Caricom has initiated a political task force to craft specific regional responses to the current economic crisis, and has identified President Bharrat Jagdeo to lead the body.

Ralph Gonsalves

Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves made the disclosure at the Conference of the Heads of Government which wrapped up here yesterday.

The political task force, the first within the region, is mandated to mobilize resources internationally within the context of Norman Girvan’s strategic vision. It is also expected to identify certain specific areas in which regional leaders can move forward in a coordinated and more focused manner.

Prime Minister Gonsalves and other regional leaders including Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Patrick Manning, Barbados’s Prime Minister David Thompson and Jamaica’s Prime Minister Bruce Golding have been named to work along with Jagdeo. However, other leaders are expected to fill positions on the task force.

Gonsalves told reporters that Dr DeLisle Worrell, Director of the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance, would be “at the centre” of the task force. Worrell is a former senior economist with the International Monetary Fund and former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados.

He said too that joining Dr Worrell is the Secretary-General of Caricom, the Director General of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Governor of Eastern Caribbean Currency Union.

Further Gonsalves noted that the task force is hoping to commence work soon, and he made the point that no additional resources would be required for its functioning. He also drew a comparison saying that the OECS had pushed ahead with a similar idea much earlier and “has been doing good work”.