By MATT MAURA
Bahamas Information Services
ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, July 4, 2017 (BIS) – The challenges and opportunities that face the Caribbean Community can only be fully addressed through collective ingenuity and action, Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Hubert Alexander Minnis told members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Tuesday, July 4, 2017.
This must include involving and accessing the resourcefulness of the Caribbean Diaspora resident on the continents of the world.
Addressing the Opening Session of the 38th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting), Prime Minister Minnis told regional leaders that the responses to the region’s challenges were “not exclusive to the forum or even the political domain.”
“CARICOM is a community of the people we serve, not a club of officials and politicians,” Prime Minister Minnis said. “We must cast our nets far and wide to engage the combined spirit and the collective brain trust of the region. We must blend various languages and accents in order to speak to the world with one voice about the aspirations of our people, and the mission of CARICOM.”
Delivering his inaugural address as a CARICOM Head of Government, Prime Minister Minnis said CARICOM countries will become individually more successful when they become collectively successful.
“Our people will know CARICOM is working for them when they can see, hear, taste and feel it for themselves,” Dr. Minnis said.
Prime Minister Minnis said the organs and institutions needed to deliver better lives for Caribbean nationals already exist within CARICOM.
“Those who came before us bequeathed the instruments to deliver on our promises. We should continue working with those instruments to fashion a modern, proactive institution that is seen to be effective; that is perceived as relevant, and that is acknowledged as beneficial,” Prime Minister Minnis added.
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Prime Minister the Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis addressing the Opening Session of the 38th Regular Meeting of CARICOM in St. George’s, Grenada, July 4, 2017. (Photo/OPM Media Services)
