Friday, July 7, 2006

BASSETERRE, St Kitts: Crime and security were among the critical subjects that concentrated the minds of the CARICOM Heads of Government on the second day of the Twenty-Seventh meeting of the Conference now under way in St Kitts and Nevis.

During their Retreat at the Four Seasons Resort on Nevis on Tuesday 5th July 2006, the Heads received a report from Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and lead head of Government responsible for crime and security, who appraised his colleagues about developments related to the subject.

Reiterating the importance and sensitivity of the subject, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Baldwin Spencer, cited that this was the last occasion that the Conference is meeting prior to Cricket World Cup in 2007, and therefore it was agreed to provide adequate time for its deliberations. Accordingly, the entire morning session of day two of the Conference in Retreat was dedicated to wide ranging discussions in caucus on crime and security.

Among the issues that were discussed were progress in operationalising the management structure for crime and security; the status of efforts towards the establishment of an intelligence sharing system among Member States; the status of efforts towards the establishment of a mutual assistance regime among Member States and special security arrangements for the hosting of Cricket World Cup in 2007: regional programme for ensuring a safe and secure environment during the hosting of the CWC.

The three point caucus agenda also included proposals emanating from the Dominican Republic on CARICOM-CARIFORUM relations and Issues Related to Energy under the caption Issues and Recommendations from the Twentieth Meeting of the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community. Under Border Issues, the Heads reflected on Guyana/Venezuela relations and the Belize/Guatemala relations, concluding with discussions related to the Second Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the CCJ Trust Fund and Report on the Adequacy of the Fund.

Meanwhile, another important decision taken Tuesday during the heads' deliberations was support for the establishment of a CARICOM Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) to assist Member States grapple with the aftermath of devastating hurricanes.

Their decision was based on a presentation by two World Bank consultants who explained the merits of pooling resources to guarantee reinsurance and immediate pay out in the event of catastrophes. “Such a facility is extremely important for us particularly since we are vulnerable to hurricanes and consequently countries must seek appropriate arrangements to respond to such challenges”, according to Prime Minister Spencer.

It was noted that the facility requires an initial injection of US$50 million in donor seed capital to achieve sustainable premium pricing levels, and a team is to tour the region to hold further discussions on the facility.

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