Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Lucretia Simpson Miller strolled off the red carpet to greet some enthusiastic Jamaicans at the Breakfast Shed, Port-of-Spain, yesterday, moments before she boarded a water taxi on her way to sign the Treaty of Chaguaramas with other regional leaders in T&T for the 34th Caricom Heads of Government Meeting. Among those she greeted were Jamaican citizens Jodian Richardson and Ricardo Phillip.
Shaking her Prime Minister’s hands with pride, Richardson said Caribbean integration was like a dream. “We want to have a single currency and we want people to be able to move more freely throughout the Caribbean,” Richardson said. Phillip also said Caricom was a blessing. “It is good that our leaders are here to sign the accord...We hope that Caribbean people will realise one day that we are one,” he said. Transport Minister Chandresh Sharma, who was passing on Wrightson Road while the dignitaries boarded the ferry, also said Caribbean integration was a work in progress. “Government is making a concerted effort to have co-operation in the areas of commerce, trade, exchange of labour, exchange of training programmes and we are confident that Caricom will stand strong and we will achieve our goals,” he said.
On the issue of a single currency, Sharma said economic concerns would have to be addressed if this is done. “We are not on the same wavelength in terms of what our dollar values are,” he said. Also greeting passersby was Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Dr Ralph Gonzalves. The Treaty of Chaguaramas, signed in 1973, was geared at creating Caribbean unity. It was signed again yesterday by 15 Caricom prime ministers at the Convention Centre in Chaguaramas, where it was also initially signed years ago. Students from more than 20 schools across the country were invited to the historic event.