Hon. K.D. Knight, Min of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Jamaica
Hon. Julian Hunte, President of the UNGA and Minister of External Affairs and International Trade and Civil Aviation of Saint Lucia
Other Ministers
Distinguished Delegates
Staff of the Secretariat
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Hon. Julian Hunte President of the United Nations General Assembly and (UNGA) Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation of Saint Lucia
Colleague Ministers
Secretary-General
Delegates
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
Rt. Hon. Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize
Honourable Ministers
Distinguished Secretary General, Dr. Edwin Carrington
Director General of the CRNM
Assistant Secretary-General
Members of the Public and Private Sectors
Distinguished Delegates
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
CARICOM Secretary-General Mr. Edwin Carrington has welcomed the introduction of legislation by the Government of Belize to change its constitution to allow for the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
A bill was introduced in the Belize Parliament on Friday 6 February to replace the United Kingdom-based Privy Council with the CCJ as the Central American CARICOM Member State’s final court of appeal.
May I first acknowledge with appreciation the opportunity to say a few words on this important occasion. My appreciation goes particularly to Dr. Edwin Carrington, the indefatigable Secretary General of CARICOM who has over the years, tirelessly exerted himself in pursuit of regional integration, cooperation and advancement.
This occasion is but yet another manifestation of this; for under his watch the project for which we meet here today will hopefully now come to fruition.
Dr Carla Barnett has come to the end of her term as Deputy Secretary-General of CARICOM.
Dr Barnett served in the post for six years before returning home to Belize at the end of her contract on December 31, 2002.
A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Belize, Dr Barnett is now serving her Government as an Adviser, International Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and International Co-operation and Immigration of the Government of Belize.
Mr. Chairman, Colleagues Heads of Government, Mr. Secretary-General, Honourable Ministers, Members of Parliament, Distinguished delegates, Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps, Invited guests, Members of the Media, Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls.
As I conclude my six month term as Chairman of the Conference of the Heads of Government I wish to offer not only a retrospective but also to take a brief look at the manner in which we are advancing our Caribbean Integration.
Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation of Belize
Deputy Secretary-General
Your Excellency Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Guyana
Madame Permanent Secretary
Your Excellencies, High Commissioners to CARICOM and the UK
Assistant Secretaries-General
Other Members of Staff of the Secretariat
More than one hundred delegates assembled at the Princess Hotel in Belize City, Belize on 3-5 February 2002 for the Thirteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, presided over by Hon. Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize and Chairman of the Caribbean Community. Among those in attendance were: Hon. Lester B. Bird, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda; Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham, Prime Minister of The Bahamas; Rt. Hon. Owen S. Arthur, Prime Minister of Barbados; Hon. Pierre Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica; H.E.
Su Excelencia, Enrique Bolanos Gier, Presidente Pro-Tempore del Sistema de Integracion Economica (SICA), y Co-presidente de esta Cumbre Excellencies, Heads of State and Government Excellencies, Foreign Ministers and Ministers of Government Excellencies, Secretaries General of the Organization of American States, the Association of Caribbean States, CARICOM and SICA
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Honorable Members of Delegations
Special Invited Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Welcome to Belize.
Bienvenidos a Belice.