CARICOM urged to promote CHEAPER Intra-Regional Travel

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

May 23, 2023 – CARICOM Member States are being urged to work towards cheaper intra-regional travel, an issue hindering closer state relationships according to Chet Greene, Antigua and Barbuda Foreign Affairs Minister, who led the call to action saying with shared language and cultures there should be stronger ties.

Greene, the outgoing chair of the Council of Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), expressed that the pillars of regional integration of CARICOM can be ticked off by addressing this issue of regional travel “with the urgency that is required.”

Greene further suggested that workable plans and solutions to provide affordable air and maritime travel should be formulated by Member States and the Secretariat.

“This requires lobbying efforts through the ministries of foreign affairs and overseas missions, friendly nations for developmental assistance.”

Additionally, he egged on the Secretariat to create an environment that will encourage better and stronger community engagement via improved relations.

A Caribbean Community where the talents of the people can be, without hindrance, expressed as well as their innovative capabilities that will contribute to the development of the region, is one outcome of allowing cheaper intra-regional travel as pointed out by Greene.

CARICOM is not like the other institutions of the European Union in that we are separated by sea, Greene said, contributing to the issue of affordable regional travel which has been worsened by the pandemic, hence the need for a quick and effective solution.

He made his appeal at the opening ceremony of the 26th meeting of COFCOR, at the Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston Jamaica, Tuesday May 16th 2023.

As his tenure as Chair of COFCOR comes to an end, Kamina Johnson Smith Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs Trade Minister will take over.

He maintained that the excellent work of CARICOM should be voiced across the region, especially since the organization’s 50th anniversary is coming, the oldest surviving institution in the hemisphere, further referencing the existing need for work in some areas, in this case community relations.