devil- may-care
Trini. "While Guyanese smuggling gold in their bum/All
carousing
day all night Trini drink-
ing their rum" ... Similarly, "While Yankee soldiers eating Grenadian
plum" the Trinidadian remains in a nirvana of
leaders. Chalkdust's Sea Water And Sand unmasks the same old insularity in Caribbean
blissful intoxication. The fete is again associated with mindlessness, and it is this absence of "mind" that has made it easy for the American imperialist to fill the vacuum left by the
departure of the British imperialist. A sense of the Caribbean is erased in direct proportion to the Americanisation of the region.
Reflecting on the "Roaring Seventies" Valentino laments the ease with
O o
' o
o o
O a
o o
o o o a
which the entire era seems to
have
faded from peoples' memory. But Trini have this funnY funnt wat of .forgetting
Their history to dem like
it
don't
mean nothing The history- that went down here in
the
1970's
As though it never was todaY in the
8ok But don't care how much theY try to
tarnish these historic memories
While this question is asked mainly
Europe
opposite attitudes towards historical trauma is being implicitly asked of the wider Caribbean region. How can a region that wilfully denies its own heroic effort, that negates and erases even its immediate past, survive? How will it generate dream, idea, or an ideal
acknowledges that the region has redesigned its mechanism, for measur-
that's worth the sacrifices that will have to be made? Valentino holds out no hoPe in this regard. He ends, rather with a vision of the region's recolonization and the tragic eclipse of himself as the last survivor of the consciousness of a generation that, already dead in spirit, has passed
out of the memory of PeoPle; out of history.
Irtoking through that era
I
see changes develoP Politi-
I will always remember the Roaring
Well cally
While he resolves to
Who leave this PanY and ioin that partJ' And who stole all the oil moneY I see conscious black men and
7o's
remember,
Valentino recognises his society to be a nation of amnesiacs and wonders
whether the rebels of the seventies "gave their lives for a hopeless cause."
In the 80's crumble and bend
And the nation Sone right back to
about Trinidad, foremost on Valentino's mind was Grenada, so that the question of memory or amnesia as equal and
On a Western tend. Chalkdust's Sea Water and Sand ( 1986) counterpoints Valentino's Trini Gone Through of the same Year. It
ing human and national worth. Caribbean countries are now literally measuring each other according to what
their dollar is worth in United States currency. The devaluation of the once proud Jamaican dollar to the North and the struggling Guyanese dollar to the South, is received by those who imagine themselves to be more wealthy, with loud laughter and ribald mockerY
instead of dread and sadness. Sea Water and Sand questions the wisdom
of such laughter, unmasks the same old insularity in each leader, and warns the region that ... unless there is cooqeration
All o' dem on the same road to destruction
In typical Chalkdust style, the persona cites numerous examples of insu-
o Page 86
JUNE 1998
a
CnatcoM PrnsPECTtvE larity and arrogant behaviouq beginning with the false confidence that Barbados and Dominica have invested in their status as the favourite mendicant client states of Washington and London, continuing with Trinidad's tariff barricrs against CARICOM products and immigration restrictions against Grenadian refugees; Antigua's block-
age
of BWIA's bid to
become the
regional carrier and regional leaders'
failure to implement treaties
that
they've signed. Ingratiating themselves with America, and prostituting themselves to earn whatever handouts they can acquire from the U.S., the islands neglect their most crucial necessity: that of maintaining meaningful contact, discourse and exchange with each other. Foreign exchange replaces local human interface.
A
stream
of curious and
bitter
ironies flows from this anomaly as stanII and IV of the calypso illustrate: All of thern Caribbean leader Instead of pulling together
zas
Thev prefer to .friend with Reogan
and Thatcher Dominicans suffering bad Their goods can't get to Trinidad
'Couse Chambers ain't giving licences; which is sad Chambers say he ain't in this big racket Thev n'ant flood Trinidad market With all their cheap inferior goods, and he won't permit it But he want BWEE register As Ihe natitmal (si() <'arrier No way sah! Antiguct turn down his
offer Some of them Caribbean leader To get Reag,an's dollar
Will denounce their
CARICOM
friends and neighbour Eugenia cussing Guyana Refusing to even go there
And lambasting Chambers
can't spend a TT dollar in
repeats Chalkdust's critique of
So Caribbean unity remains an elu-
Caribbean leadership in Sea Water and Sand and calls for leaders to practice
Still
,-ou
their country.
sive dream. an idea in the heads of poets and singers that is at every point confounded by the evidence of reality. Each example of a regionzrl institution the West Indies Cricket Team, BWIA, UWI, CXC, CARICOM - becomes on
close examination
a forum tbr
the
fiercely competing self-centredness of its constituent members, a democracy of opposing views whose effect is to
premier regional institution is a futile talk-shop. Hear Stalin: "CARICOM is
wasting time. The whole Caribbean gone blind, and Chalkdust:
And the1, meeting regularly Drawing up all kind o'treatl And after they drink their whisky The trear! dead alreadl' At their Heads of Government Con-
The West Indian Federation irself, beginning as a huge dream in the heads of Maryshow and Cipriani, and a slogan
that "The West Indies must be West Indian," foundered with the first serious attempt to translate dream into reality. Fragments of the dream remained lodged in the brain of the region's artists, academics and technocrats. and
it is with these fragments that the region's singers still work. The 'crossover' between Jamaican and
Trinidadian music which began when Kitchener and Beginner in 1947 and, 1948 passed through Jamaica on their way to London, is alive today in Jamaica Soca and Trinidadian Rapso, and Carnivals of one sort or another have blossomed throughout the Archipelago and in every major American city where there is a concentration of Caribbean migrants.
Calypsoes such as Stalin's Kaiso
Music (1996) Shirlaine Hendrickson's Caribbean Woman (1997) Rudder's Caribbean Party (1993) Chalkdust's Caribbean Parkway ( 1993) and Bush-
yard (1991), MBA's Beyond a Boundary ( 1993) Merchant's Caribbean Connection (1988) and Stalin's Cry of the Caribbean (1992) recognise in their various ways the widening and deepening dimensions of the Carib-bean cultural interface through movement. exile. music. sport and a realization of common need at
Chambers vetting Grenadians hey Man as though they cocobey Cause to travel to Port of Spain Grenadians need visa LDC's want Trini money To build up their ecofiomy
home and abroad. The calypsonian
JUNE 1998
islands first and thus gain practice fbr cf uniting on a regional place. The impression created by all the calypsoes on CARICOM is that the the harder task
cancel each other out.
his
for
behaviour
cooperation within their individual
continues to perform the roles of warner, adviser and celebrant of the elusive but real dream. Thus St. Lucia's Ashanti in his Together in Caribbean Unity (1992)
ference Is much shop tctlk and ignorance Lots oJ talk, but no actiott ever (ommence.
and Ashanti
De claws rj'the IMF have Jamaica in misery De value of de US $1
in Guyana
is
20
But CARICOM in a meering Drink drinking and.food eating Look de dollar in Barbados too Now struggling to keep value, and it's true
Is either we swim together
in
Caribbean unitl-
Or druwn alone in de deep blue Caribbean sea. The concreteness of distress does not yield to the abstraction of talk. De curses rlf de IMF have Jamaica in social pain Guyanese in sore'distress travel one way b.r- boat or plane But CARICOM dem eh fussin Always in some hotel discussion In another chorus: De chores of the IMF have Jamaica in agony Guyanese in hopelessness sell their gold for peanuts money
But CARICOM in a conference Paying room atul cutering, expense
Ashanti, a calypsonian from one of what used to be the Little Eight, the
of islands which in Young Killer's Cry of the West Indies ( 1968)
cluster
were depicted as imploring Jamaica to take them back, now looks in pity at
o o a o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o a o a o o o o a o o a o o a a o o a a o a a o o o O
o O
o o a o o o o o o o o Page 87
a
CnntcoM PrnsPEcTtvE a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o a o o a
their dreaming, merely because of the grimness of social and economic reality
Jamaica and Guyana, two of the origi-
nal 'Big Four' now in the direst
eco-
that surrounds them. There is no greater realist than David Rudder whose chants in Another Day in Paradise ( 1995) or
nomic distress.
In spite of this sorry sOenario, the dream ofCaribbean unity is still strong. Ashanti indeed, views the Caribbean as
the Madman's Rant (1976) are the most harrowing chronicles of social disintegration. Yet there is also no
having no choice but to unite. Valentino, even after the crushing disillusion-
deeper dreamer as his One Caribbean (1994) proves. We goI so little on our ov)n but as a region we can face tomorrow Athletes and artists have shown the
ment of Grenada (1983) sings with hope about the prospects of cultural
unity in the region. His Carifesta Regional Unity (1992) begins with a dismissal of both CARIFIA and CARICOM, but sees hoPe in the coming together of the region's artists. We celebrating in song and dance This family reunion
wa)'
And from our roots
The exponents of the Arts
Will highlight this grand occasion Displaying their talents in a way to bring unity Where some of the people tried and very- miserabllt So -'e have to bridge the gap on a cultural foundation
failed
O
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o a o a a a o o a a o o o o a o o a Page 88
If we reall-t- w'ant to unite the
Caribbean
It is onllt sports and our own culture No same passport, no same dollar It's a weste with political propaganda
fellas on too much tricks So no kind of politics Could bring the Caribbean peoPle together And unite the regiott like Carifesta Them
Even as the prospect
of a
grand
of 'the Caribbean family' is
being celebrated by'Valentino, Pep, his
St. Lucian counterpart is warning his countrymen: An econontic Fire is threatening me and you
It's roasting our neighbours, in a fiscal barbecue
It
resistance
David Rudder
take water and wet,'our ow'tl.
No CARICOM, No CARIFTA
reunion
of
and old suffering r\;e can rise through this srtrrov, We're much too brig,ht in spirit not to find a better dat But in this New World all the time we huve this common crisis For debts won't die aw'av and social tension's on the rise From Havana to Georgetown oh the danger, the danger is sprectdirtg, It's time for a common front, it's time that we realise
burnt right through Guyana,
Jamaica followed next
The same West Indian islands who thought they were so big Now like vagrants in our market they're begging bread and fig That's a moral in this story that Lucians have to learn When your neighbour bed's on fire,
More clearly than in Ashanti's in Pep's Bab
I'm
calypso one hears Kamawad
(
1992) that tone of gloating
triumph that economic refugees from the big territories have been seeking refuge and jobs in the once scorned small islands. This triumph is, however, harshly qualified by the apprehension that the IMF "fire" burning through the "more developed" coun-
will soon scorch St. Lucia as well. The flames are getting nearer, w'ake up, get out of bed Just look on the horizon, there's a dangerous glow of red
tries of the Caribbean
Two OECS island have started
sat,ing
One Caribbean, One Caribbean One heart together in a clnng,ing
world One Caribbean, One Caribbean One lot,e, one heart, one soul Reat'hing for a contmon gottl Again the dream, the call. It won't take time. The region has had time. It will require, as Rudder senses when he assumes the role of shaman. chanter and exhorter, magic. Hence the invocation of the 'one love/one heart' spirit of Bob Marley. Hence the long wild chant, at times in fragmented French and Spanish as
well as English, with which
the
smouldering Antigua and Grenada have theirfis'
Caribbean people are invited to join
cal woes v'ithin
final attestation of faith: "We're coming together", though this is nowhere
Pep's sense
of the Caribbean
is
strong but negative. The Caribbean ter-
ritories are invoked as examples of a fate that must be circumvented at all costs, as each island tries via prayer and thrift, to avoid the Debt Trap.
Dreamers
of the dream of
Caribbean unity are not deterred from
hands across the water: hence. too, the
visible, as the hard-nosed realists illustrate in their own grim songs.
I
Gordon Rohlehr is Professor of West Indian Literature at the UWI, St ALtgustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
r.
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPEcTtvE
Drums And
Colours A review of
the play written by Derek Walcott, 1958 and producetl by the Festival Centre for the Creative Arts, UWI for the Ltniversih"s 50th tmniversan, celebrations.
f among
the ruins of the West Indian Federation one gold coin can be found, it is the impact on the arts in that historic episode. Prologued in I 955
by Beryl McBernie's Little Carib Dance Theatre the story of the Federal
effort with its politics, debates, agendas and personalities is itself nothing short
of 'high
melo' or better still
meta-
drama.
By
1960, the plot would collapse
and each player exit 'fighting for Independence' as Sparrow puts in his 'Federation', the calypso which closed the curlains on the fiasco. Nonetheless, Derek Walcott would by then have made Trinidad his home, the place where he had 'settled ... casually too,
it
by a commission.'l This 'commission'was given by the University of the West Indies for the writing of this historic epic as the centre piece of a Festival of Arts celebrating the Opening of the First Federal
+ Rowle
Gibbons
+
designer, Errol Jones, Peter Minshall of Trinidad. and Roderick Walcott of St. Lucia. Indeed this Festival of the Arts totemed the spirit of the West Indian Federation which soon after fell into disarray. This year, 1998 marks the 40th year of the birth of the West Indian Federation, as well as the 50th Anniversary of our regional University. Historical significance however can only partly justify the production of this or any play. How well the work connects with any audience at this time is the test of its artistic viability: its true
Caribbean issues of race. class and eth-
nicity in this drama of exploiter and exploited, ex-planter and ex-slave,
I
Indian, African, European, Chinese and Jew. Indeed one may call the play, as General Yu does in profound reflection on his culinary invention, a 'callaloo.'
Note: As it tunted
life. Walcott engages familiar
Built on the wars, rebellions and ruction that still characterise the
Robert
bitterness and anger, discarding the politics of difference that fracture a nation. If this ideal appears fanciful in light of the hardened realities of today, the play reminds us that changes in the course of our history have been brought about not only through the clash of 'drums and colours' but by 'the little
-
Leeward Islands. Old - St. Vincent, The
Haunted Treasure - Dominica) and concerts (Festival Cavalcade) from all the unit territories and the memorable stag'Drums and Colours' at the ing Botanic Gardens, Port-of-Spain with an
of
array of the region's finest theatrical talent, including Noel Vaz, director and Easton Lee of Jamaica, Carlisle Chang, JUNE 1998
ical autocracy. Of Carnival, Walcott has said many things which like the event itself, are not always consistent. In the play Carnival is notjust an event but ofTers theatrical form with its own multiplicity of meaning that excite our work in this production. In keeping with Walcott's wide sweep and the nature of our 50th Anniversary celebration as well, we have encouraged participation at all levels and from all sectors of the University casting ourselves as living testimony to the ideals, difficulties and realities of West Indian nationhood.
Parliament of the West Indies on April 23rd. 1958. This Festival saw the first performance of a Jamaican Pantomime in Trinidad (Busha Bluebeard and Brer Anansi, Roxy Theatre), plays (Uncle
Woman's Point
'never keep still.' Walcott chooses that most factual of fantasies, the Trinidad Carnival as the stage on which his history is played out. Today, even moreso, it is at Carnival and not on the campaign trail that the politics of this unit of the region is debated and decided. Carnival remains the 'true opposition' especially to polit-
'Caribbean story', the play shows that the way forward demands a reconciliation with the past and overcoming of
men', the ordinary citizens
of
the
region who 'Thank God' Walcott says,
Rawle Gibbons is Director of the
Creative Arts Centre, UWI, St Augustine. oLtt the production,
like its Federal subject, fell victim to intra-communeil diJferences and the absence of tt spirit of compromise. The
play was scheduled to open on April 3 as the centre-piece of the St. Augustine
Campus celebrations. However, we were denied a public audience because of a strike by workers there. We did however video-tape a perfrtrmance which is at the Festival Centre for the Creative Arts.
l"On choosing Port of Spai" Derek
Walcott; David Frost introduces Trinidad and Tobago; edited by Michael Anthont, Andre Deutch, 1975.
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Worthwhile Goals Review
Number
of: 'Vest Indian Development and the Deepening and Videning of the Caribbean Community' - \ililliam Demas,Ian Randle Publishers
I in the series on Critical
he book is essential reading for all decision-makers, producers,
period) from protection at home and preferential market status abroad ("open regionalism"), Demas feels
+
Issues in Caribbean Development is the book by William Demas published in 1997 by lan Randle and UWI and entitled 'West Indian Development and the Deepening and Widening of the Carihbean Community'.
Mourice Odle
that the Caribbean might already have reduced their protection at too rapid a rate, thus threatening existing industry. "We have already conceded far too much, far too quickly, by way of trade
+
liberalisation".
critical issue ofhow the Caribbean can more effectively insert itself in the liberalisation driven globalisation
building period.
Demas also answers those who are skeptical of the ability of a six millionpopulation integrated entity to overcome diseconomies of scale, scope and
Nevertheless, despite the author's rational and positivist approach, there
by reminding us that "both CARIFTA and CARICOM were
process. while at the same time preserving and nurturing the benefits to
is a strong normative element to
always conceived of as only an inter-
intellectuals, and members of the public who are concerned with the
be gained from sub-regional and regional integration developments. The book takes the view that Interdependence and partnership are worthwhile goals, whereas dependence, subservience and resulting marginalisation are unacceptable. Although the focus is on economic development, serious thought is also given by the author to the forging and strengthening of the psychological, social and human ties that are necessary for the existence of a genuine
Caribbean Community. For Demas, there cannot be West Indian Development without Deepening and Widening of the Caribbean Community; and there cannot be Deepening and Widening of the Caribbean Community without West Indian Development. While the emphasis is on the con-
temporary Caribbean situation, the book also contains a welcome historical review of the development of the integration process, beginning with the formation of CARIFTA in 1968, then CARICOM in 1973 and, more recently, the ACS. Recognition is given to
the main politicians. officials and academics who played a pivotal role dur-
ing this very creative nation/region
the analysis. Demas is not afraid to make clarion calls to action and explicit recommendations wherever he felt it was
warranted. For example, on page
13
the author declares: "Let us resolve to
cast away the imported ideological slogans ofthe right, the left and indeed the centre. Let us develop and implement a West Indian approach". But the book is not merely made
up of such grand statements.Rather, it consists of l0 carefully argued chapters and a long postscript devoted to an
of the three major operational aspects of the Caribbean Com-
evaluation
munity: economic integration, pursued through the common market; common services and functional cooperation;
and the coordination of the foreign policies of Member States. With respect to economic integra-
tion. the author first revisited three main issues - protection and competitiveness, size and viability, and preferential treatment for the LDCs. While recognising that in order to survive in
an increasingly competitive world the Caribbean Region needed to retool and to move away (within a specified time
space
mediate stage so that
its
members
could learn how to export; this would be the first learning step to prepare them for wider Caribbean and extraregional markets... and that we must recognise the economic and social successes of other small countries like Switzerland (6.8 million), Hong Kong
(5.8 million), Denmark (6.8 million), Luxembourg (400,000), the Irish Republic (3 million), Singapore (2.8 million) and New Zealand (3.5 Million)" (p.40). In the Caribbean, the smallest of the territories also happen to be the ones classified as LDCs. These entities have benefited from a number of special tariff, incentive and other concessions. including exclusive access to the soft loans made by the CDB for the first l0 years. The author is convinced of the significant value of these bene-
fits and concludes that "it cannot be denied that the LDCs are better off within CARICOM than outside it (and that) instead of talking about less developed and more developed countries, we suggest that the terminology
be more neutral: say Group A
and
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrasPECTtvE Group B countries" (p.64). In analysing the economic integration experience, Demas also examined two contemporary issues - the Single
Caribbean Region in negotiating with the rest of the hemisphere; and the
capacity of Member States to pool their political strengths in the interest
Market and Economy process and of the Community. Concerning the former, almost every
of the general good. Thus Demas probably had in mind his native land's
aspect was discussed and pronounced on by the author. His opinions on the issues were often forthright and invari-
stated that "the surest way to destroy
Widening
ably convincing. This was similarly the case concerning widening of the Caribbean Community. Three "widening circles" of regional cooperation were discussed - CARICOM and its existing boundaries; the Caribbean archipelago of 3l million people
(including Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba); and the PanCaribbean of 200 million people (including the littoral states such as Colombia, Venezuela and Mexico). Demas saw the process of deepening (into a Single market and Economy) as
necessarily complementary with the process oI widening of the community.
"A strong impetus
has been given to the deepening of CARICOM, since in order to forge mutually beneficial link-
ages
with the other
sub-regional
groups in the hemisphere, CARICOM
must become more cohesive, both internally and externally." (p. 75). With respect to the second integration aspect, namely, Common Services
and Functional Cooperation, the author criticizes those who question, based on the meagre eight per cent that intra-CARICOM trade represents of total regional trade, the usefulness of the integration movement and cites such institutions as UWI, CDB, CXI, CFC, CARDI, CANA, CBU, CAI, CCC, West Indies Cricket and CARIFESTA as proof of the vitality and
of regionalism. For Demas, over and above the material rewards of integration are the intangible benefits of a stronger Caribbean identity. With respect to the third integration aspect, i.e, of Foreign PolicY Coordination, the author is particularly concerned with the way that individual worth
countries to do their own thing in matters of external trade policy"(p.77). He is concemed that current FTAA
negotiations may not result in a suffi-
have found
ciently long transition period before the small countries of CARICOM are exposed to the full blast of hemispher-
workings of institutions with which he
ic competition, nor sufficient
process.
he
CARICOM would be for individual
by the weaker partners to resources
for
"access
financial
increasing the capacity
to produce competitively
exportable
products" (p.86). For him, while the Caribbean industrially may not be able to permanently describe itself as an "infant", it cannot at the same time be characterised as an adult.
As "adolescents" in the FTAA process, therefore, "we are highlY unequal partners and there is no ques-
tion of a'level playing field' existing for all of us" (p. 86). Demas is of the
opinion that CARICOM's fortunes would be considerably enhanced if OECS efforts at forging political unity and plans for more intensive coopera-
tion among the non-OECS
States,
were to come to some fruition. It is difficult to disagree fundamen-
was so intimately involved, as the leading technocrat in the integration Also of note was Demas' failure to deal with the issue of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the overarching influence of its global rules of the game to which sub-regional and regional trade and related economic arrangements need to be compatible. In this regard, it should also be noted that hemispheric countries have actu-
ally opted for a 'single undertaking' type of approach in negotiating free trade in the Region, rather than the preferred alternative path of Demas of links among the existing sub-regional groupings "eventually and automatically leading to an FTAA". Finally, a word about Demas the man.
I was fortunate
to have chaired
one ofthe opening sessions ofthe 28th
Annual Conference of Monetary Studies that devoted the entire proceedings
page book. Nevertheless, one wonders whether at times he was not excessive-
of 28 October 1996to paying tribute to William Demas and to launching his book. Tributes cannot be more mov-
ly defensive. For example, his answer to critics of the economic integration process was merely the following:
ing than those coming from
peers. One theme seemed to be common in all the speeches and remarks:
"When we consider the punishing economic and financial crisis which most of the member countries have experienced over the last I 7 or I 8 years, it is
Demas was
a miracle that CARICOM's common market has survived. ln that period the majority of third world sub-regional
tive without being formally dissolved
JUNE 1998
the
by Mr. Demas in the course of the 144
the collective
the
it difficult to assess
expressed
tally with any of the views
countries relate to the outside world;
of
ECOWAS, CACM and the Andean Pact)". This surely is an inadequate response to valid criticism. He also did not take the opportunity in discussing the 1989 Grand Anse Declaration setting up the Single Market and Economy, to revisit and re-evaluate the purpose and findings of the West Indian Commission afier nearly a decade or. for that matter, the role and functioning of the CARICOM Secretariat after 30 years. Maybe, he would
negotiations with Mexico when
and regional integration groupings have disintegrated (like the East African community) or become inac-
aPProach
(like
a man of
one's
indefatigable
commitment to the task of Caribbean
development and unity. The name William Demas will forever be sYnonymous with Caribbean integration and development.
I
Dr Maurice Odle is Techttit'ol Advi'
sor
Caricom Secretarictt. \l-
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CnntcoM PrnsPEcrtvE O
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\[hen The Moon Laughed At
Ganapatr aris to Delhi: November 25. 1997; 2.00 p.m., my warch reads, Guyana time. On board Air Fronce 747, it is actually ll:00 p.m. Indian time. But time in the country over which we are flying is God and a Goddess: Shiva and His Shakti. Mahakala and Mahakali. But beyond
these frames, time is also Maya: a mere illusional, provisional reality; for beyond time is the unknowable Absolute Reality, what is beyond the framework of time, space and causality - beyond the comprehension of mind ... Mind - less. in fact. Indiu. this country we are travelling to, is indeed the Mahatma's country of "nonsense": non-sense and nonsensical
I
It
is also a place which over the years has receded into the realm of myth, memory and dream;
it is the
Bharat Mata, a great Mother Goddess Goddess of a thousand shifting identities, a thousand infuriating relativities. a thousand sensual seductions. a thousand unspeakable cruelties ... I'm taking with me to India - incidentally - a suitcase full of gods and
goddesses
-
the varying faces
and
forms of the Great Goddess - to display at the 9th Triennale - an International Exhibition of Contemporary Art. in
honour
of the 50th anniversarv
of
India's Independence.
Wayward rambling thoughts
dancing on her husband, has been
Persoud
transformed into a tall. slender. beautiful woman; and Sarasvati, the transcendent goddess sitting on her lotus. playing her vina. has become a porrrait of mtsef. I have painted her in my vanity and egoism - looking fashionably slim and young. wearing a modern Western dress and a short perky hair style. As for the fierce Madame Durga,
old men were neither sexist nor classist
I've left her strictly alone - out of
+ Bernodette
+
... but because of the limitations of Mind and Intellect among the lower classes. these powerful conceptual images were invented to allow us to sense dimly the profound metaphysical laws of the Universe and the enigma of God ... Of course this enigmatic God is particularly elusive to h'omun'. for how can she. with her rambling wayward thoughts and a thousand desires, achieve that "single-pointed concentration" necessary for reaching this unreachable God? I'm tickled, nevertheless. that the lesser gods are making this journey to their ancient homeland, re-crossing the Kalapaani ... Someone has said that the gods do
not travel
well. I
guess
it is that
famous old Trinidadian writer - of course he has now gotten soft in the head and has himself descended into the realm of the gods. But these gods
have travelled relatively unscathed, and after more than a century and a half
have suffered just some slight
They are Iying in my suitcase. neatstacked and insulated from each other: a careful selection of gods/god-
changes... I have painted them with reverence,
desses painted on triangular canvas flags .... The ancient sages, we are told, in their infinite wisdom and goodness, devised these gods and goddesses for the benefit of women and the ignorant masses ... Mind you, these venerable
heeding ancient taboos and conventions - out of fear. But, let me hasten to confess: I did make some superficial changes on the black goddess, Kati. the white Saraswati and the yellow Durga. The black, blood-thirsty goddess,
ly
sea-
superstition - not daring to tamper with of her traditional iconographical
any
features. The temptation to paint heq a US-made Ml5 machinegun was strongly resisted But since I could not imagine her, sitting astride her tiger in a delicate, cumbersome
flaunting
sari,
I painted her wearing fashionable
military camouflage and high-heeled boots ...
Laughing like the moon at Ganapati There is another god, I have deliberately, defiantly left behind - ar home: that is Ganapati - the bejewelled. bigbellied elephant-god, whom the moon once laughed at ... I too. have laughed at Canapati ... that was sometime ago. in the closing years of the PNC dictatorship. I was sitting in the quiet, departure lounge of the Timehri Airport, beyond the babble and emotion of the crowds.
bidding tearful farewells to all those emigrating, backtracking or fleeing from Babylon, when I saw this young man and his wife, about to embark on a
flight to New York. They were speak-
ing in loud rural accents and were dressed in startling coolie-colours. The young man was holding his child on his hip with one arm and in the other, he was carrying Ganapati - a colourful, glinting. sequinned picture of the eleJUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrasPECTtvE phant god, wielding his distinctive battle-axe...
longing and loss for more than a thou-
ing the 'black waters' we are told,
sand years ...
involved the swallowing of five prod-
Ganapati is the vanquisher of all obstacles and enemies of the gods, protector of all devotees and god of limitations or categories; his big bursting
"Yeah" ... the reggae song's plaintive words are humming in my mind.
belly, girdled with a snake is stuffed with the sweets and apples of life ... I pictured this fat ludicrous god among the skyscrapers of New York, trying to ride his tiny rat, in the suburbs of Queens, the ghettos of Brooklyn and ... and I laughed ... like the
*:j-"^
But the young man, making this second crossing over the blackwaters -
fleeing from one Babylon to another was clutching Ganapati like a battleaxe, tightly to himself, bolstering his courage and preparing to overcome all obstacles - in a new land. Now, I certainly don't need that absurd god - Ganapati - god of limitations: I am the transcendent Goddess
River of Longing and Loss
"Ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seat belts; we're about to into Delhi begin our descent Delhi - the tourist brochures proclaim - was once the cradle of the gods and Indraprastha: - that magical mystical city founded by the Pandava gods on the banks of the Yamuna - the river in whose waters Krishna and the gopis sported and made love ... a beautiful adolescent god frolicking with 'big' married-women ...
Images
of the fresh flower-filled
love-scapes of Kangra miniatures and the lush fragrant forest of Brindavan invade my mind - but even in that idyl-
lic land. the river of love, flowed
"
By the rivers of Babylon, we sat down
and wept when we remembered Zion. And the wicked who carried us away
in our family, our great grandmother
But how can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? ... - he had asked sadly
from Uttar Pradesh. They had cun-
It had been a 'strange land' where the whip of the sugar plantation whistled in the wind, and the agony of the slave, torn from his motherland, centuries before still groaned and sighed through the creaking floors and fragile walls of the logies of the nigger-yard ... This in a way, was the beginning of that aching hunger, embedded in the
collective psyche, and colonizing every generation from century to century, in a recurring cycle of pain and memory. and pain and longing. I suppose this is what the pandits would term a vasana - this cankerous desire shaping and determining our uncertain Karma and shapeless identity
Goodbye India - we will never forget you! From an historical point of view, it would perhaps be more accurate to pin down the rebirthing of that canker to
l89l . That
was the year when my great grandmother and her parents
the year
boarded the Ganges from Port Calcutta. bound and indentured to an irrevocable crossing over the Blacl<waters ...
Did they realise,
I
wonder, that theY
had embarked on a permanent, restless crossing: a knocking from one port to
another, an endless wandering from death to death ... Perhaps,, they hoped that on return-
ing home - after five indentured years abroad - they would be able to pacify
grandmother? In a waY You can we have been dreaming by the river of say,
ghee,
had been saved from a certain death. as a baby, when her parents fled with her
separation of Radha from her beloved ... river of longing and loss. I fumble with my seat-belt, making anxious attempts to tighten it ... For how many years have I been dreaming of the moment when I would
of mY great
of the holy cow - milk,
sot'tg.
into captivity required fronl us a
through the centuries, sighing over the
set foot on the country
ucts
curds, urine and dung. Certainly, could that be a fate worse than death? Or an endless chain of birth and rebirth? According to the tale, handed down
their families, for transgressing the ancient laws and taboos by simPlY undergoing the rites of penance and purification. That, I guess, would not have been too difficult in that country of 'nonsense'. Part of the penance for cross-
ningly bribed the mid-wife into fooling their families that their new baby was a boy child in order to circumvent the caste/clan 'law' of female infanticide.
'How did they babies
/"
kill
the female
I had asked my grandmother.
put salt under their tongues!" 'When I grow up, I will become a missionary and go to that country to civilise those peoplel' I had fiercely resolved. Unfortunately, by the time I They
had reached adolescence I had dropped
the missionary idea, and adopted that silly habit of laughing at God. Now, as a romantic teenager - Plotting my own escape from home - I had reconstmcted and polished the tale of my great grandmother into a shining
melo-drama. which could be taken straight from the pages of the ancient epics, rather than the frightening chapof 19th century colonial India ... Often I would envisage the fleeing young couple, standing on the decks of the Ganges, clutching their infant girlchild and craning their heads backs for a last fearful, anguished glimpse ofthe shores of the motherland, as it slipped further and further from view ... sinking into the ocean of death ... goodbye India, we --ill never forget you!
ters
But what of the aging Parents and mourning families they had left behind? .. Perhaps there was some hoary-headed father still waiting on that distant shore - year after year, cen-
tury after century - peering at the dim horizon for the sight of a returning sail Come-back-Come-Back However, at that stage the 'epic'
story would inevitably begin descend into a more surreal
to
realm. I
o a o o a o o o o o o o a o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a a a o o a O
o o o O
o a a o o a o o a o a a o o o O
JUNE 1998
Page 93
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CnntcoM PtasPECTtvE o a o o a o a o o o o o o a a o o o o a o o o o a a o o o o o a o o O
a o a o o o a o o o a o o a a o a o a o a a Page 94
would picture the angry par-
- to nowhere ... The lady sit-
enls and stern clansmen in
ting next to me huddled in her
hot pursuit of their rebel-
shalwar kameez, suddenly
lious children who had dared to break the ancient laws ... Over plains and fields they
breaks her long silence, What part of India are
"I'm
had galloped, and over the
India: I'm
not J'rom
crimson hills of Rajasthan, leaving clouds of smoking dust in the battle-fields of
.from Guyana,
Kurukshetra. never pausing until they reached the edges of the stormy ocean at Calcutta. There they struggled with the rough Arkhatis while the sails of the Ganges rose and swelled.. pushing the ship beyond their grasp.
Indio",
South
America", I emphasize. "Oh, but that ees a part
rf
she rejoins, matter-of'-
factly, fusing myth and memory, time and space ... It's
alarming, but
I'm
touched.
nevertheless: perhaps
the
mighty Hanuman, in his com-
passion
Too late! They paused transfixed! The ship ploughed on relentlessly into the limitless night. Then the anger raging in their breasts changed swiftly into a deep remorse; they wrung their hands and beat their breasts and tore their hair off in their grief , "Come back! Come
back my daughter! Corne back! Come back m.v child!"
The fierce grey-headed father raged and wept; but the Ganges pushed on beyond their cries. remorselessly.
Now the great God, Shiva, sitting
in deep meditation in the i.y
Himalayas on Mount Kailasha, heard the terrible lamentation. What fresh mischief was the Ganga up to now?
Lifting his trident off the
lou
frcnt?"
frozen
ground, he commanded the gruff god of the wind to subdue the wayward Ganga and the strident cries that were piercing his blissful contemplation. So Vayu roared and thundered with his chariot of a thousand horses to the shores of grief and lamentation, and swooping up the broken cries, he raced behind the over-crowded barracoon. howling the broken words.'come back, come back' ...
All the way around the Horn of Africa, he pursued, filling the worn sails of the Ganges and the sad ears of its emaciated cargo, until they reached the muddy coastlands of the South American continent. There, on tired evenings, in the
slave-huts
of the Coolie-yard,
did uproot a
large
clump of the sacred heartland. and leaping from Mount Mandara, in a great arc, over the Atlantic ocean, deposited it on the shifting mud-banks and he
sighed and groaned through the aching walls, swelling the anguished chorus of
the centuries before ......'come-back comeback'....
Now, after a hundred years I'm coming back ... heeding the cry of a thousand years. But, this is no surreal return: for if rcmembering is a worm -
like love - penetrating our waking, dreaming and deep-sleeping, then the need to be remembered is an equally craven compulsion; and we who live on shifiing mudbanks, how else can we exist save in the eyes and being of the other?
swampy coastlands of GuianaSo even before the plane lands in Delhi, the long, multiple arms of the Great Goddess are reaching out - one arm is holding high an open red lotus, another is
raised
in the merciful
gesture of
Abhaya, others are stretched out in a thousand blessings or reaching out in welcoming embrace. But I will not be seduced. I have
come well prepared and fortified against this God. I know her other Face and Form: she is the Mahakali. black goddess of all - consuming Time. grinning voraciously with long pro-
pristine order of the aircraft when we boarded. Even the Flight Attendants have lost their immaculate French chic
truding tongue. Around her neck she wears a garland, strung with the skulls of infant girls and swirling about her waist, an apron of the severed hands of burning widows. She is dancing madly on the great almighty God - Shiva - who is lying prostrate beneath her feet ... "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Delhi; we have just landed at the
and are smiling or frowning spontaneously. But. I guess I'm looking at
Indira Gandhi International Airport ... the time is now 11.28 p.m. Indian,
the scene through the frame of my own Desire ... Babies are crying or fretting; tissues and snack-wrappers litter the floor; all the toilets are flooded and
local Time"
labeled'out-of-order'. I have a sense of deja-vu; perhaps
India" by Benrudette Indira
A Garland of Skulls
It is almost nine
hours since we
have boarded this plane, in Paris. The disarray, noise and warmth that now prevail, are a f-ar cry from the cold,
I'm
on board the GAC and going home
I
...,
This excerpt is taken from an essay
entitled "Jountey to a Countn a Gutanese
painter
-
Persaud,
:!.
JUNE 1998
o C
l n r c o M P r a s P E c i r'i'',,:i
Towards A Final Regional
Appellate Court he time has long past for it to be squarely faced that for us, as a
+
people, political independence has not resolved the question of our constitutional and civic identity. In a self-actualising constitutional order; in the development of a nation, according to Mr. Justice Frankfurter of the United States Supreme Court,
Heodley Cunninghom
+
On that issue, our CARICOM member States, Guyana and Trinidad
and Tobago, have taken different routes.
The answer(s) must surely lie in defining the proper relation between our constitution as our central political text and the kind of society we wish to create for ourselves; how we establish
there is the undoubted need for "those agencies ... which serve to gather up
the ideals and principles of our independent political order and whether
the traditions of a people, transmit
these ideals and principles may be
them from generation to generation
adequately expressed through cultural
symbols that are borrowed from
and thereby create that continuity of a treasured common life which constitutes a civilisation". Our inquiry therefore, takes us to
Britain.
collectively known. We are involved in a constitutional discourse. The central theme has been laid
This is certainly not a discourse concerning the death penalty or the law relating to defamation or any singular branch of the law. It has to do with the making of law in general - adjudication - which has come to be seen as an inseparable attribute
bare by Professor Simeon Mclntosh:
of sovereignty.
"As our constitutional practice now stands, we locate all authority
idea of taking into our own hands the
the very heart
of our constitutional
arrangements and how we wish to be
It is a signal component of "the responsibility for defining our political and constitutional identity and, ultimately, re-writing our own
extemally to ourselves, in the authori-
tative declarations of others ...The Judicial Committee"s location at the apex of the judicial system... has con-
cast".
It
has been decided that reforms
jurisprudence".
for the way we define our
are to take place concerning the update
constitutional identity. Cognisance of this offers the distinct possibility that a regional appellate court might be a fillip for the emergence of a (true) West Indian jurisprudence, which has too
of our constitution here in Jamaica. It
What is on the Table
is agreed, generally, that there ought to be a final detachment from the British
Our Parliament has accepted the recommendation of the Joint Select
Monarchy, for the repatriation of our sovereignty, to locate our constitution-
Committee
sequences
long remained subordinate (my emphasis) to English jurisprudence. For as long as we remain "subjects" of the British crown, with the Judicial Committee at the apex in the hierarchy of our legal system, it is to be expected (my emphasis) that our constitutional discourse would reflect a cluster of values, intellectual orientations and practices that carry a distinctly British JUNE 1998
on
Constitutional and
al authority internally and thereby embrace a republican form of government.
Electoral Reform that the present system of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council should continue, until a decision is taken for the
The question remains of the con-
introduction of a Caribbean Court
stitutional tidiness and logic of a detachment from the British Monarchy coupled with a retention of one of its signpost attendant institutions - the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
of Appeal.
That acceptance by Parliament mirrors a decision of the Cabinet of Jamaica at its meeting of 24 May 1988 based upon the submission of the then
Attorney General:
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CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE o o a a o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o a o o o o a o o o o o o Page 96
l. that it involves considerable expense in the pursuit of the rights of the citizen having regard to the location of the Court in the United Kingdom (UK) and the expenses attendant in the conduct of proceedings. lt also involves considerable expense to the Government; 2. that appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council have been abolished by most jurisdictions outside the Caribbean including Canada,
Australia. all Asian and African Com-
monwealth countries as well
as
Guyana and Grenada in the Caribbean
it is an inhibiting factor in the development of an indigenous jurisprudence which is more respon3. that
sive to the values within our society and our aims and aspirations as an independent nation;
4. that it militates against the development
of the potential of
our
local judges;
5. that
it is regarded at best as a
burdensome appendage to the English judicial system and machinery and by some as even anachronistic;
ber States of CARICOM? Despite the psychological, trade and constitutional imperatives. strong voices have been raised against the idea of the establishment of a final regional appellate body and removal of the Privy Council. They generally cite practical considerations such as: the paucity of legal talent in the Caribbean to
fill
a qualified appellate
court; the susceptibility of local judges to political control; and generally. the socio-economic conditions of the Caribbean which, they claim, mitigate against the possi-
bility of our financing the
establishment and maintenance of such a political institution so central to the basic structure of Caribbean Society.
Legal Talent The challenge to the view held by some that there is a 'paucity of legal talent in the Caribbean to fill a quali-
fied appellate court' ought not to
be
faced merely by inquiring into whether or not that view is correct.
it is inconsistent with the
The expressed vieq however,
full attainment of political sovereignty
points directly to that limb of the Attorney General's submission to the Cabinet in 1988 that the location of the Judicial Committee at the apex of our legal system "militates
6. that
and independence. At an extraordinary general meeting of the Jamaican Bar Association in February 1991, a unanimous resolu-
tion was
passed recognising "as a desirable goal the eventual abolition of the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council". It is clear that it is far too late in the day, in an interdependent set of global circumstances, to turn back
the Agreement, Protocols and Instruments that have been
spawned by the Treaty of Chaguaramas; not least the Single Market
and Economy due to come into effect in the year 2000. The question arises: with the inevitability of the establishment of unions, pacts and alliances, across the globe, can we
presume to seek from an external source interpretations concerning agreements that have been hammered out and reached within the experience and culture of the Mem-
against the development of the potential of our local judges". If Attorney General Hardingts assertion is correct (and, might I add, militates against the development of the potential of our advocates), we are forced to ask ourselves two questions.
First, are we prepared to live
with that kind of
self-imposed inhibiting factor? Second, what is the real answer to the challenge? It is heartening then, to witness the approach of the CARICOM Legal Affairs Committee to that challenge (of filling a qualified appellate court)
than fifteen years in a court of unlim-
ited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in the territory of a Contracting Party, or in some part of the Commonwealth. Alternatively, he or she must have been ajudge ofa court hav-
ing jurisdiction in appeals from such courts, and "...in the opinion of the (Regional Judicial and Legal Services) Commission, has distinguished himself or herself in that office". With respect to legal practitioners
who may not have served on
the
bench, they must have been engaged in and distinguished themselves in
practice as an attorney-at-law in a Member State of CARICOM. or in some part of the Commonwealth for not less than fifteen years. It ought to be noted that "engaged in practice" provides for a wider range rather than being limited to advocacy. Such an approach to the challenge points the way forward. It creates the opportunity. the space, for the development of the potential of our local judges, striving to serve at the highest appellate level. At the same time, the possible reach for candidates to the
court is extremely wide. And so it should be. For it speaks to the kind of court we should seek to establish at the
apex
of our
system; the breadth of
experience and talent by which such a court should be staffed. The approach certainly speaks to the challenge to fashion our own insti-
tutions to suit our own particular circumstances: but let us hear the views of the West Indian Commission: "On the matter ofjudicial talent for
staffing the Court, there can be no room for doubt. Some of our highest judicial officers have
Establishing
sat on the Privy Council itself: the Caribbean has now provided a judge of the world's highest judicial tribunal - the International Court of Justice at the Hague; several of our lawyers have been in demand as Chief Justices and Judges of Courts of
the Court.
Appeal
The Agreement recommends that applicants who have served on the bench, must have done so for not less
Bahamas. Bermuda, The Seychelles and several countries of continental Africa. When Commonwealth coun-
in the Draft Agreement
in
jurisdictions like The
JUNE 1998
o
CtntcoM PrnsPECTtvE o o o o a o o o o o o o o a o o o o o a o a o o
There can be no doubt about the availability for staffing for the Caribbean Court ol Justice. Some of the Region's highest judicial officers have sat on the Privy Council.
O
tries look for legal talent, it is otien to
member of the bench to a "political
the Caribbean that they turn. What ails
sponsortt.
us that we lack the confidence to go forward? ("TIME FOR ACTION").
ference
Political Influence
of
of Govemment of the Community at Antigua in July Heads
1988. when there was endorsement of
Perhaps the strongest voices raised
against the establishment Caribbean Court at the apex
of
a
of
our legal system have to do with what is expressed as "the susceptibility of our judges to political control".
That statement, I
Indeed, at the meeting of the Con-
apprehend,
speaks to a concern touching upon the
of appointment and removal and the security of tenure of the methods
the recommendations for the
estab-
lishment of the Court, that very caveat was recorded by some of the leaders who were present.
vices Commissions of the Contracting Parties, selected by the President on
That deep concern has not escaped the attention of the Legal Affairs Com-
of rotation (these persons would serve for three year); the Chairman of a Public Services Commission of a Party designated on the same rotating basis by the Presi-
mittee
in the
settling
of the
Draft
tained by drawing upon experiences gathered from the workings of our judicial systems over the years or fiom any consistent posture adopted by Caribbean political leaders.
responsibility fbr: (i) the appointment of the Judges
it
cannot be ignored that
political interference either directly or as a result of any perceived "loy-
alty" or "gratitude" owned by any JUNE 1998
Ser-
Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission
Agreement. It is proposed that an independent Regional Judicial and Legal Services
Yet,
prised as follows: the President of the Court. who is Chairman: the nominee of a regional body which in the opinion of the President is representative of the legal profession:
two Chairmen of Judicial
judges, rather than fears about direct political interference in the pertbrmance of their duties. Any argument concerning the latter cannot be sus-
mechanisms must be found to insulate the judiciary from possible
of the "potential political manipulation" of the bench of the Court by regional politicians. is com-
criticism
Commission
be
established with
(other than the President);
(ii)
appointing
the
Registrar,
Deputy Registrar and other officials; and
tiii)
terminating appointments in
the manner prescribed in the Draft Agreement. The Comrnission. which is provided tbr in the A-ereement to answer the
the basis
dent, again for a three-year tenure;
the Secretary-General of
the
Caribbean Community;
a 'distinguished jurist' named by the President following consultations with the Council of Legal Education and the Deans of Faculties of Law of the UWI and any Universities of other Contracting Parties; two persons appointed by the Bar or Law Associations of the Parties. This composition, while naturally u'eighs to\.\'ards the legal profession,
o a o o o o a o O
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a O
o o o o o Page 97
o
CnnrcoM PrnsPECTtvE o a o o o a o
includes
political realm.
representa-
tives from Public Services Commissions. In
The Draft Agreement constrains the Commission to consult
O
its composition, there is bound to be legal scholars, in addition to prac-
o
ticing attorneys. Addi-
profession and other
tionally, according to how the proposal is structured, there will be
bodies and individuals
for collaboration between the various
making recommenda-
O
o o o o o a o O
o o a o o o a a O
a a o o o O
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o Page 98
with associations representative of the legal
as it may appropriate,
a need
The issue
profes-
appointment
Commission Mem-
bers, other than the President and the Secare
appointed for three years and may be re-
appointed
for
by having the
another
term. The rotating Members from the municipal Judicial Services Commissions and the Public Services Com-
missions may not be re-appointed. The Commission's decision-making mode will be a majority of those present and voting at a meeting where a quorum is present. The Chairman has a casting vote. The quorum require-
is
"not less than six (6) members, including the Chairman". The
ment
Registrar of the Court functions as the Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission.
The legal status of the Commission is set out in the Agreement, supplemented by the Instruments to allow for its functioning. It is proposed that the Commission should be a legal persona. with full capacity to enter into contracts. In addition, the privileges and immunities to be accorded are set out, pursuant to a Protocol so named. Aspects of the privileges and immunities in terms of the Seat of the Court
of the Commission are
Court". Any other route could be potentially disastrous for the handling of the
sensitive and confidential matters which must arise.
Appointment and Removal of the President and the Judges It has been pointed out that respon-
sibility for the appointment of
the Judges, other than the President, rests with the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission, after consultation with a wide range of institutional entities. By the Draft Agreement, it is rec-
ommended that the President of the
Court should be appointed by a qualified majority of the Heads of Government on the recommendation of the Commission. This ensures that the proper role of the political directorate in naming this high judicial officer is maintained, but at the same time, the qualified majority removes the unit veto of an
in the Headquarters Agree-
individual Head of Government. Additionally, the recommendatory
It is specifically provided that: "That Contracting Parties under-
role of the Commission ensures that the process and procedures leading up to the appointment -short listing the prospective persons, interview-
and offices covered ment.
take to make provision to ensure that the proceedings of the Commission
shall not be enquired into in
procedural
of the Commis-
sion recommending the of the President, since the latter is to be Chairman of that body, is resolved
sion.
retary-General,
to
tions.
private entities dealing
with the legal
consider
prior
any
ing, consultation with relevant bod- are conducted outside of the
ies
Secre-
tary-General act as Chairman pro tem,
to the Heads and then have the duly appointed President assume the Chairman-
make the recommendation
ship. This is legally permissible in view of a stipulation that, subject to the quorum requirement, the Commission is not "disqualified from the transaction of business by reason of any vacancy
in its membership..."
With the President appointed
and
in the Chair, the Commission then appoints the Judges by majority vote of all its members. Naturally, the President takes precedence, and seniority is determined based on the date of appointment.
Formal appointment of the President takes place by letter signed by the
of the Conference, acting under the advice of the Heads of Government of the Contracting Parties. The formal appointment of the other judges is by letter signed by Chairman-in-Office
the Chairman of the Commission.
The Legal Affairs Committee
has
attempted, in the matter of removal, to
reflect the proper municipal constitutional roles of the various structures, to ensure that appropriate 'checks and balances'exist, so that there can be no impugning of the independence of the judiciary, as well as avoiding the risk JUNE 1998
o
CnatcoM PrnsPECTtvE (real or perceived) of political manipulation. In consequence, the Committee has moved away from earlier proposals for the initiation of removal procedures by a Head of Government, to a Tribunal procedure and then removal, if so recommended. The latest draft provision envisages a role for the Commission:
In the critical
case
of the removal
of the President, it will be
seen that
once the Heads refer the matter to a Tribunal, the constitution of which will be discussed infra, the Commission then becomes a virtual interlocutor between the Heads and the Tribunal. The Tribunal gives advice to the Commission, which then makes a recommendation to the Heads. Naturally, the President would not be a party to the discussion in the Commission on this matter. A Head of Government may make representation to his peers that the President be investigated. In respect of the other Judges, it is the Commission that takes that decision. What follows
next is the appointment by the Heads of Government of a Tribunal comprising a Chairman and not less than two members (selected by the Heads of The Commission as the case may be) "... from among persons who hold or have held office as a judge of a court of unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters in some part of the Commonwealth or a court having jurisdiction in appeals from any such courts."
In
selecting the Tribunal, the
Heads or the Commission are entitled
to
undertake "such consultations as may be considered expedient..." and "the tribunal shall enquire into the matter and advise the Heads of Gov-
ernment
or the Commission as the
Inquiry or members thereof, in
the
CARICOM State where the inquiry is being held, shall be applicable to the proceedings. The Draft Agreement provides that the office of a Judge shall not be abolished while there is a substantive holder of that office. The age of 72is set as the mandatory retirement age, but this is conditional upon the requirement that the President or Judge in question
conclude a matter with which he had been dealing before the age reached.
"The President or any other Judge may be removed from office
only for inability to perform the functions of his office, whether arising from illness or any other cause or for misbehaviour and shall not be
so removed except in accordance with the provisions of (The Agreement)tt. Cost of Establishment
And
Main-
tenance
There is the claim that the socioeconomic conditions of the Caribbean militate against the possibility of our financing the establishment and maintenance of an institution so central to the basic structure of Caribbean society. Here, in Jamaica, the sentiment is expressed more starkly: fix the courts
and the "court system" before
any
decision is taken for the establishment of a final regional appellate tribunal. The argument goes further by the suggestion that, over time, the attitude
of
Caribbean governments to their financial obligations to regional institutions does not instil confidence that a similar attitude would not attend the maintenance of a regional Court.
For my part, I prefer a far more positive approach, for the following reasons:
case may be whether or not the President or the Judge ought to be removed
First, it is our duty to insist upon our leaders understanding that the case for a Caribbean Court must ultimately
from office."
come to rest upon the most profound
The lex
fori rule applies with
respect to the conduct of the Tribunal's
work. The Draft Agreement provides that laws relating to Commissions of JUNE 1998
argument of sovereignty: the matter of our self-definition. This can never come from the great imperial court of the British Empire; but, rather, from an
institution of our own making. Second, we will never get a perfect
judicial system, even though that must always remain an ideal. Third, we ought not to be so blindfolded and shackled by the shortcomings of our system that they become a recipe for doing nothing; in trying to improve what we have, we cannot await perfection before moving into any desirable area. Fourth, I hold the view that a prop-
erly maintained and exemplary final appellate court must serve to buttress the will to improve the system as a whole.
Fifth, the vast sums expended annually by the Jamaican government in appeals to the Privy Council would significantly address the proportionate share to be borne by Jamaica. Further, it can hardly be doubted that such a Court would provide greater access to the citizens of the Caribbean. Finally, it continues to be pointed out that it costs us nothing "to appeal to the Privy Council since the expenses are borne by the Untied Kingdom government". I can only adopt, as my own, the telling reply to that argument
emanating
from the
Constitution
Commission of Trinidad and Tobago, under the Chairmanship of Sir Hugh Wooding and presented on lanuary 22, 1974, at paragraph 353:
"The argument based on absence of cost to the country
the
in rela-
tion to the services provided for by the Privy Council brings us back again to the general demands for independence and leads us to wonder whether inde-
pendence becomes meaningless when we are offered dependence without charge" (my emphasis) We must dare to hope that the importance of the judiciary and such an institutional pillar would discourage CARICOM governments to
engage in behaviour which would cause financial embarrassment to the court, to its affairs and to ourselves. The Jurisdiction of The Court There are two Articles in the Draft
a o o o a a a o o o o o o O
o O
a o a o o o o o o o a o O
o o a o o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o O
o o o o o a o o Page 99
o
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE o a o o o o o o a o O
o o o o o o O
o o o a o o o o o O
o o o o o a a o o a o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o a
Agreement which deal
with
the
Court's jurisdiction.
Article III provides for the establishment of the Court " as a superittr Court of record with such jurisdiction and powers as are conferred on the Court by this Agreement or by the Constitution or any other law of a Contracting Party". 'l'hus, the Court's jurisdiction will be essentially what is set out in Article X on Jurisdiction. or what may be provided for in the laws of a Party. The latter possibility has given rise to a debate as to whether a Party, in addition to conferring jurisdiction on the Court which would enhance or augment its jurisdiction. could also deprive the Court of jurisdiction. The travaux preparatoires of this
provision establishes clearly that the intention of the Panies is that while a Party may, by its laws, conf'er additional jurisdiction on the Court. it has
no power to diminish the Court's jurisdiction, that is, to take away fiorn
the Court jurisdiction over cerlain matters.
Section I l0 of the Jamaican Constitution. Provision is made in paragraph t tbr appeals to the Court fiont decisions of the Court of Appeal of a Contracting Party as of right in certain bases
Priry Council
e.-u.
which mirror Section
ll0 (l) of the
Jamaican Constitution: paragraph 2 provides filr appeals to the Court with the leave of the Court of Appeal of a
Contracting Party fron'r the decisions ol'the C()urt ot'Appeul in certuin eases which rlirror Section ll0 (2t of the Jarnaican Constitution: paragraph -i provides tbr appeal to the Court with the special leave of the Court from any decision of the Court ofAppeal of a Contracting Party in any civil or crirninal matter - this mirrors Section
another example is the provision fbr
the finality of decisions of
the
in habeas corpus proceedings arising out of Jamaican Court of Appeal
extradition.
Jamaica has suggested that this paragraph should only be applicable to those provisions in domestic law for finality of a Court of
I
jurisdiction in relation to those matters in respect of u'hich the Constitution or law of a Par-ty declares that the decision of its Court of Appeal is final. For
vides that reservations my be made to Article X with the consent of the Contracting Parties. Thus. a Party cannot make a reservation accepting only a part of the Court's jurisdiction as set out in Article X without the consent of the Parties. It is well known that a certain country is contemplating accept-
example. Section
ing the Court's jurisdiction only
l0 (3) of the Jamaican Constitution. The Court's appellate jurisdiction is, therefore, coterminous with that of the Privy Council. The Court does nttt. however. have
l0 (-l) of
Jamaican Constitution provides that "the provisions of this Section shall be subject to the provision of subsection I of section -l.l of the Constitution": that Secticln provides that the decision
CARICOM States for appeals to
of the
Page 100
a question whether a person has been validly elected or appointed as a member of either House is final:
Appeal's decisions which have been made prior to the entry into force of the Agreement, that is to say, we support the freezing of such provisions at the time of entry into force of the Agreement. The jurisdiction of the Court is aftected by Article XXII which pro-
Article X deals with the Appellate Jurisdiction of the Court. It provides fbr appeals to the Court fiom decisions of the Court of Appeal of a Contracting Party in three situations which mirror the constitutional provisions in the
relation to
I
Jarnaican Court
the
of Appeal
in
in
relation to civil rnatters.
The Court's Original Jurisdiction Jamaica supports conferring on
the Court original jurisdiction in
disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the CARICOM Treaty of Chaguaramas and its Protocols. This is a vitally important matter, particularly in the light
of the establishment of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. This jurisdiction would allow for the
development of
CARICONI
jurisprudence relating to the CARI-
COM Treaty, something which is sadly lacking at the moment; it would, of course, be an entirely different jurisdiction from the appellate jurisdiction; it would call for the interpretation of the CARICOM Treaty and Protocols; in that regard
Court of Appeal, Georgetown, Guyana.
the Court rvould be functioning as an international body applying international law, in particular, international trade law. JUNE 1998
a
CnntcoM PrnsPECTtvE The Draft Agreement does not now reflect this aspect of the Court's jurisdiction, although the alternative title, '6Caribbean Court of Justice", proposed by Jamaica, would accommodate it. A National or Regional Final Court?
The proposals set forth
above
ought to be enough to still the voices that emanate from a few quarters, that the route of a national final appellate court should be pursued. The Report of the West Indian
Commission, TIME FOR ACTION, insisted that the integration process needs a final appellate court: "Integration in its broadest economic sense - involving a Single CARICOM Market, ... the movement ofcapital, labour and goods, and functional cooperation in a multiplicity of fields - must have the underpinning of Community law. Integration rests on rights and duties; it requires the support of the rule of law applied region-
ally and uniformly. A
CARICOM
Supreme Court interpreting the Treaty of Chaguaramas, resolving disputes arising under it, including disputes between government parties to the Treaty, declaring and enforcing Community law, interpreting the Charter of Civil Society - all by way of the exer-
cise
of an original jurisdiction -
is
absolutely essential to the integration process. It represents in our recommendations one of the pillars of the
CARICOM structures of unity". The Way Forward
ln the preparation of this position paper. I wish to express my sincere thanks to the many persons, including my colleagues, who have not been less than frank in sharing their views with me.
I
have also drawn heavily on the writings of scholars such as Dr. Kenny Anthony (Legal Counsel at the CARI-
COM Secretariat, as he then was) and Professor Simeon Mclntosh of the Faculty of Law at Cave Hill, Barbados.
I
'lf the court is to be ultimate appellate body, it must achieve a prestige and standing at least on pal
with any existing or past tribunal in the arga..,
JUNE 1998
a
only
because
we have
already
deprived them of so much. It is our duty to insist upon the full implementation of the studied suggestions of the Organisation of Common-
wealth Caribbean Bar Association. tendered over a quarter of a century ago in 1972. as "necessary prerequisites of a regional third tier in substitution for the Judicial Committee... Firstly, the court needs to be an
will to go forward.
I also sense, in some quarters, a reluctance which betrays the lack of keen appreciation of the global circumstances and the niche we must seek to carve for ourselves. I submit that, in such an effort, the positive role of the Jamaican Bar is essential; the breadth ofexperience, the depth of knowledge and the undoubted skills that are available to us, constitute a solid platform from which we can help to guide this historic process, if we wish to do so. In the scheme of things and, indeed, with the many unsettling features creeping on to the landscape of our continued attachment to the Judicial Committee, there is much work to be done.
As a matter of priority, the dust must be made to settle concerning any perception that the move away from the Privy Council is as a direct result of any particular adjudication of that court. The higher and solid ground, on which our work must rest, is our duty to set in motion the emergence of a true Caribbean jurisprudence. ourselves.
ifonly
lished centre properly equipped with necessary facilities, particularly a large-scale library. It is only in this way that regularity and despatch in the hearing of appeals can be ensured; and
that judgements will be fully with the work of the court and in regular contact with each other. Finally,
if
the court is to be ulti-
mate appellate body, it must achieve a prestige and standing at least on par
with any existing or past tribunal in the area: it must engender the respect and confidence both of the litigant and
of the
practitioner.
It will
also
be
judged by its capacity to deal imaginatively and creatively with the law in the West Indies". This is the revolutionary challenge! It is a challenge to the governments of the Caribbean Community; it is a challenge to the stake-
holders
- the institutions of civil
society; it is a challenge to ourselves in this association for that is the arena of our existence with all its
accepted privileges and attendant responsibilities. Certainly, we have the'resounding success' of the Federal Supreme Court as a guide and an example of what can be achieved.
What ails us that we lack the confidence to go forward?
I
E"rcerpt
of an article prepared
Headley Cunning,hant, attorne)'-cttlan', Jamaica.
because ofthe privi-
O
institution independently constituted with its own judiciary and an estab-
researched by judges solely concerned
That is the contribution we owe to detect, across the Caribbean,
leged position we are so fortunate to occupy; and to our descendants, if
)K-
o o o o o o o a o o o o
a o o o o o o o o a a o o o o a o o a O O
o o a o o a o o O
o o a a o O
a o o o o o o o Page 101
CnntcoM PtnsPECTtvE a a a o o o o o a o o o o o o o a o o a a a o o o a a o o o a o o a a o a o a a o a o o a o o a o a o o o o a o o
PreparingFor The
Census In 2000 s
I
Commonwealth Caribbean countries
Arnpon
to conduct
the
2000 rounel
Lcersuttt. tbere will be questions aboul
tbe necessig of
a regional
mechanism and tbefotm that it sbould take.
Tbk article makes an atgument
for
tbe
establisbment of sucb a mecbanism and
for
eco-
nomic progress. Administrative coordination, on the other hand, allowed countries to svn-
Olney T, Doly
coordinating
of social and
sub-regional comparison
+
ol
chronise their efforts (including conducting the census using a common reference period
+
and census dav), share the costs of the acqui-
sition of materials and the development of
a census tbat takes into account cuffenl
manuals, as well as those
deuelopment issues in lhe Caribbean subre-
process, print, analvse and disseminate
+ton. The Population and Housing Census is
one of the main sources of social and eco-
nomic inforntation
incurred
to
time. This trend conrinued in the 1960's up
results. Additionally, the coordinating office
until the colonies began to get their political
provided much needed supporr to national
independence.
Statistics Offices in training field staff for rhe
Comntonu'ealth
Bv 1910, as a set of mostlv independent
Caribbean countries Historically. tbese
nations. the countries looked tonards the
countries baue coordinated their approacb
Universin' of the Vtest Indies for assistance,
action, the process
to the taking of tbe census and, d all
goes
and once more it was decided that conduct-
expensire one. In the past, external suppon
well, tbis trend is likely to continue come tbe year 2000 when tbe next round of censuses
ing the censuses as a joint exercise would
had to be sought to boost Governments con-
realise cenain economies while maximizing
tributions to coordination activities, Indica-
due. It is now exactly tuo or tbree years
scarce human resources. Two coordinating
tions are, however, that external assistance
before tbose censuses are scbeduled to take
offices rvere set up! one at the Mona Campus
for the censuses is becoming more and more
place and barely enougb time to addres tbe
in Jamaica and the other at St. Augusrine in
difficult to obtain. It is projected that for the
isue of regional coordination and u,hetber
Trinidad and Tobago. Under the guidance of
2000 round
tbis machinery should be utilised at
the demographers on these
have to look to their own coffers to finance
is
for
all. Tbis
brief paper is an qttempt to infotm tbe discourse
ofcoordinationfor
the 2000 censuses
tvv*o campuses
inten'iewing process. Despite the economies achieved bv joint
of
of
coordination is an
censuses, Governments will
the censuses rvere conducted, processed and
regional and national activities and make the
their results made available.
crucial decision as to whether this function
of the Commonwealth Caribbean u,ith tbe bope that tbe first round of censuses of the
Staning rvith the 1980/81 round of cen-
is still necessary. They will also need to care-
suses. the CARICOM Secretariat, using expe-
fullv examine the process of coordination, its
next millennium
rienced denographers and survev smtisti-
form and method. Governments will be seek-
census- taking
will usher in a neu,era of
in lbe subregion.
Historical Cooperation Censuses
of the
Commonwealth
Caribbean have alwa.vs been taken as a coor-
dinated exercise. Perhaps as a way of mari-
of the region as their chief resource, assumed the coordinating role and has retained it ever since.The 1990/91 censuses cians
were therefore conducted under the
aus-
pices of CARICOM.
In the censuses of recent decades,
In comparison with the 1960s and 1970s,
and
of
dination was at both the administratire
cial, the first censuses by British colonisers in
technical levels (although the
administrative
the earlv 19th century ro take stock ofdemo-
machinen' also oversaw technical
graphic distribution of their slaves and own-
At the technical level, coordination took
the
ers were conducted throughout the then British territories roughly around the same
form of agreement on a questionnaire
that
Page 1O2
a
Coordination: A Necessary Function in 20OO?
coor-
mizing its resources, both human and finan-
collected
ing to maximise any investment that $'ill be made to facilitate the process.
Statistics Offices
maners). ified individuals.
common core of information for
a
Commonwealth
Caribbean countries are now sraffed bv qual-
man\', if not all. of whom
have had the experience of managing a cen-
sus
or large sunev, Coupled with this
fact,
computing power non'ai'ailable should make
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrnsPEcrtvE processing
of
One Gan d,skr
tenpting to think,
therefore,
that
regional
coordination of the census-
ness.
Il
conduct of the 2000 round
of the Caribbean
will still require assistance
the acquisition of
(with related
the
m),riad of technical and, to
cost-savings),
(from 1980/81) analrsis of the census results.
Vhile n'e could
be distracted b.v the length of time rhat some of these activities have taken before execution, the CARICOM Secretariat
ivhich has taken the lead in
sone extent. administrative issues that this census
materials
training, data processing and
the develop of the subl
regional
to sort out
tioned panit rrlarlv efficientlr in
to ben.ch,r.tr,?fk,,r tioh that i's,, 1
of Population and Housing Censuses
Finallv, the regional cen-
sus administration has func-
the Gari the census o
is mv view, howev-
er, that more than ever the
of field
staff.
m,e-Gh.C
es has outlived its useful-
in the census
process, e.g., raining
whether' as, t data,co|
lations a relativelv simple task. Ir is
assistance
censuses of
the snall Caribbean popu-
this process can be proud of
riill essan for some countries, the technical
need to address.
The immediate intercensal period
of the census will
have
to
the overall accomplishment.
II is recom-
be
mended that all of these activities ought to
seen the intensification of data demands for
approached with more rigour than has previ-
continue as a regionally coordinated exer-
national, sub-regional and international
ouslv been the case, It is mostlv this techni-
cise, the only change being that the analysis
of
programme should be expanded, if possible.
assessment, ancl
has
for monitoring and evalua-
tion of progress.
In
response there have
been several large data collcction initiatives.
e.g.. countn' povertv assessments, labour force suruer,s (currentl.v being undenaken in
aspects
cal function that makes the establishment
a regional coordinating mechanism of vital impoftance.
Technical Coordination Issues for technical consideration are
Administrative Coordination
interrelated, however, they can be broadlv
Justification for administrative coordination is not as difficult as it might first appear.
identified
data collection exercise. Additionallv, all of
Though able to boast ofincreasing statistical
on the census questionnaire
these surrrers relv on the census for their
capabilitv, Statistics Offices still face several
OECS countries) etc.,
but the
census still
remains the largest and most comprehensive
as:
Relevance of the current set of questions
o
New questions to reflect current con-
frame. Funher, in this period we have seen a
problems that could affect their efficiencv in
greater dentand for data at the national lelel
carning out the census. The first is, that the
o Definition of conceprs
(panicularlv for small geographic areas) to be
intercensal period is a relativelv long one
o
-
monitoring social programmes.
ten years, and staff turn-over through resig-
So complex and vital are the issues
nation and retirement means that some
used for
cerns
Relevance of the tabulation plan
The Questionnaire
a
offices are without census capabilitv. The
A curson look ar the census question-
social and economic metamorphosis result-
strategv here could be to target these offices
naire used for the past four decades will
ing from its membership of the global familv,
for assistance.l
show that it is practicallt'unchanged. The
emerging as the Caribbean undergoes
Next, the smallness in size of the nation-
that the role of the census scents nlore criti' cal than in the past. By extension, the role of
al Statistics Offices precludes specialization.
the regional coordinating mechanism will
Additionallv,
in
many
of the countries,
relevance ofsome questions has been doubt-
fuI, but placement of these questions on the questionnaire has been justified over succes-
it is onlv through
according to legislation, the Census Officer is
this medium that the cumulative technical
usually the Director of Statistics or Chief Sta-
expeftise in the region can be harnessed in
a
tistician whose duties include the coordina-
demographic tool and
w"y that even the smallest countn'can bene-
tion of all dav-to-day statistical tasks, as well
fit.
also be more critical since
sive decades,2
It
has been argued that the census is a as such
it has been ful-
as the census. As a result, the Census Officer
filling its mandate. One can ask. horvever, nhether as the premier data collection
This paper is suggesting that rvhile train-
mav be dil'erted bv regular exigencies and
mechanism in the Caribbean with all its asso-
ing and other administrative functions of the
mav have to relr,on less experienced staff. In
ciated costs, the census ought not to bench-
regional coordinating office mav still be nec-
this case. efficiencv in the census ntar require
mark information that is relevant
JUNE 1998
to
the
o o o o o o o a O
a a o a o o o o o a a o o o o o o o o o a o o o a o o o a o o o a o o a o o a a o o o o a a o o Page 103
a
CnntcoM PtasPEcrtvE o o o o o
Population of GARICOM by agg.group and sex: 1980 and 1990 censuses
O
o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o
H
m7g r58 5raI5 169 126752 rao s2570 99 221310 73 t7m 5.6 r37S2 a5 fu73 a3 r2s ai 1r52ar 3E 169 36 s82r 32 ffi2 2 6 139232 a 6
t9 lGta 1519
2l2a 2129
s!
3t39
M
ag9
sg
5t59
ffi 65
NO OWR
g gE
USEfUL
00
15 8
326
66 $5 638 69a 73 9
f82 623
Sl
S6 928 95.a
rmo rmo
473328
ra
8
146
ss r59 s8 a2m9 13 3 41 313792 98 539 2a1222 76 6t5 rg5 58 67 2 15147 a7 7t 9 i{$7 a 6 766 1n122 a 3 &9 r22S 39 g8 115925 36 Sa $53 31 915 s$5 21 92 18@ 58 lmo 69
00
1@0
g1r2 t022ar 8$79r 616$2 62532 353735 2SS9 27Ug
25S2r 2m7 2219 r9g rffi7
r53 r5a 6 99 fa 57
532 626
S
3
4 6
15
77 a
12 81 38 65a 36 890 31 92r 2f 98 324116 52 1m0 123 00
rmo
STAISrcS
.d % dChil&nh PoF&M (dtr 15F) rd % d Yods h PQubn (1 5.2a F) ad%d tuWi[&â&#x201A;ŹPqrah{rSF} .d * d h RdGd Pop$bn (os g F) ad % d &ts*nrs h PWraM (|ffi t5 ad oG R& MEN
AGE
{Y.*)
WOrS AG (Y!â&#x201A;Źc) rcO& reE rY.*l
O
o o a o o o o a a o o o o o o o o o o a a a o o
Situation Analvses,4 Children and Youth in
ground
the Caribbean5 and similar studies, should
and lerel of entrepreneurial activitr', panicu-
work since
be considered for funher assessment bv the
larlv among vouth, need to be more quanti-
mendations.
O
census.
o o o a o o o o o
r53 3t 7 45 3
13
Note: Antigua and Barbuda did not conduct a census in the 1 980 round. Hence 1 980 excludes Antigua and Barbuda data. development thrust of the subre-
resulting from these processes
gion. It
is recommended, there-
should also inform the remodeling
fore. that the census question-
of the census questionnaire. It is not expected, however, that the
naire be
scrutinised
in
rhis
regard. V4rile there is still the comparison
the place of survevs or other rahicles of data
between this and earlier census-
collection bv treating rhese issues.
es, the developmental relevance
but rvould simplv provide
of the current set of questions needs to be closelv
benchmark for pivoral variables.
need
of
to
ensure
census should take
some
Concepts and Defini-
examined.
In process,
order it is
to
guide
this
conducted during the intercensal period, such
tions
recommended that
some of the issues highlighted br, the studies
as the Countrv Poveny Assessments,3
A second and related issue ro
ing children; \\'omen's productive activities;
infusing developmental relevance into the
the church
census questionnaire is the need
as a social
paftner; environmenml
conditions, particularlv the pollution of n ater resources and servage disposal,
tadvelv and qualitativelv grounded than is
These studies shorv that aspects critical
the
currently the case.
to review
concepts and rheir definitions. We cannot
fault current conceptual and definitional
it
follorvs international recom-
For the Caribbean, however, its techni-
cians mav need to take a bold step
and
development,
Additionallv, there are other aspects of
adopt definitions that have more contexrual
such as provision/receipt of early childhood
our development, such as the social fallout
meaning for its social and economic realiw.
education; economic participadon of vouth;
that has affected Caribbean
the extent to which voung schoolJeavers are
because
to the current
stage
of our
ofrhe globalisation
counrries
So far. the census has not meaningfullv cate-
process and the
gorised and captured manv of the forms of
of trade regimes that
equipped with saleable skills; out-of-school
realignment
vouth and the concomitant problem ofwork-
emerged over the decade. The changes
Page'104
have
economic activitv carried out in the region, panicularlv bv n'omen.
JUNE 1998
o
CnntcoM PrasPEcrrvE o o o o O t9$ fEMALE
NUMEER *
CUM,
310576 126 323115 13 r 32a126 13 I @76 124 243W 98 18r2m 73 14263 5 8 111651 45 39 s&1 81868 33 80190 32 67054 27 5922a 24 137452 56 7355
03
'
NUMAER
126 ?56 38 7
51
1
61 0
ff3 711 786 8?5 858 89 0 91 8
g
1
997 1000
95U7 5fi140
3@1& 120 120 12 5 21 5 31943 125 37 0 30s74 121 49 t 25621a 10 0 59 r 190726 7 5 666 147$8 5E 724 117535 46 770 101695 40 809 887m 35 &4 86802 3a 876 69S6 27 90 5 65721 26 93 170911 67 998 5845 02 tmo
3!-?
gs16
37.0
565322
22
137152 5 5 r@ss 44 3
6107& w2u ilyrg 615$0 49S12 371S6 2W31 229146 198536 170$8 165S2 136$0 12499 30853
1
22 2
1370895 554
EER *
CUU.X
320539
2a741a9 10-0
1433375 S
r709rl
1116927
TOTAL
TOTAL
A
1 1
13200 03
1m0
s30s
19re3 111W2 2W270
ss3
6 7
437
3 A 12 8 r2 2 99 14 5 8 46 39 3a 33 2? 25 61 12
12
2212426
123 251 37 9
50
1
600
674 732
776 817 85
1
8E4 911 93 6
997
308m8 1rE 3ra745 !20 297278 1ra 276527 r0 6 24S9 9a 23m7 88 1922a6 11 151708 58 12v25 11 98591 38 81834 31 6â&#x201A;Ź161 26 63276 21 158155 60 a6s
1000
lm.o
37.9
0
2
26tam
1@.0
9U31
t5.2
NUMBER 1
rsr55
40
998
113 115 10 9 r0 3 95 90 76 58 46 37 31 27 26 7 3
1000
39$
0'
45
E
552
g0
713 77
1
81 8
056 6E7
91a 93 8
910107 532S7 1588198 1S$0 t1ffi7
ar 3 70a
262
244
254
195
204
?00
101
96
98
Although there are currendv questions regarding main (economic) activitv, this con-
placed because income.
in terms of economic production or work for pav or profit. For this reason, women's unpaid (non-domestic) production has gone has ahvays been defined
222 03
it
700 759 80a
gl
873 900 92 6
999
8il
1@0
rl 5 r18 t1t roa 9a 89 7 5 58 17 37 31 27 25 67 02
rt3o7$
3!.7
11 5
233
v5 {9 a3 632 701 765
8l
1
Ea9 880 90 7 93 2
998
1m0
supplements familv
9.5
19 7
1055073
588
31
!9722 3!735
73
199 58 ?
67
2185473 at I
410 697
53
machinerv may want to address data accura-
cy for economic activitv carried on in this expanded informal sector and also address
An example of such ivork is gardening
for home consumption, that reduces
the
family's expenditure on food and allows sav-
either be a redefinition of the concept to
arate tabulations can be prepared based on
include unpaid work or the inclusion of
the two definitions.
the issue of delineation/definition of
a
tourism sector that is generallv agreed on bir technicians.
Tabulations The last but perhaps not least important
Another conceptual issue that, to date, the census has not handled is that of
itv with economic benefit.
535
621
267 227
ings to be dii'ened to fulfil other needs. Sep-
a
aa 0
63
unrecognised, The solution, therefore, could
separate question that captures unpaid activ-
613@5 626f2 5916t 59337 m7s a724f2 3$il8 309198 217269 198474 rs733 141634 132221 39735
3
272 212
include work done on which a value can be
cept
rr
228 33 7
tmo
6 0
r0787S
CUM. X
us7 31@27 29183 2ffa10 255U7 21265 2U42 15749 r23&a 99S3 84899 13473 6895 196S0
rl8 234 352
322216 200 1531524 58 6
222 551 61 789
799
CUM. %
issue is that clf the tabulation plan. IVhile
a
a a o o a o o o o a o a o o o o o o o o o a o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o a o
assess-
technical review of the questionnaire might
labour
ing women's social reproductile roles and
be in order, it is as intperative to look at the
force panicipation will also have to be revisit-
the time spent doing this key task of building
tabulation plan. I renture to suggest that this
ed and it is anticipated that more persons will
the human resource base and human capital
exercise needs
be reported as working. A bener picture of
for economic production. The impact of
review of the questionnaire.
level of unemployment will emerge from this
women's unpaid social reproductive work
Close scrutinv mal,reveal that many of
methodologi'.
could be measured by the census and thus
the questions asked by the census are still
O
provide the background for further research
relevant, and many of the current develop-
o
ment issues can be addressed bv the census
O
it no$'stands, but it is the tabulation
a a o o a o a o o o
If this is done, the concept of
To avoid confusion and to ensure international comparabilitv
of
Carib-bean data,
however, the region mav want to consider
a
on the interrelatedness
of
economic and
social production. and women's productiviw.
system of multiple definitions of a single con-
Finallv, the ascendancy oftourism in the
cept and produce data according to those
economies of practicallv all the countries of
data as
to take place
before
the
plan that is inadequate. A vivid example of the inadequacv of the
definitions to suit specific purposes.
the region over the past two decades
has
tabulation plan can be seen in some of the
For example, the economically active population can be defined in relation to
brought with it a plethora of small, unincor-
monographs produced using the 1990/9I
porated establishments and sole proprietors.
census data where the situation of children
rvorking for pav (traditional definition) and
This has broadened the base of an already
could onlv be described with reference to the
also a second definition can be introduced
large informal sector. The regional census
charzcteristics
JUNE 1998
tr-l
of heads of households
and
Page 105
o
CnatcoM PrasPECTtvE a o o o o o a o o a a a o o o o o o a a o o o a a o o o o o o a a o o o a o o o a o o o o o a a o o a o o a o
o o
Planning lor the future requires data on the growth rate of the Region's population
not tcl those of their
ntothers,
ntein care-
givers.
consiclerations unrong othcr things nrav
I
Dr. Dol.l ls a.lbrnter.\v.Vnitl Regiotml
prompt rerional Gtxernntents to reconsirler
Cettstrs
Perhaps the most necessan consirlera-
putting in place this ctxrrclination ntachinen.
tion ofthe tabulation plan is that oidisaggre-
The arpLrnrent here is that it is still too
liott atd llotrsiug Ceil.slr.se.s itt the region. atd cr Regiornl Trairter itt Belize. Dontitticct
earll for Clribbean coLurrries to clisbancl the regional coclrdinuting ntecltanisnts since
stu.ff-nentber o;f the CARICO.II Secretoriat
there rs still insufficient capabilirl in ntanl
uttrl
gation. \\hile clemographic clara such
as
those ltrocluced bv the census tencls tcr emphasise differences betueen the sexes ancl betrieen age-gfoups.
in the delelopine
offices. In
rnl
cAsc.
it is clear that there rre frorrr juirtt xLli\itir'..
(ntd Gu.tntw
se t'
l.uts
ra
e
in
1980i81.57:e
r.s
r//.ro
u.fornter
prorided ccltstrllattc.t' .serlice-s /o
I [' t r i te d .\' at i or
t
s
otlo
I t
i so t i ot
t
s.
Caribbean of toclav tltere is a dire need for
btrrcfit: to lrs
census clata disaggregatecl bv snrall geo-
such as the use ofa set ofcore questrons that
Rarker. Regiottal Cettstts Coortlitrcrtor
graphic areas. Currenth.. ntuch of the infur-
allons resional crlrnparabilitv of progress.
19u0 81
d bv rhe census is
mation
collecte
because
of the high lelels of aegreuation
lost at
u;1111..',1
other things,
therefore. is for a tabulation ltlan or fol census clata files proclucerl in a fornr thlr can be
a leacling role in le.qionll census coorclinl-
The Population and Housing Censuses
of
the Comntonwealth Carib-bean hale lten-
dedicates this article to .llr. H.O.E.
1 .Vati.vicr Offlces thenselt,es ccnrkl
C\RICOII Secreraliat. nhich has plared
Sumrnary
She
materials ecquisition and clata anah'sis anrong
rihich it is producecl. The recontntenclaticlt.
retrieved at lower geographic ler els,
tion fbr the past t\\1) decades nta\'ouce ntofe
\\'ant
to
canress sLll)l)on
front
Caribbean
Governments tirr Population Censuses that are regionallv ctxrrclinarecl. Rather than bc clauntecl br,thc problenrs
that hale plaguerl
the rcgiortal rttutltirtcrr lrr tlrc
It:t
- p:iltitrl-
the areas
2 t i ot
3
t
irulicate
there the,l'u'ould tteed asr.s/nrice.
Otte etanple is the e.tteusire s ott .fbrt i I it.t'
pott ent
Conducted
itr
set of-ques-
s.
sereral Conuucutu'ealth
Caribbeatt cottttries bl' tl.re Caribbean Det'dopilwtt Bank. British l)et'dopnent Dit'isiott atul otber Agerrcies.
4
Spotrsored b.t |'I'ICEF .fbr 6 O|CS cotut-
efitecl froni regional coordination ntachinen'
larh'r'ith financial rcsources fclr rhe regional
fiom tlie pre-lndependence era. Thrs erer-
tries
census office and its actu ities - the Secreruri-
5
cise has been a costlv one no cloubt, .\s the
at should seek to bettel its recorcl in thc rtreu
CO.ll
2000 round of censuses approaches. cosr
of regional inresrarion in the vear 2000.
Page 106
Coordirntor.for the 1990 91 Popula-
ottrl Trittidad utd
Pubtilted
Tr.tha,qct.
jointlt bt I')'rctiF utul
C^LRI-
Secrelaria, ", JUNE 1998
Ambushed By Memories + Cicely Rodwoy Reflections on the first reading of l(eb of Secrets by Denise Haris
+
Yet, she did enter with the writer the writer wreathed in earth tones reading of the lives
Perched, edgy
of the living
a little bird herself
in the unnamed land.
not brightly plumed. Swathed in shades of brown
Reading of the mother who once burned bright,
rich brown
flickered
and black and red,
soon died.
the red she chose The coloriess woman
to brighten things up a bit.
unnamed Brightlv she burned, while
foreign
drawing us to her memories entrapping us in her web.
circled bv "the others" remained apart
She read of an unnamed country
scribbling, scribbling. . .. . ..
whose name we knew.
mothermothermothermother
Of light people
mothermothermothermother
colorless people
silendy weeping
people without color
silently scribbling,
people heaq, with color.
weepingsilentlysilentlyrveeping
silent tears uneasily accepted
Of the wistful child seeking to know
the comfort tissues
listening to know to learn
of silent empathy. pressed on her.
the hidden truths the secrets locked so lar away
This setapart
since times of ambush
separate woman
out ofAfrica.
disconnected by history
Secrets of a family
and choosing
secrets of a people
exited at the end.
ambushed by life,
Vanished unnamed.
In right shadowed corner
Ambushed by memories
turned wallwards a colorless woman listened
fettered by history
ilrned
colored in
away,
Marked in memory
remained apan
in memory
from those she knew not.
remembered onlv by her weeping
I
Excerpt
from Sunstreams and Sbadows. Cicely Roduay, a
Guyanese, is Assistant Professor, Depanment
Special Progrannnes. Queens College, Neu' York.
of
E