ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC) — Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders have ended their three-day summit here on Thursday night describing the deliberations as “very successful” and announcing the approval of a plan to implement outstanding measures with respect to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

In addition, the regional leaders have issued a “unified” statement on the situation in Venezuela urging “all parties to commit to engage in renewed dialogue and negotiations leading to a comprehensive political agreement with established timetables, concrete actions and guarantees to ensure its implementation for the wellbeing of the nation”.

Host Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, who is also the CARICOM chairman, told reporters at the end of summit news conference that the regional leaders “could not sit around and not deal with it” a reference to the situation in Venezuela where opposition forces are seeking to overthrow the government of President Nicolas Maduro by staging street protests resulting in the deaths of more than 60 people.

Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell (center) with Guyana’s President David Granger and Prime Minister Andrew Holness (Right). CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque at left next to Mitchell

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness, sought to downplay any suggestion that his country was forced into accepting the statement of non-interference in the affairs of Venezuela, telling reporters “the statement is a unified one.

“It defines the boundaries as to how far CARICOM wants to be involved” in Venezuela, he said, adding “we want to see a resolution; we want to see peace in the Bolivarian Republic”.

Holness said that all the countries of the Caribbean have endured years of democratic rule and “any statement would have to reflect our principles”.

Mitchell told reporters that the leaders had “approved an implementation plan for the outstanding measures with respect to the CSME after identifying the roadblocks which have hindered progress”.

He did not elaborate, but Holness said that the CSME “is the true expression of Caribbean integration”.

The CSME, approved by regional leaders as part of the Grand Anse Declaration of 1989, allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and people across the region, but it has been hampered by bureaucratic red tape.

Independent tests say FLOW is the leading C’bean network

KINGSTON, Jamaica — International independent benchmark testing agency, P3, says that FLOW customers in at least six markets, including Jamaica, have the best quality network and service levels in the region as measured against competitors.

P3 is an independent company that conducts periodic telecommunications network tests globally in 72 countries on 6 continents.

The test pointed out that FLOW customers in Antigua, Cayman, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Lucia and Turks and Caicos experience fastest downloads, best call set up times, unparalleled video experience, significantly better upload speeds and quality, plus greater browsing more than 90 per cent of the time when compared to the other network.

“Our results are verifiable and unequivocal,” said Hakan Ekmen, Managing Director of P3 Communications, the company that conducted the independent benchmark. “P3 has a global network quality testing framework that is used around the world in 65 countries. We are experts in our field and leaders in this field globally for a number of years.”

Meanwhile Garry Sinclair, President of C&W Communications, which operates FLOW, noted that the news is “fantastic… we are delighted to have received such a resounding endorsement that Flow is indeed the number one network in the Caribbean, and the best part about it is, we didn’t say it – the experts did. What an endorsement.”

Sinclair went on to say he was even more pleased because “our customers can rest assured – when they log on to the Flow Sports App to watch its exciting content on their favourite handheld device anywhere in any of these six islands, they are getting the best customer experience money can buy. And if they are downloading a movie or simply browsing the Internet they can get no better service than from Flow”.

FLOW’s parent, Liberty Global is the world’s largest international TV and broadband company, with operations in more than 30 countries across Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Balford Henry