HEADS OF GOVERNMENT ARE COMMITTED TO THE INTEGRATION PROCESS SAYS SG

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Political will is not alone to blame for the so-called implementation deficit of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), says Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, Secretary-General of CARICOM.

Responding to comments from the floor following an address to the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association in Georgetown on Wednesday, Secretary-General LaRocque said: “I am satisfied that our Heads of Government are committed to the integration process. Political will alone, cannot be blamed for the so-called implementation deficit.”

The Secretary-General agreed that there were “powerful forces at home” which influenced the pace at which Member States implemented decisions. He added however that there might be need to think through in greater detail the proposals which may be put forward.

“How will it roll-out? What are the practical steps needed to be taken to implement it? Is it politically doable? Is it technically doable? These are some of the questions which we should be asking in putting proposals forward,” Ambassador LaRocque said, adding that frank discussions were needed on the issue.

Earlier in his address at the quarterly luncheon of the Association, the Secretary-General had stated that “we must set targets which take into account not only the necessity and urgency of achieving the goal, but equally important, what it takes to get there and the resources available to us to do so.”