The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) joins in extending to all Guyanese and more so the citizens of the Caribbean warmest greetings and best wishes as we once again observe Caricom Day. This important day which has been set aside to celebrate the unity and fraternity fostered by Caricom also is yet another representation of its member states assertion of their independence and their unstinted goal to promote a Caribbean identity proudly.
We should not fail to recognise that our nation played a decisive role in the foundation of Caricom. Our contribution, in this regard, cannot be delinked from the strong stance by our nation’s leaders in promoting and advocating the integration of the Caribbean. The late Ambassador Odeen Ishmael at a presentation he gave at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre in March, 2004 pointed out that former President Dr Cheddi Jagan “[f]rom the time he entered the political arena in the early 1940s… became a vocal supporter for West Indian unity and backed the decisions of the 1943 Montego Bay conference which determined how the proposed West Indian federation should be shaped and developed.”. We saw too former President Forbes Burnham in August, 1967 speaking at a regional conference pointing out “[e]ither we weld ourselves into a regional grouping, serving primarily Caribbean needs… [e]ither we integrate or we perish, unwept, unhonoured.”
Indeed, when we consider that today Caricom stretches from Bahamas in the North, to Guyana and Suriname in the South, remains a critical voice on behalf of the 6.5 million Caribbean citizens.
The GAWU recognizes recent press reports which brought once again into focus the current state of our efforts to foster closer co-operation and collaboration. Considerably, the time span since the Caribbean Community was launched 46 years ago, we feel that, at this point in time, we should be further along the road than we are at this time.
Though the Region has faced obstacles in its quest to become more integrated, we hold too that we have also come a far way. Today, our people are able to move more freely; several barriers to intra-regional trade have been broken down; we celebrate our achievements in togetherness and unity; and we stand together in tough and difficult times. When we consider from whence we came, the GAWU believes we have moved a great way.
We continue to recognise the importance of integration today, especially, too, as we face several new challenges and continue to face up to those persistent difficulties. There is also now greater need to redouble our efforts to reach the goals our leaders of the past envisioned. This is ever important as we confront a harsher world which for many is looking more inward. We are aware that differences will be ever-present and that our conditions may not always be the same and that circumstances continue to evolve which sometimes push us in other directions. At the same time, we should recall that we stand stronger together and we record our greatest successes when we speak with one collective voice in a democratic environment.
The GAWU again extends sincere wishes as we observe CARICOM Day.
