St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew says the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) “stands at a crossroads” with myriad challenges including adequate transportation within the region.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the 44th CARICOM summit in The Bahamas on Wednesday night, Drew, one of three newly elected heads of government, said it is difficult for the Caribbean countries to extoll the virtues of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that facilities the free movement of goods, services, persons, capital, and technology “without addressing the proverbial “elephant in the room” – intra-regional transport.
“The reality is that it is too difficult and too costly for the people of the region to move and enjoy the benefits of true integration within the single space which has been created for them to do so at optimal levels.”
He said coming to this meeting in The Bahamas is an example of a disconnect between the countries, noting that a number of delegations had to transit through Miami, and perhaps overnight there before flying to a sister CARICOM-member destination.
“It should take less than 24 hours to move from country to country within our region. Compared to developed countries with highly developed transport means and modalities, the Caribbean remains at a disadvantage in realizing the benefits of the CSME that the framers of the CARICOM Treaty envisaged”.
Terrance Drew noted for example that moving from New York to Washington in the United States “takes a mere four hours by car, and less than two hours by aircraft,” adding “the contrast is a stark reality of the challenge we face on an ongoing basis.”
Since the demise of the Antigua-based LIAT (1974) Limited, which entered into administration in July 2020 following increased debt and the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, travel between the Caribbean has become a significant headache.
The airline is owned by the governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines. A downsized version of the carrier has been operating a reduced schedule with a limited workforce since November 2020.
At their last summit in Suriname in July, regional leaders agreed on a new modern Multilateral Air Services Agreement (MASA) that will allow for a new framework within which air transportation will operate in the region.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said then that countries, particularly those in the Eastern Caribbean, and even Trinidad and Tobago were being severely affected by the loss of thousands of seats “because LIAT as it was is no longer before us”.
Media reports last week noted that representatives of regional countries who met in St. Lucia, failed in their latest attempt to revive the airline.
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