The Department of Youth Development in the Office of the Prime Minister has held the fifth in its Parish Youth Parliaments. Some 20 youngsters from all parts of the sister isles of Carriacou and Petite Martinique participated in the Parliament which was well attended by the various primary and secondary schools on the island as well as by members of the general public. Members of both the government and opposition sides made excellent presentations on the issue of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). In what was a well thought out and put together debate the participants spoke on the merits and demerits of the CSME and the effect it is expected to have on a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) such as Grenada with special focus on Carriacou and Petite Martinique. Mr. Norman Gilbert Youth Officer in the Department of Youth with responsibility for the Parish Youth Parliament spoke of the importance of this debate since the debaters are carrying the voice of the young people of Carriacou and Petite Martinique on the issue of the CSME to the rest of Grenada, the region and the world. While Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs Mrs. Bernadette Lendore stated that seeing these young people taking up the mantle and running with it is a clear indication of their preparation for the CSME and all that is to come in the future. She congratulated the participants as well as the Department of Youth Development for the initiative taking with the Parish Youth Parliament and in supporting and believing in the Youth of Carriacou and Petite Martinique. Hon. Elvin Nimrod Member of Parliament for Carriacou and Petite Martinique and Minister of Legal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs, International Trade and Attorney General spoke of the importance of this Parish Youth Parliament in affording many of those gathered to see the actual workings of Parliament and that the topic which they were debating which was indeed a very intricate, delicate and complicated one. Hon. Nimrod stated that he hoped to hear the Parliamentarians bring forth both the negatives and the positives of the CSME. This has been the latest Parish Youth Parliament with other successful Parish Youth Parliaments taking place in St. Patrick, St. Mark, St. Andrew and St. David with others in the parishes of St. George and St. John to be run off in during the next few weeks. Source: Department of Youth, Office of the Prime Minister