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Contact:
Michelle Serieux
Friday, July 02, 2004 - Jamaican Prime Minister P J Patterson, in his
address to the Joint Session of Parliament on July 1, 2004, in Castries stated
that the next big step for Regional Development related to the implementation of
the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the Caribbean Court of
Justice (CCJ).
According to Prime Minister Patterson, the CSME provide an expanded “domestic
market”, a building block for CARICOM integration into the wider trade
arrangements, such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The Community
arrangement enabled individual countries, such as St. Lucia and Jamaica to
overcome some of the challenges of small size, by pooling resources and
coordinating positions.
The Jamaican Prime Minister stated that an important arm of CSME was the
provision for the establishment of a Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). He then
commended St. Lucia for having been one of the first member states to have
passed the enabling legislation, whereas in Jamaica, debates were still ongoing.
Mr. Patterson agreed with St Lucian Prime Minister, Kenny Anthony that the CCJ
was an “affirmation of our independence and sovereignty.” Prime Minister
Patterson said that Caribbean territories could not continue to rely on others
to determine and interpret their own Laws and Constitutions. He pointed out
further, that there was no viable alternative to the CSME and the CCJ, and that
he looked forward to the implementation of the CCJ later this year, and to the
full implementation of the CSME by 2005.
Prime Minister Patterson assured that he would continue these discussions with
his colleague heads at the upcoming CARICOM summit in Grenada. He revealed that
the agenda for this meeting included issues pertaining to the Region’s future
relations with Haiti and a review of the operations of the CARICOM Task Force
responsible for the coordination of assistance to the people of that nation.
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