Regional leaders meeting in Trinidad

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Sept 17, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders are meeting in Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday to discuss issues aimed at achieving growth within the 15-member regional grouping.
The one-day meeting of the CARICOM Bureau is being attended by Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, his St. Vincent and the Grenadines counterpart, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Haiti’s President Michel Martelly and the host Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, who is also the CARICOM Chair person.
At their last summit here in July, the regional leaders had agreed to establish a committee to consider the economic situation facing member states and the region.
The committee has also been given the mandate of advancing a programme for achieving growth and in preparation, the CARICOM Secretariat has compiled a comprehensive programme document for their consideration.
Other topics on the meeting’s agenda include transportation in the region and the role of the Bureau in the reform process within the Community.
Prime Minister Gonsalves has also written to CARICOM leaders urging that the decriminalisation  of marijuana for medicinal purposes be discussed at the meeting in Port of Spain.