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CARICOM chairman Roosevelt Skerrit said the region body should try to help to make travel within the region "a joy rather than a hassle," as he addressed the opening ceremony of the 45th Regular Meeting of Caricom Heads at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain on Monday. He was roundly applauded by those present.
Skerrit said, "We are aware of the challenges making air and sea transport more efficient and affordable."
The Dominican Prime Minister said the region looks to Caricom to alleviating these challenges. He urged partnerships in this regard.
Skerrit underlined the importance of regional transportation by saying that the backbone of integration was in fact the movement of people and goods in the region.
He admitted that initiatives in transportation require investment and confidence but said an economic pay-off would come by way of improved opportunities and improved travel options. "Entrepreneurs must look for opportunities in the transportation sector and be there for the long haul."
Skerrit paid tribute to Caricom's longevity on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, hailing it as the longest-surviving integration movement in the developing world. He said globally, it was second in longevity only to the European Union (EU.) He urged, "We must all say, 'I am Caricom'".
However, Skerrit warned Caricom supporters to not let the symbols of the organisation distract from its substance and the requisite heavy lifting.
He called for free movement, removal of non-tariff barriers to trade and affordable transport, within the region.
"Let's take decisions that are truly transformative, for the next 50 years," he urged.
He asked aloud what was preventing the region being a single domestic space include free travel.
Outgoing Caricom chairman Phillip Edward Davis, who is Bahamas prime minister, earlier hailed Caricom's successes. He said after the recent Caricom Crime Symposium in TT, Caricom had declared war on illegal guns and called on the United States to take action on this. Davis said Caricom's entreaties to the US to help curb the trafficking of drugs, guns and migrants had begun to bear fruit. He said US Vice President Kamala Harris had shown her commitment to Caricom on her visit to a recent Caricom heads meeting in Bahamas. Lamenting the crisis in Haiti, Davis declared, "None of us can be safe until we are all safe."
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