CARICOM SUB-GROUP TO REVIEW STATUS OF OPERATIONS OF THE CARIBBEAN MEDIA CORPORATION (CMC)

A sub-group of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers responsible for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), have agreed to meet in Jamaica in June to review the status of operations of the Barbados-based Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), which temporarily suspended services in January 2002.

The group's decision to meet in Kingston, the Jamaican capital, was one of the major conclusions of the just completed ICT Meeting held in Antigua and Barbuda from 13 - 15 May 2002.

The Antigua and Barbuda Meeting emphasized that the service provided by CMC is a very vital one to the regional integration process, and that every effort should be made to have the CMC back to full operation as soon as possible.

Last April, the CMC re-introduced a limited news service, using the print, radio and television media. It also commissioned its own Business Plan as a prerequisite to getting financial assistance from Member States of the Caribbean Community.

Following up on a mandate from the CARICOM Heads of Government that the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) prepare a Management Audit and Business Plan for the CMC, the ICT Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda agreed to establish a sub-group, to consider the CMC-commissioned Business Plan, and to determine what recommendations might be made to the Community Council of Ministers - the second highest decision-making body of CARICOM, when they meet in Barbados next month. The core members of this sub-group include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago. The recommendations will subsequently go before the Heads of Government at their annual Conference scheduled for 3-5 July in Guyana.

Although the Ministers Responsible for Information, Communication and Technology acknowledged the new efforts by the CMC, they called for an urgent meeting between the CARICOM Secretariat, the CMC and the CDB, to discuss the state of developments and to determine the most effective way of proceeding before the meeting of the Conference.

The CARICOM/CMC/CDB Meeting will take place in Barbados on Thursday 23 May 2002.

The ICT Meeting in Antigua also discussed the reforms being made by various Member States to their Government Information Services (GIS), and urged the CARICOM Secretariat to convene a meeting of the Government Information Services to consider their roles in the new information, communication and technology environment. It also underscored the need for a regional policy to guide the development of ICT in the Region.