Without the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, we would not be able to manage not just disasters like hurricanes, but the reality is that they are our point person with the World Health Organization and with the initiative that I will announce shortly that will allow our people to be able to procure from PPEs to in vitro diagnostics and all of the critical things needed to be able to deal with COVID. CDEMA – people hear CDEMA only every hurricane season and usually after a hurricane has devastated one of our countries. We give you thanks, CARPHA, for the wonderful role that you have played. Similarly, CARPHA, the Caribbean Public Health Agency, an institution that is less than 20 years all like IMPACS, but formed to be able to respond to the public health needs of our people without CARPHA, many countries in the region would not be able to test their own citizens, far less anyone else. It has allowed us to help screening and to be able to deal with what none of us ever contemplated would be our reality – closed borders not only to the international community, but to each other. IMPACS has made a difference from Bahamas in the north to Guyana and Suriname in the south, from Barbados in the east to Belize in the west. Everyday countries across this region can manage who comes in and out of their borders with the assistance of IMPACS. If ever there was a time that we understood the importance of these regional institutions, it is now. I want to thank you, Secretary-General, and all of the members of the Secretariat and of the regional institutions. It is against this background, therefore, that I will do what I usually do at the end, first. Little did we expect that 2020 would be distinctive not only in the roundness of its number, but also in the fullness of its challenges. When my brother President Bouterse asked me in July of 2018, just less than, just after one month of being the Prime Minister of Barbados, whether we would agree to become Chair of CARICOM in the first half of 2020 because of their own constitutional arrangements for an election in Suriname I didn’t know what I was getting into when I said yes. It is my distinct pleasure to have a conversation with you this morning in what is really unusual circumstances. Thank you very much, Secretary-General, colleague Heads of Government, in particular, incoming Chair of the Caribbean Community, the Honourable Dr. Suspensions of the Common External Tariff and Safeguard certificates.Plenipotentiary Representatives accredited to CARICOM.The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.
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