According to a government release, the OECS Authority, at the recent 55th Meeting of OECS leaders in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, made its final decision on the new Chief justice, who is set to assume the office following the retirement of the current Chief Justice, His Lordship, Sir Hugh Rawlins.
OECS leaders also agreed to the appointment of a Director General of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority.
The names of both appointments will be given subsequently, said St. Kitts and Nevis’ OECS Commissioner, Mrs. Astona Browne.
On the issue of international relations the Authority discussed, among other things, the application by Guadeloupe and Martinique for associate membership of the OECS and agreed to a Declaration of Intent which expresses the continued interest of the Authority in pursuing the matter of closer cooperation between OECS Member States and Martinique and Guadeloupe.
The meeting, which was presided Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, who assumed the chairmanship of the Authority from the former Chairman, Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Dr. Kenny Anthony, was of the view that this meeting which was one of the two sessions held annually, had been quite productive.
It resulted in decisions on issues that would advance the integration of the Member States as they seek to strengthen their sphere of collaboration, coordination and information sharing which are critical to achieving a more sustainable Economic Union.
On the issue of the Pharmaceutical Procurement Services (PPS) the Heads committed to liquidate their current debt to the PPS so as to sustain the financing of medical products.
Meanwhile the OECS Secretariat agreed to provide technical assistance in assessing the overarching issues such as developing a policy framework for managing the use of medical supplies to avoid pilferage and the misuse of prescribed drugs and the adoption of an electronic management information system for inventory control.
The Authority agreed on the operationalization of an Economic Affairs Council as a new organ of the OECS Revised Treaty and decided the OECS Commission should give further attention to the issue and provide recommendations by its November 2012 Meeting.
The Meeting also approved activities leading to the commencement of the regime for the free circulation of goods by the scheduled date of 1st July 2013.