President Ramotar arrives in Suriname for CARICOM Heads meeting
Georgetown, GINA, March 8, 2012
Minister of Foreign Affairs in Suriname Winston Lakin and a welcoming delegation escorting President Donald Ramotar and First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar upon their arrival at the Zorg en Hoop airport for the 23rd Inter Sessional Conference of the CARICOM Heads of Government.
Guyana’s Head of State Donald Ramotar arrived at the Zorg en Hoop airport in Suriname one day ahead of what promises to be a crisp 23rd Inter Sessional Conference of the CARICOM Heads of Government.
He was accompanied by First Lady Deolatchmee Ramotar and a small delegation that included Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee, Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General, Anil Nandlall and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony.
West Indies icon and chairman of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) Clive Lloyd is also part of the Guyana delegation to the CARICOM conference which has on the agenda the issue of governance of cricket at the national, regional, and international levels.
The IMC was set up following a recommendation by the Chief Justice for the Guyana Government’s intervention into the imbroglio surrounding the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB).
The conference of CARICOM Heads will be a debut for President Ramotar who only last December was installed as Guyana’s new Head of State after the People’s Progressive Party was re-elected following the November 28 General and Regional Elections.
Upon his arrival, President Ramotar and his delegation were warmly welcomed by Surinamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Lakin in the Presence of Director General in Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Elisabeth Harper and Guyanese Ambassador to Suriname, Keith George, among others.
The conference of Heads of Government under the Chairmanship of Desi Bouterse, will be held during the period March 8 and 9 and will prioritise the appraisal of Landell Mills’ review of the CARICOM Secretariat and the strategic direction of the 15-member Community, sustainable development, including climate change, joint economic ventures for the establishment of CARICOM enterprises, regional air transportation and matters affecting Community relations, particularly CARICOM support to Haiti and crime and security in the region.
A website launch of Suriname’s CARICOM Youth Ambassadors and the presentation of the Caribbean family game “Caribo”, a reception and cultural event hosted by the Surinamese President and the launching of the Regional Sports Academy are among the activities planned for the conference’s side events.
President of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, Pro tempore of the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States (CELAC) will be the special guest at the meeting.
Suriname’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Lakin greets President Donald Ramotar at the Zorg en Hoop airport in Suriname. Guyana’s Ambassador to Suriname Keith George looks on
Today, the Community Council of Ministers for which Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett is a participant, met to discuss the Landell Mills review of the CARICOM Secretariat and make recommendations for tomorrow’s conference.
The proposal for a turnaround of the Secretariat, particularly the principal administrative body, emanated from a review commissioned by Heads of Government at their 31st Regular Meeting held in Jamaica in 2010.
This is President Ramotar’s second state visit to the Dutch speaking south American country. He recently visited following an invitation by President Bouterse for discussions on expanding the scope of the two countries’ relations.