Guyana must take the bull by the horns and lead Caricom’s integration

For more than 80 years now, cricket has been our region’s flagship for integration. Even as the West Indian Federation failed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, cricket carried the flag of integration with distinction. It is ironic, therefore, that at a time when Caricom is poised for even more effective political and economic integration, cricket is failing us. Our disgraceful exit from the qualifying tournament for the upcoming ODI World Cup in India is a result of our cricketing administrators moving away from the integrated approach cricket had benefitted from for more than seven decades. Cricketing governance, for several years now, has been more insular than integrational.
Our flagship for integration long before political integration was born in the Caribbean now needs help to return to the days when cricket was the north star for Caribbean integration. Keith Rowley, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, last week bemoaned the poor performance of the West Indies. Heads of states have a responsibility to rescue cricket. Guyana has an opportunity to take the lead. In a sense, it is our responsibility, because, for decades now, Guyanese cricketers have not had a fair chance because of the insular behaviour of administrators. The days when we stood by our best performers no longer exist. We urge President Ali to use his chance, when he takes over in January 2024 as the Chair of Caricom, to place cricket as one of the priorities of his six-month term. Cricket is not just a sport for us, it is a development issue. Caricom leaders would be abrogating their responsibilities if they continue to just express disappointment.
This week, many have asked whether we should merely observe or celebrate Caricom’s 50TH anniversary. The unequivocal answer is that there are many good reasons for us to celebrate. Not many persons back in 1973 thought that Carifta/Caricom would have survived for 50 years. But Caricom still has the opportunity to shine as an example of multi-country integration and cooperation. Caricom’s 50th is a momentous occasion, reason enough for the UN Secretary-General, the US Secretary of State, and the Prime Minister of South Korea to attend the Caricom Heads of Government Meeting. For certain, the journey has been bumpy, but the vision for integration remains strong and healthy.
Naysayers in each of the member states will cite the many failures. The naysayers will scream that the number one reason for not celebrating the 50th anniversary is the abject failure of free movement in the member states. European citizens can travel freely without restrictions, with no visas required, between countries in Europe. The EU is, of course, the global best practice for multi-country integration. Caricom has harboured this ambition for decades now, and yet free movement of our citizens remains a distant possibility. Guyana allows citizens from Caricom to travel almost without visas. We still require visas from Haiti. Guyana must end the Caricom hypocrisy. The time has come for Guyana to take the bull by the horns and lead by example. We should unilaterally declare visa-free travel for Caricom citizens.
The number two failure is the snail-pace integration of the Region’s final court – the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Guyana is the first country to have adopted the CCJ as its final court. Guyana abolished dependency on the Privy Council. It is not just ironic that most Caricom countries deliberately prefer the Privy Council to the CCJ; it is obscene and hypocritical. For Trinidad and Tobago, where the CCJ is headquartered, and Jamaica to stubbornly depend on the Privy Council is patently a mockery of our struggles to be independent sovereign countries. While only a minority of Caricom countries presently utilize the CCJ as their final court, the jurists that constitute the CCJ have shown that they are second to none in the world. They have made our region proud. Guyana must be insistent that the CCJ must, sooner rather than later, be the final arbiter for legal matters for all Caricom countries. It will be a seal of our independence. Our President must make the call at every Heads-of-State meeting, and our AG should ensure that, at every Caricom meeting for AGs, this is a recurring theme.
While we have a minuscule chance to have a Caricom-wide currency, Caricom’s trade freedom appears to be even more a minuscule possibility. Guyana has a fishy problem – our sea catch is more than we can consume, and we need a market. Caricom imports expensive fish from North America, but refuses to look inwards to support its own. Guyana cannot export honey to Trinidad and Tobago. Our vegetables cannot find a place in supermarkets in Caricom. The reasons are flimsy, and are nothing short of non-tariff barriers. CROSQ, the regional regulatory authority, has not been able to establish common food standards to stop the ravages of tobacco, sugar, salt, and fats.
The naysayers will insist this column has provided fodder to support their argument that we must observe, and not celebrate, Caricom’s 50th anniversary. While acknowledging Caricom’s roadblocks along this five-decade journey, the successes have been many. CARPHA is a shining example of public health integration. We got together on more than one occasion to ensure the Secretary General of the Commonwealth and the Director of PAHO are Caribbean nationals. Hopefully, one day soon we will get together to ensure that the next Secretary General of the UN is a Caribbean national. PM Mia Mottley and VP Bharrat Jagdeo are prime candidates. We hope that President Ali will have the opportunity to make the nomination of one of these persons to be the next UN Secretary General.