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Busy Regional Schedule for PM Anthony
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Busy Regional Schedule for PM Anthony
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Thursday, February 08, 2001 - St. Lucia’s Prime Minister, Honourable Dr. Kenny D. Anthony, will lead discussion on three issues of critical importance to the region’s future when CARICOM heads of government hold their 12th Inter-sessional Meeting in Barbados next week. The three issues going before the February 14-16 summit relate to the proposed Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the region’s bread-and-butter tourism industry, and the vexing problem of crime which has become a major challenge for CARICOM governments in recent years. Dr. Anthony, the CARICOM head with responsibility for justice and governance, will present to fellow heads for signing the revised agreement to establish the CCJ which will replace the British Privy Council as the region’s final court. "It will be an historic occasion, unprecedented in recent CARICOM history" said Dr. Anthony. "Member states who accede to the court will be finally severing one of their last remaining institutional links with a colonial entity. In doing so, all aspects of the constitution of those states, in effect, will finally be repatriated," he added. Dr. Anthony also plans to spearhead an initiative at the three-day meeting for the convening of a special CARICOM summit on tourism. With the decline of bananas, sugar and other traditional commodity exports, tourism is becoming of increasing importance to the region’s economies, both as a foreign exchange earner and employment provider. The proposed special summit will advance the work of the late Jamaican Prime Minister, Michael Manley, who was instrumental in the staging of the first CARICOM tourism summit in the early 90s. "Caribbean tourism has truly come of age and is so critical to our collective future well-being that we must do everything in our power to ensure that this industry is not compromised in any way," said Dr. Anthony. It is partly for this reason that Dr. Anthony plans to raise the issue of crime and justice at the summit, in the hope of mobilizing the region to unite in tackling a common threat. Authorities across the region view recent increases in the level of crime as a presenting a serious threat to tourism. Negative crime-related publicity can fuel a perception in the international marketplace that the Caribbean is unsafe as a tourist destination. "Crime has become such a burning issue in almost every country of our region that I believe we urgently need to discuss adopting a strategy to deal with crime and punishment at the regional level," said Dr. Anthony. |
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