Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 09, 2009 News
– Dr. Carrington
Public servants must be made aware of their integral role in advancing the objectives and implementing the decisions of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Secretary-General Dr. Edwin Carrington said yesterday.
He was at the time addressing the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Centre for Development Administration (CARICAD) which has convened for its 29th meeting at the CARICOM Secretariat.
CARICAD focuses, through various interventions, on upgrading and strengthening the managerial capability of the public sector for the more effective implementation of public policy across the region.
Since its establishment in 1980, CARICAD has been working to advance public sector reform, particularly in providing technical assistance to support member governments in their quest to improve efficiency through initiatives which seek to transform and modernize the public sector.
While acknowledging the use of technology in improving the efficiency of the public sector and in connecting the region, Secretary-General Carrington noted that the other core factor of the regional integration arrangements was the human resource of the Community.
Emphasising the critical role of the public service in advancing regional integration, Dr. Carrington added that public officers were at the forefront, in a position to make a difference, whether negative or positive.
“Unless there is a commitment to the idea of regional integration by the people on the frontline, no amount of technology will move the process forward,” he stated.
It was against this backdrop, the Secretary-General said, that the Conference of Heads of Government at its 30th Regular Meeting had agreed on the importance of training and sensitising of public officers, particularly immigration officers.
Dr. Carrington however added that this training and sensitising does not only apply to immigration officers but to all public officials, and this was critical, he added, since the implementation of the Community’s decisions ‘lies essentially in the province of Member States.’
“The CARICOM Secretariat and the regional institutions which have their role in facilitating and co-ordinating, cannot implement at the national level; whether it is in agriculture, free movement, contingent rights, security and investment,” he said.
The Secretary-General added that there must be an understanding and acceptance that national goals are not distinct from the Community’s goals, and that there was no contemplation of replacing the national public services with a gigantic regional public service.
“The objective is for a seamless space that will strengthen the parts to ensure a solid whole,” he stated.
To achieve this goal, the Secretary-General posited that national public services across the Community should all be operating on the same basic principles in the conduct of their duties.
The work of CARICAD became more significant in establishing coherence and harmonisation among its stakeholders to redound to the benefit of the integration process, he added.
“Our quest for a viable, prosperous, secure and sustainable community for all, requires all hands on desk,” Dr. Carrington said.
CARICAD has a current membership of 14 countries: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos Islands are associate members.
JAGDEO ADDING MORE DANGER TO GUYANA AND THE REGION
Apr 18, 2024
SportsMax – West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has been named Wisden’s leading Twenty20 Cricketer for 2023, as she topped all and sundry, including her male counterparts. Alan Gardner looks...Kaieteur News – Compliments of the Ministry of Education, our secondary school children are being treated to a stage... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]