Le CARICOM arrête son ordre du jour

Leaders have packed agenda

Caricom leaders met in caucus on Thursday ahead of the official opening of their summit in Georgetown, Guyana.

The heads of government held talks with the Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza and the Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Professor Nigel Harris.

The major issues on the agenda of the summit include the problem of Caricom nationals, mainly Guyanese, Jamaicans and Vincentians, overstaying and working illegally in countries like Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda.

Another talking point is the proposed union between Trinidad and Tobago and some member-nations of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.

Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister, Patrick Manning is defending the move.

He has denied that it will break up Caricom as some critics have suggested.

St Lucia's Prime Minister Stephenson King is urging Caricom member states to imitate his country's soft approach to intra-regional immigration issues.

Mr. King spoke to BBC Caribbean shortly before boarding a plane for the Caricom summit in Guyana, where the issue of immigration is expected to be a top agenda item.

The St Lucian leader says regional heads need to indicate whether they wish to proceed with Caribbean integration.

Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson, whose immigration policies have been criticised by some of his colleagues, described freedom of movement as "a noble idea whose time has not yet come".