Governance and the Media: Promoting Transparency and Accountability

• Author: Oliver Clarke
• Pages: 434-438

434 STATE, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY

this presentation is in two parts and contains some ideas on how to improve

regional cooperation and governance and allow the regional media to play

a more effective role in enlarging transparency and accountability and countering

corruption. I should mention that the views expressed are personal and do not

necessarily represent those of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ)

or the Gleaner or anyone else.

In terms of the first point, namely, regional cooperation and governance,

regional cooperation appears to be faltering. The time to have achieved the free

movement of people, especially UWI graduates, entertainers and journalists is

long past. There is no planned and widespread public education programme in

place to improve public knowledge and support for regional economic

integration.

I would like to advance some ideas that might serve to rebuild confidence.

They are by no means original, but I may be permitted to state them with a

frankness others might avoid .

First, we should reconsider the location of the Caribbean Community

Secretariat (CCS). It is difficult to run a regional integration movement from

Guyana since it is not easy to recruit outside staff and communications are

difficult.

Second, it is wasteful and confusing to have the CSME managed from the

CCS and the external free trade negotiations handled by the RNM. The two

initiatives are intimately interlinked and should therefore be merged.

Third, the time for the CSME as a separate market may well have passed.

The CSME is really a preparatory activity for the larger external trade

negotiations.

Fourth, it is unlikely that the CSME will come into existence based on

unanimous country support. We should therefore get rid of the principle of

unanimity in decision-making and allow a smaller group, maybe of the larger

Caribbean countries, to move ahead on their own, giving the other countries an

option to join afterwards.

GovernanCe and the Media:

ProMotinG tranSParenCy and

aCCountability

OLIVER CLARKE

CHAPTER TWENTY-two