CATEGORY: COMMENTARY
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By Lloyd Noel

“We are not yet ready, and the stakes at risk in trying to prove me wrong are simply too high. As Leaders, you may have awoken from your slumber late in the day - but better late then never.”



About three or four weeks ago when Sir Ronald Sanders was delivering his lecture on the CSME in Barbados, while he is widely respected and his
commentaries are very seriously considered by all who read them - including your humble servant - I doubt he could have been anticipating the extent of the reaction his comments on that occasion engendered.

But whether he did, or not, some very useful responses have been forthcoming on the one hand; and on the other hand, the widespread reaction
clearly demonstrated that there is a deep-seated un-easiness fermenting through out the Region - surrounding both the CSME and CCJ and their
possible impact on our peoples’ lives generally.

And my own reading of the responses I have seen, and the discussions I have had with individuals who contacted me, is that the powers-that-be up and down the Region, do have a whole lot of groundwork to cover - if they really and truly want those Institutions to be implemented and to succeed.

Having read the comments by Sir Ronald, I wrote my response under the heading .... ‘To wait or not to wait on promises.’ And that was primarily
concerned with the suggestion, that the OECS Governments should join the CSM(E) by the 30th June, 2006, as agreed - without waiting on the promised Regional Development Fund (RDF) to be implemented.

My position was, that because of our Caribbean history of endless promises that never got fulfilled - our OECS Leaders should not go all the way with the CSME until the RDF is a reality. And furthermore, while they are waiting on the Fund coming on stream - they should also work out a more satisfactory scheme on the issue of the free movement of people or labour.

I was quite surprised at the interest my response initiated around the Region. A Bajan Radio Station was the first to call, asking for an interview
for a mid-day broadcast on the Tuesday the article appeared on the Internet; and later on the same day, a couple regional papers sought my permission to re-produce the article in their local papers - which I readily agreed to.But the most challenging response came from Dr. Isaac Newton, a Caribbean
Consultant and Political Advisor who does extensive work in West Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, and who has published several books on personal development.

I have seen articles by him on the internet, and I have a great regard for his vision and commentaries on Caribbean matters, and the role of the media in the political pressures we have to operate under.

Dr. Newton’s position was that my cautionary words did not fail to reflect the current risks that Regionalism entails, but that it subscribe to a
hidden transcript of mistrust, and lack of self confidence amongst Caribbeaners, historically and contemporary. And he cautioned, that if this is not overcome then there is little hope and promise for a positive Caribbean future. He favours concrete forms of hope and optimism; and he questions whether we can or cannot engineer the future of the Caribbean.

I too share the visions and hopes, and I have no doubt that we possess the talent, and skills, and scholarship to provide the means to better the lives of our people. What concerns me is whether those holding the reins of power are in possession of the political and moral will, to harness the above talents and so provide or establish the kinds of enduring institutions to safeguard our
Regional interests.

The people who become politicians in our Region, and therefore wield the power to make the difference that can bring about the changes required to cement a positive Caribbean future - they seem to change their outlook, and bury the high values they espouse while out of power, the moment they take over the captaincy of the ship of state - or soon thereafter.

And that is where our major problem resides, amidst all the high hopes, and aspirations, and dreams of a better life and unified Caribbean Region.Those guys do and say things, and take decisions behind closed doors that are so way out of groove - that when seen thereafter it makes even ordinary thinking individuals wonder about their sanity, never mind their rationality.

And of course, unless you are saying or writing what they want to hear - you dare not question their decisions or criticize their actions and
statements, even when they are all patently outside the people’s interest.So that those who ignore their threats, and their cheap political platform bad-talking, and say it as we see it - in an effort to bring them back on the straight but narrow pathways of sensible, and reasonable, and
transparently right-thinking statesmen - we soon discover that we are classified as being against progress.

It is against that kind of background, therefore, that so many are belatedly questioning the decisions surrounding the CSME and the CCJ. Not
because we do not believe that an integrated and unified Caribbean is the way to combat the odds stacked against mini-states like ours on the global stage - but because the preparatory work was not done, and to take the plunge, when it is so obvious that the tides are raging against our already fragile economic small boat, is, in my view, equivalent to financial and
fiscal suicide.

And even more disturbing, from a democratic stand point, is the fact that the people of the Region were not even consulted before the final decisions
were taken. And to add political insult to dictatorial injury, having inaugurated both the CCJ and the CSM(E) - those in authority are not even bothering in any serious way to try and sell the ‘done deal’ to the people, but instead they are engaging in a war of rhetoric, by attempting to categorise the doubters as labouring under a Slavish Colonial mentality.

I noticed that the St. Lucian Hotelier and Economist, Allen Chastanet, in responding to a statement by the Dominican Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerritt, reiterated his position that the CSME has nothing of value for the OECS, in its current form.

And when the said Prime Minister blandly stated that there is a determination on the part of Caribbean Leaders and the people of the
Caribbean to move ahead with the integration process - Mr. Chastanet replied that there was no referendum anywhere in the OECS on the matter of the CSME or CCJ, and he felt that the people of the Region should have been engaged before moving ahead.

I fully agree with that position, and also with the fear that our vulnerable OECS mini-economies will be engulfed by the big Four MDCs - and
that is a recipe for disaster rather than integration and unification. And further up the Islands, in Jamaica, the opposition spokesman on
justice, Mr. Delroy Chuck, was even more critical of the CCJ President, Hon. Michael de la Bastide, who had delivered a scathing attack on the Privy
Council Judges who had ruled in favour of the Opposition in Jamaica, in a Constitutional objection to Jamaica joining the CCJ, based on three Acts of Parliament passed by simple majority.

Mr. Chuck insisted that the President was out of Order with the remarks he had made, and suggested that he sounded more like a Politician than a Judge; and I may add, especially so for the Head of what is expected to be the Final Court of Appeal in the Region; and who, incidentally, gets appointed to that position by the Prime Ministers of CARICOM, rather than by the Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission (RJLSC) which is responsible for appointing the other Nine Judges of the CCJ.

I have been favoured with a copy of the whole speech, delivered by the President of the CCJ in Jamaica on the 16th May, 2006 - at the Seventh
William G. Demas Memorial Lecture - and after taking some time to study it, I will endeavour to review the contents objectively, and without recourse to the reports from the Jamaican Gleaner Newspaper that criticised the President.

But having said all the foregoing, about the amended Treaty and the possible effects on the Region as whole - I cannot help lamenting further
on the resounding silence of our own Government in these Spice Isles, even when we are counting down the days to the June 30th deadline for the OECS
Governments to sign up and formally join the CSM(E).

With all those negative comments and widespread concerns cropping up all over the place - one would have thought that at least there could have been a session in Parliament for debating the topics and carrying the debate live on T/V and Radio for the benefit of the public. But no such luck; whatever is happening is taking place in private behind closed doors - as though it
is not the people’s business, with no right for them to know.

In addition to the kinds of people who end up as politicians, and those who start off with all good intentions and abandon such goodness along the way - on the altars of greed or graft or power - we also have the chronic disease stemming from the quality of the people those politicians choose to appoint, to administer the various systems of Government.

And if we begin with the most fundamental and significant pillars of a truly democratic and civilized Society, viz. The Rule of Law and the freedom and human rights of the people - which must be protected and jealously guarded by an Independent and fearless judiciary - we will find so many flaws, and pit falls, and square pegs in round holes, and hangers-on who are mostly concerned with climbing up the Legal ladder by pleasing their political bosses, that we do not need any further evidence to hold conclusively, that we are clearly not ready yet to take the plunge into our Independent Final Appellate Court.

And the grave irony embedded in that sad situation, is not that we do not have brilliant men/women of the highest integrity, whose legal eminence can stand up to anyone in any part of the Commonwealth - but because they are themselves well aware of the quality of politicians they have to deal with, so they stay very far away from offering their services. And as for those who offer themselves, or accept offers to serve - the record speaks volumes.

In case anyone is short of authorities in support of the record - then I suggest you begin in the very Trinidad and Tobago of the CCJ President -
where the Headquarters of the said Court is stationed. And I am sure dozens upon dozens of individuals can add their own experiences in support of the record, right here in the OECS Supreme Court System itself. So please, OECS Leaders, give us a further break.

You have belatedly started a deeper consolidation of what we already have, that we know has been functioning - not perfectly, because nothing is
perfect, but very satisfactorily for our sizes and limitations. I suggest you continue to deepen the process of integration and economic Union a lot more, before you resolve to throw in our OECS lot with the wider Community.

We are not yet ready, and the stakes at risk in trying to prove me wrong are simply too high. As Leaders, you may have awoken from your slumber late in the day - but better late then never.