NASSAU, Bahamas — SO CARICOM came, and CARICOM went – and while there may have been some bumps at the outset, now that it’s all done, what was achieved?, Malcolm Strachan asked in the lead paragraph of his INSIGHT commentary in The Tribune on Monday, February 20.
Continuing he added: First of all, those bumps – starting with the protest led by Lincoln Bain and his band of supporters. Mr Bain announced ahead of time there would be a protest, and I suspect he got the outcome he wanted. Police seemed to play into his hands with the manner in which it was dealt with. He was arrested and promptly made claims that he was abducted – even though he has been charged already in court with unlawful assembly. He was not the only one charged – 17 others also faced court on Friday.
The incident also apparently saw a police officer snatch a phone from a Tribune reporter and threaten to arrest one of the newspaper’s photographers.
If the government was keen to ensure the spotlight remained on the Prime Minister’s opening speech, then this was not the way they would have hoped for the event to start.
But once under way, how significant was the conference for The Bahamas?
Such events are often underestimated by the public. Gatherings such as this are an opportunity to make progress face-to-face on projects that have long been in the works.
An example that might not make too many headlines are the efforts to reduce food import costs, with Agriculture Minister Clay Sweeting able to meet the assistant director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, Mario Lubetkin, to improve efforts in that regard.
Will that push us toward that goal? We shall see the outcome in the months ahead – but these events can be stepping stones toward such targets. Already, the FAO is helping the ministry to qualify for $10m in funding. That might not go far, but it can certainly help.
The biggest changes though seemed to revolve around Haiti, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the forefront.
Extra sanctions were announced, and Mr Trudeau committed Canadian naval ships to assist the Haitian police.
Already, Canada has been flying surveillance planes over Haiti to get a better idea of gang presence in the nation, and the navy vessels will reportedly assist with surveillance.
He stressed, however, that those vessels will not be there to intercept migrants, but simply to assist with controlling gang activity. See the full INSIGHT commentary in The Tribune at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2023/feb/20/insight-wait-and-see-if-caricom-was-success/
