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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, July 4, 2018 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The Thirty-Ninth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) gets underway today, Wednesday, July 4, with the official opening ceremony at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, Jamaica, at 4pm (Jamaica time).

 

St. Kitts and Nevis is being represented at the high-level regional meeting by Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris; Senior Minister, the Honourable Vance Amory; Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Kaye Bass; Comptroller of the St. Kitts and Nevis Department of Inland Revenue, Mr. Edward Gift and Mr. Adrian Ward also of the Inland Revenue Department.

 

The opening ceremony will feature remarks by incoming CARICOM Chairman and Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Honourable Andrew Holness; outgoing Chairman and President of Haiti, Jovenel Moise; Prime Minister of Barbados, the Honourable Mia Mottley; Prime Minister of Grenada, the Honourable Dr. Keith Mitchell; Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, the Honourable Gaston Browne, as well as from the CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque.

 

CARICOM Heads will then meet in plenary and caucus on July 5 – 6 to discuss matters of importance to the Caribbean Community, including measures impacting the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), disaster management and climate change, crime and security in the region and emerging geo-political developments, which can have an impact on the region’s growth prospects.

 

Preceding the opening ceremony, CARICOM Heads and other foreign officials will attend the inauguration ceremony of the new President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), Honourable Mr. Adrian Saunders from 3:00pm(Jamaica time).

 

The Honourable Mr. Justice Saunders, who was the special guest speaker at the Good Governance Lecture Series hosted by the Team Unity Government in March, 2017, takes over from the Rt. Honourable Sir Dennis Byron, whose retirement from the post became official on July 3.

 

St. Kitts and Nevis-born Sir Dennis served as President of the Caribbean Court of Justice from 2011.

 

Both ceremonies will be live streamed on CARICOM Today at https://today.caricom.org/ and also on the CARICOM Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/caricomorg/.