Barbadian Prime Minister and Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Mia Amor Mottley, has called for a reform of CARICOM’s governance mechanisms.
She raised the issue during her address at the opening of the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, held last week in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Prime Minister Mottley recognized that there may be a need for “a greater political voice alongside the administrative structures of CARICOM as we have come to know it over the past few decades.”
She pointed out several urgent issues, including the climate crisis, full freedom of movement within the region, high living costs, an education system that is “a shambles”, food security, gun violence, and overall crime.
She also underscored the importance of establishing independent funding for CARICOM, stressing that the time has come to address this longstanding issue.
“We have a responsibility to transform this institution. We have spoken for too long as to the need for independent funding mechanisms.”
“Whether it is assessed at the imports, whether it is an issue of a small fee for all border passings; people passing in and out of our borders or whether it is the assignment of renewable energy licenses to CARICOM and our regional institutions, the time is upon us for settling the independent funding of this Caribbean Community,” she said.
Mottley stated: “What is clear is that it cannot be business as usual.”
She urged regional leaders to work together on a shared vision, even if no country gets exactly what it wants. “We must all work for what the people of the Caribbean need,” she said.
