Above: Barbados PM Freundel Stuart and CARICOM SG Irwin LaRocque
By the Caribbean Journal staff
Barbadian Prime Minister Freundel Stuart urged CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque to identify the existing paramount challenges facing regional integration of the Caribbean in a meeting yesterday in Bridgetown.
LaRocque’s visit to Barbados followed similar missions in St Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda.
Stuart said there was a need to put people’s ideals and passions back into the regional thrust, citing examples like CARIFESTA, cricket and the University of the West Indies, all of which were what he called “unifying forces” but were not part of the region’s productive sector.
LaRocque also paid courtesy calls on Dr Warren Smith, president of the Caribbean Development Bank and Dr Arnold McIntyre, the programme coordinator of the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre.