Pictured here are the Prime Ministers of the Eastern Caribbean States. The 40th Meeting of the OECS Authority held in Tortola last week was a huge success         [photo GIS/Rick Evans]

 40TH OECS MEETING WAS A HUGE SUCCESS

"We appreciated the support the BVI government has shown us, and we are happy to see that the BVI is moving from being a passive member to an active member. We had an excellent meeting here in the BVI, one that was filled with substance," announced Mr. Kenny Anthony Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Chairman of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). He went on to say that the OECS heads of Government were able to settle a number of important issues and some major decisions were made. In addition they also exchanged views with the President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Mr. Anthony said that at the meeting they reviewed the constitution of all of the member states to ensure that there was unity at a national level. There was a serious look at the regionalization of Police and Prisons to assist member states to fight crime, especially transnational crime such as money laundering and drug peddling which they know cannot be solved locally. Other problems include corruption in the Police force in the region, and a local intervention by member states was suggested.

The Organization's agricultural sector was also discussed and the opportunity to review the prospects of the banana and sugar industry were examined.

Mr. Anthony said "we also dealt with the very vexing issue of refugee applications made by citizens from Caribbean and OECS citizens to the Canadian Government. We do not believe that the conditions exist in the Caribbean that will qualify persons to apply for refugee status and it was for this reason that the Organization requested that the procedure for granting refugee status to these persons be reviewed".

Discussions were also made on issues such as the arrears of Member States and the plight of Grenada.

The Chairman of the OECS said that the issue of the Eatern Caribbean passport was restrained so that Caricom can develop their initative for a Caricom passport. He said that the OECS will give Caricom up to next year July and if they still haven't produced their Caricom passport then the OECS will produce their OECS passport.