The Tribune

NEXT week The Bahamas will host the 26th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) at the Melia resort.

These meetings, set for February 26 and 27, will be preceded by a meeting of the regional foreign ministers.

Matters on the agenda for The Bahamas will be the need to leverage CARICOM’s human, cultural and natural assets for the economic development of the community.

“On the issue of regional security, and particularly in light of the threat of the Islamic State of Iran and Syria (ISIS), the Council of National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSOLE) will convene a meeting to consider the briefings of the commissioners of police and intelligence agencies on this threat,” Prime Minister Perry Christie, CARICOM chair, said.

Mr Christie also said that “in light of our local immigration reform efforts which are very different from the denationalisation of Dominicans of Haitian descent by a court ruling of the Dominican Republic Constitutional Court in September 2013, CARICOM must engage in political dialogue and contact with the Dominican Republic.”

Other agenda items for consideration and discussions are: Principles to guide the identification of CARICOM candidates for international positions; the establishment of the CARICOM Committee of Ambassadors; revision of emoluments and proposed pension rules for judges of the Caribbean Court of Justice; financing of the CARICOM Secretariat and community institutions; reparations for native genocide and slavery; financing and composition of The Marijuana Commission; discussions on how the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) can support the development of agriculture in the Community and relations with the Dominican Republic.