Arthur's Caribbean unity call generates lively discussion Thomas slams 'mendicant' path towards development By William Walker Stabroek News May 6, 2000 The fervent speech by Prime Minister Owen Arthur for Caribbean unity at yesterday's media conference engendered a lively discussion, helped along by a ruthless Master of Ceremonies, Oliver Clarke. Clarke, chairman and managing director of the Jamaica Gleaner, laid down the rules for the panel discussion early. "If you are boring you will be told to shut up. Be relevant and if you have a long speech save it for your friends at lunch. The effect was to allow many persons to contribute, instead of a few hogging the microphone. Panellist Neville Duncan, a professor at the University of the West Indies, replied to Arthur's call by quoting Marcus Garvey: "Before the end of the century the people of this region will create a civilization on which the sun will shine.... " The date yesterday was May 5, 2000. The other panellist was Guyana's own Clive Thomas who, a little put off by only being allotted six minutes, hurriedly noted that there had not been a systematic approach to development but rather reactions to various crises. He was disappointed at what he saw as the mendicant path towards development with governments seeing international assistance as an end in itself. This attitude was mimicked by society, where persons had become less self-reliant and he observed the media's lack of outrage at the jobless growth in many countries. The six minutes were up. Lloyd Searwar, a participant, was more sceptical of Arthur's rousing words for unity. He compared all the speeches to a family planning to build a house while the family was falling apart. He said that geography was insignificant in determining a sense of nation. He said the lack of a common cultural denominator could be seen in the demise of the West Indies cricket team--which brought most people's minds back to Bourda and the current Test match between West Indies and Pakistan. During Arthur's speech a wireless went off and he exclaimed "God bless for the commentary!" Searwar suggested that the media houses could deepen the sense of a Caribbean identity by exchanging documentaries, articles and photographs from each other's countries. Arthur agreed: "A community can only be based on communication." Lloyd Vermont, chairman of the Jamaica Broadcasting Commission, was rebuked by Clarke for wasting time in complimenting the Barbadian Prime Minister. He believed passionately that the education system needed to be revamped as it had been designed by colonial masters "to make us feel less than what we are." Rickey Singh, a Caribbean News Agency (CANA) corespondent based in Barbados was positively shrill in complaining that media houses must stop fooling themselves that they were pro-Caribbean. Clarke just told him to "pipe down!" and when he went on too long to "wind it up!" Clarke had been badgering the students invited to the session to ask a question and Nicola Joseph of Queen's College did not fail to state the obvious; that with all the talk by these important adults, not one media practitioner had yet made a direct commitment to helping the process of integration. The adults applauded. There had been much bashing of the media and Kit Nascimento looked to send back some of the fire when he asked Arthur how after 25 years the governments of the region had failed to address the issue of Caribbean citizenship and had spent little on regional news agencies such as CANA and the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU). Arthur pointed out his government's support for a new CANA headquarters but admitted that for far too long political decisions had been shaped by politicians with a fear of losing the next election. Time had run out. It was midday and Hugh Cholmondeley dutifully read out the latest score from Bourda, "51 for five - Pakistan batting." Unanimous approval; and the delegates started preparing their long speeches to torture their friends over lunch.