Dominica’s CARICOM shopping list

ROSEAU, Dominica, Sept 24  – The Dominica government today provided a shopping list that Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries should examine as efforts continue to deepen the regional integration movement.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, speaking to reporters after his Cabinet met with a delegation from the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat, said the list included the need for hassle free travel, air and maritime transportation, renewable energy and food production among others.
The CARICOM delegation, which is being led by the Officer in Charge of Human and Social development, Myrna Bernard, is winding up a two-day visit exercise as part of a series of consultations across the region gathering information on a five-year strategic plan for CARICOM.
“We made a very strong recommendation to the consultants in that we believe we need to create a single regional information, communication and technology space that should result in low broadband costs and the removal of long distance charges for calls in the region as we have done in the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) in our negotiations with Cable and Wireless,” Skerrit said.
“We believe the same can be done with the broadband to create greater access to ICT for our region because that’s going to be a very critical area in respect to health, education, even with regards to agriculture.
“We believe with this single ICT space, the ICT market will attract some international providers in the region that will improve the technology available and so forth,” Skerrit said. (CMC)