CARICOM heads’ conference again

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - It seems worthwhile to return once again, editorially, to the subject of the recent CARICOM Heads of Government conference held in Trinidad and Tobago earlier this month. Most commentaries suggest a certain pessimism about the outcome of the meeting, and there has been no substantial comment from any of our heads refuting this view. Instead, we are left with a conclusion that among the subjects on which some progress might have been expected to be made, nothing suggesting forward movement has transpired. In particular, there was some feeling, before the conference began, that serious consideration would be given to finding a path forward on the issues of air and sea transportation (particularly the former) among the countries of the community. But in spite of the fact, and indeed, as we have previously observed, that in her opening remarks, Chairman of Conference and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, indicated that her government was interested in discussing a way forward particularly on air transportation, reports have been of long disputations, with no productive conclusion, in the context of the fate of Liat now in a competitive position in the Eastern Caribbean with Trinidad’s Caribbean Airlines.