President Bharrat Jagdeo recently met with Caricom Development Fund (CDF) CEO Ambassador Lorne T McDonnough and Legal Counsel Arden Warne for a briefing on the operations of the Fund.
The Government Information Agency in a release said that the CDF is expected to cushion any shocks faced by smaller and more vulnerable economies and sectors within Caricom with the establishment of the Caribbean Single Market.
After the meeting McDonnough said contrary to reports, the CDF is not ready to start implementation of projects. He explained that in June he had travelled to St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia to assess needs around the Caribbean. McDonnough noted that while the Fund can lead on a few projects, the onus will be on parties from the various Caricom countries to put forward requests for funding. He intimated that the CDF will begin accepting these requests shortly.
According to the release the ambassador assumed his post on November 1 at the CDF Headquarters in Bridgetown, Barbados. He is responsible for the overall administration, coordination of activities and programmes of the Fund. McDonnough demitted office as Under-Secretary for Trade in the Jamaican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade where he served as the senior official responsible for Jamaica’s trade negotiations.
