At this hour, the Heads of Government from the 15 member States of CARICOM are finishing up their third day of the 27th Inter-Sessional Meeting, which
was held on the Placencia Peninsula. Since Monday, we've been bringing you coverage of meeting as it progressed, and after all the discussions, the
meeting closed by charting the way forward for a number of pressing issues facing the Caribbean Community as a collective.
At an afternoon press conference, Prime Minister Barrow, who is the Interim Chair of CARICOM, sat down with the media along with Secretary General
Irwin LaRocque. They walked the Caribbean press through the resolutions coming out of the conference.
The Secretary General told us that he and the other Heads of Government are pleased with how the meeting unfolded:
Ambassador Irwin LaRocque - Secretary General, CARICOM
"Prime Minister just very briefly to thank you for your kind words first and foremost but also to thank you for your stewardship over our community
from day one of us assuming office you have been in the driver seat. The arrangements made for today, the conductor of the meetings over the past day
and a half I think is exemplary, it's most efficient. You'd be surprise to know the amount of work our heads of government have achieved in a day and a
half. Some of the topics as you have heard are fairly witty but they were dealt with thoroughly and with guides to action."
So, here's the plan of action from CARICOM Heads of Government on a wide range of topics. Prime Minister Barrow outlined them for the media:
Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"On security, we had discussions on the issue of climate security and agree to increase our cooperation and collaboration in this area. Just earlier
today Prime Minister Rowley who has lead responsibility for security in our quasi cabinet was the first to sign a protocol amending our treaty; the
revised Treaty of Chaguaramas to formally establish the Council of National Security and Law Enforcement as an organ of the community impacts is also
now established as an institution of the community and the Sec Gen can explain to you the distinction between those two organism as it were. On Zika we
endorsed a course of action to address the spread of the disease and other diseases born by the way of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito."
"The course of action includes continuous public education. Actions to implement measures that ports of entry, health facilities, schools, private
enterprises such as hotel and tourism facilities, factories, other businesses. Concentrating on their surrounding environments in an effort to try and
do whatever is necessary, fogging, prevention to render them free of Aedes Aegypti breeding. We're also agreed that we will designate the second week
of May as Caribbean Mosquito Awareness week. Governments are being asked to look at an at least temporary reduction of import tax on essential public
health supplies such as insecticide treated bed nets, insect propellant, insecticides for the duration of the epidemic in the region; nobody knows how
long it will last."
"With respect to climate change, we're very pleased that the outcome of the POC 21 and I should make the point that all who was in attendance at POC 21
in Paris agreed that the CARICOM team covered itself in glory and really achieved pretty much every goal that it set out to attain."
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