Former Jamaica PM:

FORMER Jamaica prime minister PJ Patterson said the Caribbean cannot fulfil its destiny of true integration while the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) is confined to its original jurisdiction.

Speaking at the 20th Dr Eric Williams Memorial Lecture on the topic “The promise of Caribbean unity” at the Central Bank Auditorium on Friday night, Patterson asked: “Who could justify before the ‘Doctor’ (Eric Williams) or Norman Manley, that 44 years after our political independence, the vestiges of an external court still remain in our judicial system?

“Is there still doubt that we have the persons of character, learning and ability in the Caribbean to be judges of a court of final adjudication in our own legal affairs?” he asked.

Patterson stressed, however, that strengthening of Caricom governance generally was not going to mean wholesale creation of structures with autonomous powers along the lines of the CCJ. He called for implementation of a timetable for creation of a Caricom passport.

The former prime minister noted that at the level of inter-governmental cooperation, there had been some encouraging fulfilment of the promise of post-federal West Indian unity and cited as examples UWI, CXC, and the Caribbean Development Bank.

He suggested other areas of possible cooperation:

- Joint action in the area of health with outstanding highlights in regional common services in epidemiology and drug testing, and the development of a collective programme to confront the HIV/AIDS crisis.

- Harmonisation of the law programmes which produced model legislation in important areas such as Companies Law and Copyright Law, for use by Member states in development of their respective national legislation.

- Pursuit of functional cooperation among regional airlines.

- Inter-governmental arrangements for collective action to mitigate the impact of disasters, and the operation of joint programmes in hydrology.

- Pooling of resources for joint research in agriculture and creation of an inter-governmental framework for cooperation in fisheries management.

On the issue of economic integration, Patterson noted that intra-Caricom imports and exports rose from nearly US$9.4 million in 1990 to US$23.2 billion in 2004. He said even after making allowance for the dominance of Trinidadian energy exports in intra-Caricom trade, the process has made a favourable impact on broader areas of intra regional production and trade. He said this linked back to the issue of creating high quality jobs and expanding incomes within the region, which must always be one of the fundamental objectives of Caribbean unity.

Patterson said the drive for Carib-bean unity was more than a cry for togetherness and the pooling of resources. “It is a summons to improve the quality of life for our people, to facilitate economic growth while being responsive to social need. It is a call for prosperity, for excellence and for respect,” he said.

Patterson stated that given the perils which traditional Caribbean commodities faced, the region had to build a knowledge economy because of the emergence of new products in world trade, particularly computer-based technology and related growth of international trade in services which now represent more than 50 percent of the value of total trade.

He said one of Dr Williams’ legacies was that he articulated and worked to establish a Trinidad and Tobago in which ownership of resources and policies was in the Trinidadian society and by extension to support Caribbean wide strategies dedicated to the same objective. He said there was no doubt that the region had done well at taking ownership of management of its natural, educational and industrial resources.

“In relation to the enlargement and enrichment of higher education, I see what can be dubbed the Manning model for Trinidad and Tobago providing a major contribution in the spirit of the Eric Williams legacy,” Patterson said.

He added that the region should heartily welcome and support creation and maintenance of a strong national higher education institution with a focus on the scientific, technical/technological areas most relevant to the Trinidad and Tobago economy.

Patterson stated Caricom should loom large in people’s minds as an instrument to create and protect quality jobs within the region, through which people can secure at reasonable cost the basic goods and services necessary to sustain life above the level of brute existence. He added that Caricom must also provide a scope for a “robust sense of collective identity” which would “enable us to mitigate the threat of marginalisation we might otherwise face as small countries”.

On the issue of political integration, Patterson said encouragement should be given to two or more Caricom members who want to advance into political union.

“I daresay this would only redound to the strengthening of regional unity, while at the same time altering the number of states in the Community,” he said.

Patterson was lavish in his praise of Eric Williams, saying he contributed significantly to the liberation of his people and the building of a nation. Stressing that Williams helped to enhance the sense of self worth and pride of the Caribbean people, Patterson added: “He was undoubtedly a complex personality of tremendous endowment, intellectual and otherwise. He was idiosyncratic, charismatic and sometimes mystifying.”