By Sir Ronald Sanders
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| DR KENNY ANTHONY |
BRIDGETOWN,
Barbados, Thursday November 15, 2012 - “Make no mistake about it. Our region is
in the throes of the greatest crisis since independence. The spectre of
evolving into failed societies is no longer a subject of imagination. How our
societies crawl out of this vicious vortex of persistent low growth, crippling
debt, huge fiscal deficits and high unemployment is the single most important
question facing us at this time”. That
is not an assessment of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to be taken lightly. It is an assessment by a Caribbean Prime
Minister who has also had the advantage of serving as Legal Advisor to the
CARICOM Secretariat.
Dr
Kenny Anthony, the Prime Minister of St Lucia, delivered this appraisal to a
meeting of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry on October 31.
The
Prime Minister’s statement is so important to the present crunch in which
CARICOM exists, and so crucial to its future path that one would have expected
it to be a matter of discussion at all levels of society in the 15
member-states of CARICOM. Yet, beyond
its brief reportage in some of the regional media, attention to this grave
warning died almost immediately after it was spoken.
The
reasons for the absence of widespread discussion including by the regional
media, is probably because the Caribbean public has become accustomed to
inaction by regional governments, institutions, and private sector organisations. Few would doubt the importance of what Prime
Minister Anthony said and the urgency of addressing it. But all appear unconvinced that anyone will
act decisively to change the situation.
So, the appraisal – alarming and forceful as it is – evokes little more
than resigned weariness in Caribbean publics.
This
is a worrying condition for the CARICOM region.
For, if the public has lost faith in the willingness of governments and
institutions to act swiftly and together to extract them from crisis, the
consequences will be even more serious.
They will include increased emigration of the skilled persons in our
societies, shrinkage of investment by local business people, and a general
malaise in the productive sector. In short, it will lead to a worsening of the
crisis.
The
sad aspect of all this is that every leader in the member-states of CARICOM, in
its institutions and in the private sector know very well that deeper
integration of Caribbean economies and closer harmonisation of their external relations
would be an immediate stimulus to pulling CARICOM countries out of what Dr
Anthony rightly describes as “this vicious vortex of persistent low growth,
crippling debt, huge fiscal deficits and high unemployment”.
What
each CARICOM country needs is not more nationalism, but more regionalism. This is not to say that they should form a
Federation or political union, though, for the record, let me say it would be
the best thing they could do. But, they
have to stop operating as if, by themselves, they individually have the
capacity either to deliver the public goods required by their people or to
bargain effectively in the international community.
Again,
Dr Anthony crystallised this matter in his remarks when he said: “The issue we
face is that our institutions, whether at the level of the state or
supranationally, have not kept up with the times. This is the reality check
that should have hit us, thanks to 2008 and the World Financial Crisis. And
again, if we are to observe and learn from another epicentre of integration,
Europe, this process is no simple undertaking, but requires unwavering
commitment. What was also clear from 2008 is that we were still spending too
much time using our integration machinery dealing with our insularities instead
of charting an outward response to the looming global realities”.
Well,
what are some of those looming global realities with which CARICOM countries
should be concerned?
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| Sir Ronald Sanders |
Food security: CARICOM’s food import bill now runs into billions
of dollars and will escalate in the coming years; the fragility and cost of
regional air transportation to support tourism and the absence of region-wide
sea transportation to facilitate trade in goods; competition within the region
from external nations, such as European exporters, who under the Economic
Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU) will, over time, be
landing goods and services and even opening businesses that will compete with
local companies putting some of them out of business and reducing government
revenues from tariffs; continuing erosion of preferences that certain key
commodities from CARICOM countries have enjoyed, in the past, in the EU, US and
Canadian markets; reduction in aid because, except for Haiti, CARICOM countries
are regarded as middle income countries, and a continued restriction from
concessional funds from international financial institutions for the same
reason; the effects of global warming that demand adaptation infrastructure to
stop sea-level rise from drowning huge parts of many countries, dislocating
human habitats and destroying tourism infrastructure and agricultural
production; and the lack of capacity to bargain effectively with larger
countries and financial institutions on investment, trade and debt.
The
list of issues identified here is by no means exhaustive, and they require bold
thinking and courageous decision making -including a resolve to pool
sovereignty regionally - to make each country stronger. Prime Minister Anthony diagnosed the ailments
of the region accurately, though he stopped short of prescribing the medicine
for curing them. But, he hinted at it
when he said: “When appropriate, CARICOM must have the power and the resources
to lead, setting both the objective and the tone of the dialogue, followed by a
greater intensity of action”.
There
are many countries and agencies that are ready to help the countries of the
region to progress, but they know that apart from Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica
and perhaps Guyana because of their natural resources, none of the Caribbean’s
countries can survive - let alone prosper - without the economies of scale and
the bargaining strength that comes from deeper integration. As Prime Minister Anthony counselled, “the
spectre of evolving into failed societies is no longer a subject of
imagination”.
SOURCE: http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/opinion/635226.html#ixzz2COKNpgQB
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