Consultation Process On Caricom Membership
The Government announced in the 2023 Throne Speech that they will be “initiating a consultation process leading to full membership in Caricom.”
The relevant extract stated, “The vision of former Premier, the Hon. Dame Jennifer Smith was for Bermuda to strengthen the historic, familial, and cultural ties to the Caribbean. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Bermuda’s entry into Caricom as associate members. In this anniversary year, the Government will renew the vision of Dame Jennifer, initiating a consultation process leading to full membership in Caricom.”
Premier Burt at the Conference of CARICOM Heads of Government earlier this year:
According to the Caricom website, “The Caribbean Community [CARICOM] is a grouping of twenty countries: fifteen Member States and five Associate Members. It is home to approximately sixteen million citizens, 60% of whom are under the age of 30, and from the main ethnic groups of Indigenous Peoples, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Chinese, Portuguese and Javanese. The Community is multi-lingual; with English as the major language complemented by French and Dutch and variations of these, as well as African and Asian expressions.
“Stretching from The Bahamas in the north to Suriname and Guyana in South America, CARICOM comprises states that are considered developing countries, and except for Belize, in Central America and Guyana and Suriname in South America, all Members and Associate Members are island states.
“While these states are all relatively small, both in terms of population and size, there is also great diversity with regards to geography and population as well as the levels of economic and social development.”
Screenshot from the previous Caricom site showing the member states:
CARICOM is just another layer of bureaucracy by unelected officials. An excuse to accumulate frequent flyer miles by a select few going to meetings at taxpayer expense.
My favorite: the implementation of the CARICOM-recommended VAT in the Bahamas was a huge fiasco.
CARICOM’s colorful and visually pleasing Strategic Plan 2022-2030 does not contain anything that Bermuda should not have already completed but it is, after all, a “strategic plan.” And it mentions Cyber Security!
Yesh…
Solidifying our membership in Caricom will go a long way to fulfilling the PLP aim of severing our ties to Britain and moving closer to the Caribbean community.
Last time I checked, all five Associate members of CARICOM including Bermuda have direct ties to the UK. The Union Jack on their flags is a clue. Member Montserrat is still an Overseas Territory. Most of the Members have historical, economic, and political ties to the UK.
The big questions are:
1. How does CARICOM membership benefit Bermuda?
2. Why has no Bermuda Government official listed the benefits and costs of becoming a full member?
From what I can see, Bermuda is ahead of member countries in many areas. Do we really need a CARICOM passport? What does Haiti have to offer Bermuda outside of refugees for a workforce?
In a meeting I had pre-covid with a Minister whose name I cannot mention, CARICOM consultants were called in to give an opinion on things Government employees should have already known. Advice from CARICOM consultants was used as an excuse in a decision-making process when the outcome was predetermined by the Minister.
No thank you
What utter nonsense.
Why? We are not anywhere near the Carribean.
Perhaps at the same time, the government can follow-up on its promises to implement the processes necessary to establish Participatory Democracy here in Bermuda. In his pre-election promise in January 2017, Mr. Burt said:
“A More Participatory Democracy – we will implement a process where Initiatives/Petitions that gather a certain threshold of signatures can be placed before parliament for debate or to the country via referendum.
“We will form an independent Commission on Debates to ensure the major issues are discussed in a public forum and are not just limited to prepared speeches in parliament. Our public discourse does not do enough to enlighten voters about the issues and we must do better.”
Come on, Kim. The current system has kept the PLP in power for 20 of the last 25 years. Why would the PLP Government want to change anything?