Jamaica can lead Caricom in this time for action

Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s presentation at the opening of the Conference of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, in Montego Bay, Jamaica on Sunday saw yet another regional leader, while occupying the chairmanship of the regional integration centerpiece, declaring that it is a time for action.

 So it was when Michael Manley made that stirring case at Grand Anse in Grenada in 1989 and so it was again when the West Indian Commission made the case in their seminal work on regional integration in 1992.  It is a case that P.J Patterson, Owen Arthur, Ralph Gonsalves and others have made.

Yet, action has been scarce in the process of regionalism.

In 2010 after an economic washout for most/all economies in the region, it is again squarely before our leaders that unless we band together as small island states with common issues, common goals and common backgrounds, our countries will sink in the economic trenches endangering the Caribbean.

Ironically, as PM Golding made that call there was news of the paltry state of trade between Jamaica and the rest of CARICOM so far this year.  The level of trade would hardly trouble economists rounding off numbers in half decent medium size economies.

So the PM’s call can start right there.  It is Time for Action in Jamaica for increasing its trade with the rest of the Caribbean.  With agriculture showing growth locally and with intra regional tourism being sub optimal, there are options for us to contemplate in these sectors.

 With the billions of dollars to flow into Haiti to rebuild a country there is a time for action in organising our carpenters, plumbers, tile-makers, masons and artisans, who can hardly find work in Jamaica, to be organised to help Haiti rebuild and to earn a decent income in the process. 

 There is a time for action at Caribbean Cement in getting in on the action and positioning itself to help rebuild the foundations of Haiti, even as much pre-fabricated material in likely to pour in from North and Central America.

 These are just a few things we can do to make CARICOM make sense.  There are many others in manufacturing, the food industry and more that must be explored.  It is indeed, time for action.