(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Hon Roosevelt Skerritt has assured that the countries of the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) “are in total support of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).”

The Prime Minister, who arrived in Guyana on Sunday 25 June and leaves on Tuesday 27 June, met with staff of the CARICOM Secretariat on Monday. In his address, Prime Minister Skerritt denounced the notion/perception that the OECS, now celebrating its 25th anniversary, was operating independent of the Caribbean Community.

He noted that the formation of the economic union among the OECS Member States was dictated by the effort to garner greater bargaining power for the economic and social development of the small population of half a million collectively.

Prime Minister Skerritt stated that the OCES was “a sub-set of CARICOM,” adding that the grouping’s move at individual national levels to enact Single Market legislation was indicative of its support of the integration process.

While admitting that there were challenges confronting countries of the OCES in the run-up to their participation in the Single Market, the Prime Minister said OECS Heads of Government were seeking a common solution, with a view to entering “as a bloc.”

The CARICOM Single Market was launched on 1 January 2006. The first six countries: Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, formalised their participation at a formal ceremony in Jamaica on 30 January.

At that ceremony, OECS Member States , Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines signed a Letter of intent, signaling their intention to sign on to the Single Market by 30 June.

Prime Minister Skerritt holds responsibility for Free Movement under the CARICOM Heads of Government Quasi Cabinet arrangements.