The Secretary General of the Caribbean Community is the Chief Executive Officer of the Community and the head of its principal administrative organ, the CARICOM Secretariat.

According to both the Original and Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the Secretary-General is appointed by the Conference of Heads of Government, on the recommendation of the Community Council of Ministers (and previously the Common Market Council in the Original Treaty), for a term not exceeding five years and may be reappointed by the Conference.

The Secretary-General, subject to the Organs of the Community and in accordance with various regulations, performs the following functions:

  • representing the Community;
  • developing, as mandated, decisions of competent Organs of the Community into implementable proposals;
  • identifying and mobilising, as required, external resources to implement decisions at the regional level and undertake studies and develop decisions on relevant issues into implementable proposals;
  • implementing, as mandated, decisions at the regional level for the achievement of Community objectives;
  • implementing, with the consent of the Member State concerned, Community decisions which do not require legislative or administrative action by national authorities;
  • monitoring and reporting on, as mandated, implementation of Community decisions;
  • initiating or developing proposals for consideration and decision by the competent Organs in order to achieve Community objectives
  • and such other functions assigned by the Conference or other competent Organs.

The current Secretary-General is Carla Barnett (Belize), who was elected in May 2021 to succeed Irwin LaRocque (Dominica; appointed in 2011) as secretary-general.[1]

All Secretaries-General, including the Secretaries-General of CARIFTA, have resided at Colgrain House on Camp Street, Georgetown, Guyana.[2]

Secretaries-General

Caribbean Free Trade Agreement
Name Beginning of term End of term Country
Frederick L. Cozier[3][4] 1968 1969  Barbados
William Demas[5] 1969 1973  Trinidad and Tobago
Caribbean Community
Name Beginning of term End of term Country
William Demas 1973 1974  Trinidad and Tobago
Sir Alister McIntyre 1974 August 1977  Grenada
Joseph Tyndall (acting) August 1977 August 1978  Guyana
Kurleigh King November 1978 September 1983  Barbados
Roderick Rainford September 1983 August 1992  Jamaica
Edwin W. Carrington August 1992 December 2010  Trinidad and Tobago
Lolita Applewhaite (acting) January 2011 August 2011  Barbados
Irwin LaRocque[6] August 2011 August 2021  Dominica
Carla Barnett[7] August 2021 present  Belize

The second (and last) Secretary-General of CARIFTA, Mr. William Demas, became the first Secretary-General of the CARICOM. Mr. Demas had been instrumental in the transition from CARIFTA to the Caribbean Community, publishing a booklet in 1972 entitled "From CARIFTA to the Caribbean Community" wherein he outlined policies for deepening the integration process.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Alvarez, Vejea (May 11, 2021). "DR. Carla Barnett to be Appointed as the Secretary General for CARICOM". LOVE FM (Belize). Retrieved 2021-05-12.
  2. ↑ "CARICOM View: 40 years of integration" (PDF). caricom.org. Retrieved February 20, 2013. is the place six Caribbean Community (CARICOM)Secretaries-General called home over the past forty years. Colgrain House, once the home of sugar magnate, Jock Campbell, has been an integral component of the regional integration movement from the Community's inception. Back in July 1968, it housed both the administrative offices of the Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA) - the precursor to CARICOM - as well as the residence of its Secretary-General, Mr. Fred Cozier. From thereon, Secretaries-General William Demas, Alister McIntyre, Kurleigh King, Roderick Rainford, and Edwin Carrington, took up residence there.
  3. ↑ "FREDERICK LLOYD COZIER - SECRETARY-GENERAL 1968-1969". caricom.org. Retrieved August 26, 2011. From that position he was seconded in 1968 to be the first Secretary-General of the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). His primary responsibility in the initial year 1968-1969 was the establishment of the Commonwealth Caribbean Regional Secretariat at Colgrain House in Georgetown, Guyana, and in servicing the several committees set up by the Caribbean Heads of Government to give effect to the provisions of CARIFTA.
  4. ↑ ""A HOME OF OUR OWN" THE NEW CARICOM SECRETARIAT HEADQUARTERS BUILDING". jis.gov.jm. Jamaica Information Service. February 24, 2005. Retrieved August 26, 2011. In 1968, when the CARIFTA Secretariat was launched under Secretary-General Mr. Fred Cozier, it was housed at the Colgrain House, which is located in Georgetown. In May 1969, Colgrain House became the official residence of the CARIFTA Secretary-General. It is now the official residence of the CARICOM Secretary-General....During his short term in office from 1968-1969, Secretary-General Cozier occupied the northern half of the building.
  5. ↑ ""A HOME OF OUR OWN" THE NEW CARICOM SECRETARIAT HEADQUARTERS BUILDING". jis.gov.jm. Jamaica Information Service. February 24, 2005. Retrieved August 26, 2011. One of the longest serving staff members of the CARICOM Secretariat, Ms. Myrtle Chuck-A-Sang, whose entrance to the Secretariat and tenure with the integration movement spans three decades, reflected on the small batch of twenty staff who worked with Mr. Cozier's successor, Secretary-General, Mr. William Demas.
  6. ↑ "Dominican Irwin LaRocque named new Secretary General of CARICOM". Office of the Prime Minister of St. Kitts & Nevis. 2011-07-21. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2021-01-19. Chairman of the Caribbean Community, St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas Thursday announced that His Excellency Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has been selected to serve as the seventh Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) by the Heads of Government.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ↑ "Dr Carla Barnett takes office as Secretary-General of CARICOM". Breaking Belize News. 2021-08-16. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  8. ↑ Boxill, Ian (1993). Ideology and Caribbean integration. Barbados. Jamaica. Trinidad and Tobago: Canoe Press University of the West Indies. p. 128. ISBN 976-41-0045-7.
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