The deepening of the regional integration movement, health issues and Haiti’s post-earthquake recovery were high on the agenda of the Caribbean Community Council of Ministers which opened here yesterday.

Earthquake-ravaged Haiti remains a key focus of regional deliberations and was a key area on the menu of issues to be discussed by the Council.

Caricom Deputy Secretary-General, Ambassador Lolita Applewaithe said Haiti faces a “long and hard road” to recovery, but emphasized that Caricom will play a critical road in its reconstruction and development.

Ambassador Applewaithe spoke of the momentum in the region on the critical issues to be tackled by the Council saying that only recently three key meetings were held- the Youth Summit in Suriname; the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) meeting in Trinidad and the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) in Guyana this week.

COHSOD’s report which came out of the recent session contains far reaching health initiatives to be considered by the Council, according to Ambassador Applewaithe. She said the youths of the region were also clear on their impatience at the pace of the integration process. Further, she noted that COTED ended with an appraisal of the state of implementation of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) which is to be considered by the Council.

Ambassador Applewaithe said the critical issues taking centre stage in Caricom at this time reflect those which emerged from the recent meetings. She said youths, health and the CSME along with the Haiti’s reconstruction are priority areas.

The Council is the second highest organ of the community with primary responsibility for strategic planning and coordination of the regional initiatives on economic integration, functional cooperation and external relations. It also sets the priority areas which are placed before the Conference of Heads of Government for a final decision.

The Council will also undertake a preliminary review of the draft strategic plan of the Secretariat for 2010-2015 and according to its Chairman, Dr. John Colin McIntyre of Dominica, it is acutely aware of the economic climate in the region.

The Bahamas joined the Council’s 25th meeting by video conference yesterday.