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St. Kitts and Nevis’ PM among Caribbean leaders to speak at CARICOM 31 opening in Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica – St. Kitts and Nevis’ fourth-term Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil l. Douglas is among four Caribbean Heads of Government down to address Sunday’s formal opening of opening of the 31st annual summit of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Prime Minister Douglas, the Caribbean’s most senior head of government, will speak at the opening at the Cornwall Room in Half Moon Village, Jamaica alog with Jamaica’s Prime Minister Hon. Bruce Golding, recently appointed Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Hon. Kamla Persad- Bissessar and the Prime Minister of Dominica and outgoing chairman of CARICOM, Hon. Roosevelt Skerritt.

United Nations Secretary General His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, as well as the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) Managing Director Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the Organisation of American States (OAS) Secretary General, His Excellency Jose Miguel Insulza are expected to be in attendance at the opening ceremony, scheduled for 4:45 pm.


St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas
Photo by Erasmus Williams

CARICOM Secretary General, His Excellency Dr. Edward Carrington and the UN Secretay General are also scheduled to address the ceremony.

Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington listens keenly at yesterday morning’s working session of the 26th meeting of the Community Council of Ministers at the Rose Hall Resort and Spa in Montego Bay. (Photo: JIS)

The meeting, which will get down to serious business at the nearby Rose Hall Hotel and Spa on Monday ends on Wednesday.

The reconstruction and the long-term development of Haiti, which was ravaged by an earthquake in January, will be one of the main agenda topics to be discussed at the conference, to be presided over by Golding.

Golding will assume the role of chairman of the regional grouping for the next six months, as His Excellency Réné Preval, the Haitian president who was slated to become chairman, opted not to do so because of the devastation of his country by the earthquake.

Dr. Carrington has said that Haiti’s destruction “demands that we all pitch in to bolster the efforts of the Haitian people.”

During the four-day conference, the UN, IMF and OAS heads will discuss with CARICOM leaders a range of issues, including the international financial system and its impact on Caricom states, the Millennium Development goals, climate change, crime and security.

Other important topics on the agenda are: progress in the implementation of the Caricom Single Market and Economy; update on the external trade negotiations and the region’s progress in light of the global economic and financial crisis.

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