Dear Editor,
On the side of the Caricom Youth conference currently being held at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, the Secretary General was asked to comment on the no-confidence situation in Guyana. Instead of addressing the real matter of the legal passage of the no-confidence motion on December 21, 2018, and the subsequent reaffirmation of the Speaker to that ruling and motion, the SG instead choose to hide behind the court case, taking the safe way like the Government. He indicated that the democratic process of the court is at work. Mr SG, what about the democratic and constitutional process of the no-confidence motion being passed by a majority decision of Guyana’s Parliament. Why not give credence to this rather than taking the tail end of the court which for all intents and purposes is a delaying tactic to stall the legal and constitutional process of lawful elections in 90 days.
This approach is exactly why Caricom, for all wants and purposes has deemed a failure in many ways and list a few:
1. The Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) has been a talk-shop for over three decades and is nowhere close to fruition. Similar is the single currency.
2. Free movement of people and skills is still a big hoax.
3. West Indies cricket in crisis and yet, no action by Caricom.
4. Travel in the region even by regional carriers is so expensive, it’s cheaper to go north than some Caricom countries.
5. The CCJ is also a failure – only three or four member states have signed on to CCJ. The SG’s own home country has refused to sign on to the CCJ.
Caricom is run by a few elites who are privileged to get a job there and contributes very little to any sensible deliverable. It’s a big social organisation with very little impact on economic issues and solving the region’s problem. If Guyana is to do a tally on the number of monies that go towards supporting the secretariat and the duty-free concessions given to staff, that will be more than enough to give Public Servants a handsome increase.
So again, Caricom needs to take an impartial role in Guyana’s political situation and call it for what it is. Don’t skirt behind the issue and say it’s democracy at work.
Sincerely,
Pauline Wong
