CARICOM Issues Explored By BBC - Caribbean February 14, 2007 ........................................................................................................................................ CARICOM heads of government have wrapped up their meeting in the Vincentian capital Kingstown. The St. Kitts and Nevis prime minister Denzil Douglas said there he was satisfied with the work done to establish the Regional Development Fund intended to help the more fragile economies in the grouping implement the Caricom Single Market and Economy. Dr. Douglas was optimistic that progress made on the fund would help accelerate the pace at which the CSME is implemented. Optimistic about CSME "I am fully persuaded that the CSME is a critical tool that we must utilise to the fullest to bring meaningful benefits to the people of the region. It is important that all components of the Single Market and Economy are fully implemented within the time frames that we have set ourselves" he told the Caribbean leaders, officials and invited guests. Dominica's prime minister Roosevelt Skerritt meanwhile wants the CARICOM passport being issued by several governments to be more than just a national document bearing the CARICOM logo. He has urged his colleagues to attach greater benefits to the passport. CARICOM Passport benefits His recommendations include an automatic six month stay provision for nationals carrying the passport. At an end of summit news conference some of the heads spoke about different aspects of their deliberations. Barbadian prime minister Owen Arthur focused on the Caricom Single Market and Economy, the new Caricom chairman, Vincentian leader Ralph Gonsalves spoke to the issue of free movement, and Trinidadian prime minister Patrick Manning made reference to the work of the region's energy task force. Manning on energy Mr. Manning said the work of a regional energy task force had been complicated even further by the advent of the Petro Caribe arrangement, an energy pact Venezuela has with most of its Caribbean neighbours, and one with which oil-producing Trinidad and Tobago has shown that it's uncomfortable with. Patrick Manning said the Petro Caribe arrangement had among other things, shifted the focus of supply "from Trinidad and Tobago which was the dominant supplier in the Caribbean, to Venezuela." "One of the responsibilities that goes with the position of dominant supplier is the responsibility to guarantee energy security" Mr Manning told reporters, adding that he and his colleague heads had reiterated at their meeting the need for a discussion to take place between Port of Spain and Caracas. He said the idea was "to see how best there can be collaboration between the two countries to ensure that petroleum products are available in the Caribbean at prices that are acceptable, and secondly that there is a security of supply and we are not subject to disruptions that can characterise arrangements that are not as solidly rooted as the one that we are seeking to put in place." latest news Jamaica Police Investigages Scam British Prime Minister Sorry for Slavery CARICOM Issues Explored Angllicans Face Difficult Summit Trinidadian Carnival Exodus New Caribbean Program Premiers on NY TV Exemption for Antigua Nurses More Complaints About CARICOM Grenada Goofs: Anthem Mixup Windies Selectors to Mull Over CWC Squad More Cricket World Cup Semis Tickets on Sale JA Airport Revamp Won't Be Ready for Cup Celebrating Bob Marley with Food & Fashion CARICOM Single Space Travel Begins Caribbean Tops Prisoner's List AIDS Discrimination in the Caribbean Whaling Showdown Likely Record Year for Global Tourism Five Killed by Jamaican Police Four Dead in Haiti UN Operation   | | | | |