Happy CARICOM Day!

Did you know that July 4 is celebrated as CARICOM Day in the Caribbean? CARICOM, which stands for Caribbean Community, is an intergovernmental political and economic union which consists of fifteen member and five associate states. The Treaty of Chaguaramas was signed on July 4, 1973 in Chaguaramas, Trinidad & Tobago and signified the start of CARICOM. In celebration of fifty years, today has been declared a national holiday in several Caribbean islands (unfortunately not in Jamaica though!).

There are still mixed feelings by many Caribbean nationals about CARICOM since its members are “unequally yoked” in many ways– geographic location, size, population, resources and more. However, I’m a firm believer in and supporter of CARICOM because we stand so much more to gain from unity than division. For starters, all 15 CARICOM full members are classified as developing countries and we have a far way to go where “development” is concerned. Plus, we have a common history, climate, geography, culture and more. Thus, today in recognition of CARICOM Day, I will highlight five achievements of CARICOM and share why I love my wider Caribbean region as fiercely as I love Jamaica.

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As an aside: What we need now is affordable interregional travel! I always lament that it is significantly cheaper for Jamaicans to travel to the USA or Canada than it is to travel to another Caribbean island. I get that our populations are perhaps too small for airlines to find interregional travel profitable, but perhaps if more of us were interested in exploring our Caribbean neighbours, things would change.

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1. University of the West Indies (UWI)

The University of the West Indies is a public university which began in Jamaica in 1948 on two former sugar plantations, the Papine Estate and the Mona Estate. I always marvel at the symbolism. What was once a mark of shame for my people– being a slave on this very soil, is now Oriens Ex Occidente Lux (“A Light Rising From The West”). Today, this regional university spans four islands, namely the Cave Hill campus in Barbados, the St. Augustine campus in Trinidad & Tobago and the Five Islands campus in Antigua & Barbuda. While I attended the UWI in my home country Jamaica, I have made lifelong friends from several islands by attending a regional university. I appreciate the role of UWI in creating and strengthening regional ties.

2. Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC)

The curriculum of the Anglophone Caribbean is modelled from the British school system. However, we have managed to add a unique Caribbean spin to many of our subjects and create our own method of high school assessments. The CXC offers two major exams: The Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate, similar to British O’Levels and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations, similar to British A’Levels.

I consider CXC a success of CARICOM and regional integration because it fostered my love for the Caribbean, as I’m sure it did for many other teenagers. My CSEC literature classes introduced me to regional authors such as Earl Lovelace (Trinidad & Tobago), Derek Walcott (St. Lucia) and Kamau Braithwaite (Barbados). I learnt about the culture of my island neighbours through Caribbean novels– stickfighting, Trinidad Orisha (an African syncretic religion) and more. I also enjoyed my CSEC Caribbean history classes which taught me about the Haitian Revolution, Berbice revolt, emancipation, decolonization and independence from the perspective of the lion and not the hunter. I appreciate that I got to learn about the Caribbean and Black history in school, which is why I want my future children to also get a Caribbean education.

3. Caribbean Single Market & Economy (CSME)

Another success of CARICOM is the ability to move from island to island for work with relative ease. Of course, there are requirements like a clean police record in order to island hop for work, but it’s definitely easier to get a CSME certificate for work than say, a US work permit as a Jamaican national. I’ve never worked outside of Jamaica, but I’m happy to know that the possibility exists without requiring re-certification (e.g. USMLEs). This makes the entire Caribbean my oyster, and I have no objections to moving where the work (and money) is if the need arises. These trade agreements also open up Jamaican businesses to wider markets although on the flip side, we seem to import more from our Caribbean neighbours than we export to them. For example, the most popular snack brands in a Jamaican schoolchild’s lunch kit originate from Trinidad and Tobago! We import Trinidad’s Bermudez, Sunshine Snacks and Holiday products yet I can’t recall seeing any Jamaican snacks for sale when I visited Trinidad in 2019.

4. Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)

The CCJ is a regional court which has replaced the British Privy Council as the final appellate court in many islands. Jamaica has yet to follow suit, but it’s still a hot topic with many people (me included) in support of adopting the CCJ as our highest court. A major win for the CCJ was its ruling in the sensational 2013 Shanique Myrie case, where Shanique (a Jamaican) won her case against the Barbados government after being subjected to an inhumane and unsanitary body cavity search at the Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados. The narrative was that Myrie was discriminated against by Bajan officials because of her Jamaican nationality. It was thought that, if Myrie could receive a fair ruling in a Caribbean court, it seemed as if the CCJ is well-equipped to handle other sensitive cases in a fair and just manner.

5. Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA)

Last but not least, I think another success of CARICOM is CARPHA. CARPHA addresses unique regional issues such as disaster response to hurricanes, earthquakes and flooding, as well as monitoring and managing prevalent diseases such as HIV/AIDS, obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes. CARPHA also played a major role in the region’s response to the recent Covid-19 pandemic. If CARICOM nations are to succeed on the world stage, its members need to be healthy. CARPHA plays a huge role in ensuring the health of the Caribbean people.

Wrap Up

Well, there you have it. July 4 in the Caribbean has major significance. Happy CARICOM Day, and cheers to regional integration and unity. By the way, Happy Independence Day to my American readers too. Have you visited any Caribbean islands? Share your experiences below. If you liked this article, you may also like:

• Six places to visit in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad
• A 5-Day Trinidad itinerary

I have a lot more articles lined up for summer, so subscribe to never miss a beat. Also, shout-out to Julear, my Kittitian friend who inspired this article. 🙂 ‘Til next time.