Call for Founding Fathers of CARICOM to receive region’s highest award posthumously

Published by [email protected] at May 1, 2023

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Posted: Monday, May 1, 2023. 5:46 pm CST.

By Breaking Belize News Staff: Chairman of the Dr Eric Williams Memorial Committee, Reginald Vidale, is calling for the founding fathers of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to be recognized with the region’s highest award posthumously notes the Jamaica Observer. The call comes as CARICOM celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Chaguaramas, which marked the beginning of the regional integration movement. The Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) is awarded to Caribbean nationals whose impact on the economic, political, social and cultural metamorphosis of Caribbean society is extraordinary. Vidale argues that the former leaders of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, who were instrumental in the creation of CARICOM, deserve this recognition.

During a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the 42nd anniversary of the death of Trinidad and Tobago’s first prime minister, Vidale said that the contribution of these leaders to Caribbean unity and purpose was significant, and they should be recognized across the region. According to the Jamaica Observer, Vidale said “They laid a pillar in this Caribbean for Caribbean unity and Caribbean purpose, and as the founding fathers, they must be given due respect”.

CARICOM was formed on July 4, 1973, with the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas by Prime Ministers Errol Barrow, Forbes Burnham, Michael Manley, and Eric Williams. Other Caribbean territories subsequently joined the organization, and currently, there are 15 member states. Haiti is the most recent to have joined, in 2002.

Vidale noted that the recently held regional symposium on crime highlighted the importance of the founding fathers’ vision for unity in addressing issues affecting the region. He stressed the need for CARICOM leaders to come together to collectively solve problems, as this is what the founding fathers would have wanted for the Caribbean integration movement.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley of Trinidad and Tobago has called for the country to become a full member of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), established in 2001 to replace the London-based Privy Council as the region’s final court. Rowley criticized the country’s continued use of the Privy Council, saying that other Caribbean countries have seen the value of the CCJ, and Trinidad and Tobago should not have to wait for the approval of the English court system to adopt it. Trinidad and Tobago is one of only four CARICOM countries that are not full members of the CCJ, which has both an original and appellate jurisdiction.

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