Critical CARICOM heads meeting today

Two critical issues are going before CARICOM Heads of government who are
meeting virtually today to make decisions on these issues; the ongoing instability
that exists in Haiti and the decision on the freedom of movement within the
community.
The meeting is the Thirty-Sixth Inter-Sessional where the Chairman of the
Conference of Heads of Government, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, President of the
Cooperative Republic of Guyana, will preside.
A four-member team from Antigua and Barbuda will participate in the virtual
meeting. The delegation will be led by Prime Minister, Gaston Browne and will
include, Foreign Affairs Minister, E.P Chet Greene, CARICOM Ambassador, Dr.
Clarence Henry and Senior Foreign Service Officer, Kurt Williams.
Dr. Henry said the meeting is ‘Decision Day’ for the Community as the heads are
expected to discuss at length a report prepared by the Inter-Governmental Task
Force and reviewed by the Legal Affairs Committee for the implementation of the
decision of the Conference to work towards free movement of all community
nationals. This has been one of the most topical subjects that came out of this
month’s 46 th Conference of the Heads of Government where Antigua and Barbuda
indicated that it will maintain the current Skills Certificate regime and delay the
implementation of the full freedom of movement.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne is on record indicating that the country cannot
make that move at this time as it would cause undo strain on the social systems
such as healthcare and education.
The other critical issue is will be a report on the attempts to work towards finding
lasting solutions to the Haitian crisis. This week, CARICOM Heads, meeting under
the chairmanship of Dr Ali, were able to get the Haitian Prime Minister Dr. Ariel
Henry to resign, paving the way for setting up of an interim National Council.
The meeting will also hear an update on the preparations to host the World Cup
T20 matches in six Caribbean territories.