AGAINST THE BACKDROP of expressed disenchantment with perceived lack of progress on the Caribbean Community's efforts to establish a seamless regional economy, have come stirring calls from officialdom for support for more than completion arrangements for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

The calls, basically to "rally round" CARICOM, have come from the newest prime minister of our 15-member community, Grenada's Tillman Thomas, and one of its newest foreign ministers, Guyana's Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett.

Last week, in addressing a public education symposium, organised by the Community Secretariat to generate greater awareness and understanding of the CSME, Guyana's foreign minister chose to be quite blunt:

"We cannot turn back now from the CSME . . . It is not a question of whether we have seen progress, or whether we can do more, or doing enough. The challenges we face by present world developments make clear the compelling case why our region must act as one . . ."

She acknowledged indications of "disenchantment" over approaches on the CSME project, but suggested that this could well be a result of a "lack of knowledge" among the people of the community, and which problem must be addressed.

The foreign minister also called for a "deepening of the engagement" between decision-makers of the community and the population at large in every jurisdiction, to eliminate what she views as a "top-down approach" in efforts to make a reality of the CSME.

Earlier, addressing a different forum elsewhere, Prime Minister Tilllman Thomas had made a strong plea for the community's governments and people to put aside differences; work steadfastly to make a "success of regional economic integration"; and for cooperation to go beyond the CSME project.

As a first-time prime minister of a now 15-month-old administration, Thomas is reported as having told a town hall meeting in Brooklyn, New York:

"When we look around at what's happening around the world, and in particular, the present global economic crisis, clearly we need to have a more unified regional approach to governance in our region . . ."

The Prime Minister of Grenada was to voice a sentiment that is known to resonate with non-government organisations and civil society in general. That is, the felt need for greater attention to spread the concept of "oneness" among nationals of the community, a development in which the Caribbean diasporas can be of much help.