The 29th Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council of Ministers was today held, where several important matters were discussed including the Secretariat’s work programme and budget.
Speaking at the opening ceremony at CARICOM’s Headquarters, Turkeyen, Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRoque said that the Council is meeting at a time when the Community continues to ask hard questions of itself and the role of all its organs, bodies and institutions, against a background of the demand by Heads of Government that its actions must make a meaningful impact on the ground.  
The Council will be given a presentation on proposals for the restructuring of the Secretariat. This is expected to generate positive changes which the Secretary General said must be welcomed by all.
  “Change will have to be managed; it will not be easy; it will definitely require a new mindset; a new way of doing things,” he said.

He explained that while staff members of the Secretariat are hardworking, he questioned if they are organised enough to do what is required. He maintained that there must be a clear understanding that the Secretariat can no longer, “be all things to all persons if we are to be efficient and effective, irrespective of the role identified for us to play.”
  As such there must be prioritisation which must go along with results, accountability, and value for money in reference to the Secretariat, as well as other institutions within the Community in going forward.  
            The functions of this Council are pivotal to the efficient operation of the Community’s integration arrangements; an issue that it has previously sought to address with a view of fulfilling its role as envisaged under the revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
            Discussions by Council of Ministers will also benefit from a review that was undertaken by the Community Council in 2004 at a Retreat.
            “There is no doubt that many of the recommendations from that 2004 review remain valid and relevant.  It is necessary that this Council, a vital cog in the Community wheel, must once again consider its role and functions as we go forward in this current restructuring process,” Ambassador LaRoque said.
            The Revised Treaty states that