Madame Chancellor
Hon. Chief Justice
[Hon. Justices]
Hon. Attorney-General and Minster of Legal Affairs
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Specially Invited Guests
Distinguished participants
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen
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.
The work towards the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will move into a heightened state in 2003 with a series of activities. The first of these is a joint meeting of national co-ordinators for the establishment of the CCJ in Guyana on 12 January 2003.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the United Nations Development Programme [UNDP] have signed an agreement which will provide US$300 000 to support the work towards the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). The funds will come from the Government of Japan through its Human Resource Development Fund (JHRDF) channeled to the Community which is administered by the UNDP. Signing the Agreement were CARICOM's Deputy-Secretary-General, Dr Carla Barnett, UNDP's Deputy Resident Representative in Guyana, Mr.
Member States of the Caribbean Community that have not yet ratified the Agreement establishing the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ ) were urged to do so with alacrity.
The call came from Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and CARICOM Head of Government with lead responsibility for Governance Dr. Kenny Anthony as he welcomed other CARICOM Heads of Government to Saint Lucia for a one-day summit examining the state of the economies of the countries of the Region.