(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) A re-appraisal of the approach to the integration process was critical in the face of the “unacceptable progress” in implementation of the decisions, the Hon. Tillman Thomas, Prime Minister of Grenada and Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) said Friday. Prime Minister Thomas threw out the challenge at the opening session of the Twenty-Second Intersessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government now underway in St. George’s, Grenada, against the background of what he referred to as the “skepticism” of the Community’s populace, and the significant economic challenges that Member States were currently facing. “I am of the view that this scenario begs for a fundamental reappraisal of our approach, our management and our commitment toward the integration process. I submit that failure to engage in such an exercise will be detrimental and unresponsive to our people’s wishes and the gravity of the current environmental dictates,” Prime Minister Thomas said. The Meeting is being held 22 years after an historic Declaration was signed in Grand Anse, Grenada, in 1989. The Grand Anse Declaration and Work Programme for the Advancement of the Integration Movement put forward the advancement of the regional integration process through the creation of a Single Market and Economy, as the Community’s attempt to position itself to respond to the anticipated challenges and to take advantage of the trends in the global arena. “Against the backdrop of new compelling economic, environmental and geopolitical developments; the ebullient expectations and the increasing skepticism of our restless Caribbean people, I am of the view that this meeting at Grand Anse will be pivotal and historic,” he said, and added that much hinged on the outcomes of the deliberations at the Intersessional. The Chairman referred to the vulnerabilities of the CARICOM Member States in particular their susceptibility to natural disasters, and openness and intricate link to the economies of main trading partners and their economic fortunes. He told the Meeting that Member States now found themselves grappling with the impact and consequences of “crises we did not create. And, as if that is not enough, we are now confronting rising fuel and food prices once again”. In the face of all this, he said, the Caribbean populace was “restless and concerned” with many holding the view that the Region appeared to be languishing in a state of “implementation impotence in our slow march towards the CSME.” “Others suggest that our preoccupation with survival issues has led to a neglect of integration matters. Yet, some are also of the view that our actions sometimes contradict our public rhetoric. This imagery is quite vivid when one measures our unacceptable progress against the agreed work programme for the advancement of the integration process in July 1989 at this location,” Prime Minister Thomas said. The Intersessional Meeting, he pointed out, should pay attention to “our people’s issue” that were ventilated in the media and elsewhere. He added that the Region must remain united in its conviction and commitment that the Regional integration movement remained a “primary construct” and vehicle in the process of transformation and modernization. “The achievement of a successful meeting, a renewed commitment, a greater sense of urgency and the revival of hope for our people will be a fitting tribute to the memory of TA Marryshow, our legendary integrationist in the land of his birth,” Prime Minister Thomas said. The two-day Intersessional Meeting concludes on Saturday.