Caption: Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Sean Sobers. Photo: T&T Parliament
Summary
- Excluded from Vote: The Trinidad and Tobago government claims it was entirely excluded from the meeting and decision-making process that led to the re-election of CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett.
- Second Term Confirmed: CARICOM Chairman Dr. Terrance Drew recently announced that Barnett, a Belizean national, secured the ‘required majority’ for a second five-year term starting in August.
- Funding Threat: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has distanced her government from the appointment and threatened to withdraw T&T’s financial support for the regional body.
- ‘Irreparable Harm’: CARICOM and Foreign Affairs Minister Sean Sobers condemned the ‘surreptitious’ nature of the vote, stating it violates the Treaty of Chaguaramas and damages the institution’s credibility.
- Largest Contributor: T&T officials reminded the region that the country provides 22 percent of CARICOM’s annual budget, demanding transparency, accountability, and respect for its contributions.
THE Trinidad and Tobago government on Friday reiterated its position that it was “not invited” to the deliberations that led to the re-election of Dr Carla Barnett as the Secretary-General of the 15-member regional integration movement, CARICOM.
“I emphatically put on the record… that Trinidad and Tobago was not invited by email, telephone, or in person to that meeting where that particular decision was made,” CARICOM and Foreign Affairs Minister Sean Sobers told Parliament.
Earlier this week, in a brief statement, CARICOM Chairman and St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew said that Barnett, a Belizean national, had been re-appointed to the position for another five-year term. The statement noted that the re-appointment was approved by “the required majority” of CARICOM leaders at their summit in Basseterre late last month. It gave no further details regarding the number of regional leaders who cast their vote in support of Barnett, adding only that she will begin her second term in August of this year.
However, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who left the Basseterre meeting prior to the retreat of regional leaders on Nevis, has since distanced her government from the appointment and has threatened to withdraw funding for CARICOM.
In a detailed statement to Parliament, Sobers said Persad-Bissessar “is not a coward” and had attended the CARICOM summit, articulating “quite boldly in her statement to the entire world the shortcomings of the Caribbean Community… as it is constituted in its current format.”
“I only hope that other leaders, both regionally and internationally, would have the same temerity to provide frank, open, and honest positions on similar issues,” Sobers said. He added that citizens throughout the Caribbean Community must have confidence in the manner in which all organs of CARICOM operate.
“CARICOM must operate transparently and in accordance with the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. Accordingly, the surreptitious nature in which the Secretary-General of CARICOM was allegedly reappointed has done irreparable harm to the institution,” he stated.
Notwithstanding the dispute, Sobers noted that Trinidad and Tobago remains committed to the revitalisation of CARICOM—particularly the operations of the CARICOM Secretariat—to ensure “it is fit for purpose and addresses the needs of the people of the region.”
He emphasized that Port of Spain appreciates the importance of the CARICOM market to the local and regional private sector, especially given that Trinidad and Tobago is both the largest importer of CARICOM goods and the largest exporter to the region.
“The role of the government of Trinidad and Tobago is to ensure and safeguard the interests of all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. We must demand that this country be afforded the respect it deserves, especially because we have been the largest contributor to CARICOM’s budget since its inception, which now stands at 22 per cent of the annual budget,” Sobers said.
To illustrate this, Sobers outlined some of the major annual payments made by Trinidad and Tobago (One TT dollar = US$0.16 cents) to regional institutions. These include:
- TT$35.5 million to the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat;
- TT$25 million to the Barbados-based CARICOM Development Fund;
- TT$1.4 million to the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA);
- TT$16.1 million to the Trinidad-based CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS);
- TT$10.3 million to the Barbados-based Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC);
- TT$14 million to the Trinidad-based Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA);
- TT$23 million to the Caribbean Industrial Research Institution;
- TT$1.3 million to the Suriname-based CARICOM Competition Commission.
“Mr. Speaker, we are a country that abides by the rules of CARICOM. We conduct our business with transparency and accountability, and we expect the same from all within the community,” Sobers concluded.
Barnett, an economist, originally became the eighth CARICOM Secretary-General on August 15, 2021, following a “unanimous appointment” by regional leaders. (CMC)
