By Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-(Thursday 14th March 2024)-Having pointed out the general desire for regional integration amidst current talks about free movement, St. Kitts and Nevis Ambassador to CARICOM (Caribbean Community) Larry Vaughan is encouraging the mindset of togetherness as a people. – NEWS – “When we came, when our forefathers came from Africa, they came from the same place and were put in different islands, and we have ever been one people, even when we fight among ourselves.
We are one people in this region, and when it comes to development, development is on three levels [namely] dependency, independence, and integration.” He made the disclosure when he called into ZIZ Radio live ‘On The Edge’ programme on Thursday 7th March 2024. According to Ambassador Vaughan: “We have gone from dependency and we have fought for independence and the time has come that we must now champion the cause of being one people in this region, and so when we ask for time, yes, time is needed but we also need to recognize that it has been well over 60 years that we have been marching on this road to regional integration for 50 years.
I think it needs to be that we need more time to recognize what are the benefits of regional integration, and it is to deal with those.” Ambassador Vaughan said regional integration will be something that is difficult. “It is not going to be something that is easy but St.
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always, and I repeat, has always championed, it has come out always better. And so we must be willing to fight for it. We must be willing and able to put our hands to the wheel to be able to have that conversation with ourselves.” I’m glad for the conversation that has been had on the radio station.
I’ve been listening to it and I love that people are coming out and we’re talking but the only rub of the issue is we don’t have all the information when we’re making the statements. And so one of the things that we’ll have to follow, and we’ll have to 5 – LOCAL NEWS –
follow shortly when the heads will have made their decision following these recommendations, it will be time now for us to work as a country to determine how and when we will phase ourselves into it,” he expressed. The local CARICOM official underscored that Prime Minister of the Federation Dr.
Terrance Drew is prepared to work in the best interest of the country. “He is not throwing open the gates. He is not putting St. Kitts and Nevis at risk in all that is being said. I will support Dr. Drew in this position, and we will work forward with him to make sure that the best interest of St.
