07th July 2012
“INTEGRATION, THE ONLY WAY”
Micah George

Admitting that regional integration should have been much further than it is presently in critical areas, CARICOM’s Secretary General Irwin LaRocque Wednesday told Heads of Government of the regional body that the peoples of the region see integration as the only way to achieve the viable, sustainable and prosperous life that they seek.

LaRocque who assumed the position of Secretary General last August, told the 33rd Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, which was held in Saint Lucia over the last three days, that the peoples of the region want CARICOM to make integration work for them.

LaRocque’s remarks are not new. More and more Caribbean people in the 15 nation bloc that make up CARICOM have expressed their frustrations with the slow pace of the integration movement as promised by the Heads of Governments. Heads of Government, over the years, have kept pace with the peoples frustrations in that while the frustrations mount so too were their unfulfilled promises to the people.

Regional integration construct took centre stage at the Saint Lucia meeting of CARICOM leaders as most of them, directly and indirectly and most notably Secretary General LaRocque said that it must move from theoretical concepts to pragmatic actions to improve the lives of the people.

The question as to how fast the integration construct will move from theoretical to pragmatic is what the Heads have been deliberating over the past couple days. Will citizens see CARICOM move swiftly enough to implement the rights the Treaty establishing CARICOM conferred on them, which is the ability to move throughout the region and engage in hassle free travel?

LaRocque made the point that although there is a perception in the minds of some that CARICOM had not lived up to the expectations of the peoples of the region regarding integration, integration has never been about the single market economy alone.

“This Community is multi-faceted and has proven its value to its citizens in health, education, youth development, disaster management and promoting its interests in the international arena,” LaRocque said.

He added that a year ago Heads of Government outlined priorities and set goals to propel the integration process forward; to put people at the centre of the integration process and to ensure that integration makes an impact on the everyday lives of the region’s citizens.

However that impact, so hoped for, is not as strong as expected since regional integration, which implies that people must be able to move freely through all CARICOM territories, is not yet an accomplished feat.

Bemoaning that fact is Guyana’s President, Donald Ramotar who said that Heads of Government have constantly been re-committing to hassle-free movement of people in order to promote a greater sense of community.