LIAT has been pivotal to Caribbean regional integration

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I am extending sincere congratulations and deepest admiration of Byron Blake’s deserved reminder to the Caribbean Community of the very valuable contribution that has been made by LIAT 1974.

Ambassador Blake’s article, published in In Focus of the May 19 issue of The Sunday Gleaner, is a telling testimony of exceptional commitment to regional integration, which has been demonstrated in the many and significant ways in which you have served the community’s institutions.

Outstanding, in this regard, is the knowledge, expertise and wise counsel you provided on to trade and integration, especially the transport sector, as readily conveyed in the current letter tracing success and significance, limitations as well, of the LIAT 1974 five-decade sojourn.

There is much to be learned on governance, human resource management and development, technology and economic policies in our Caribbean Community, still seeking a meaningful regionalism.

While making some gains, the cumulative knowledge and practice, as you have so lucidly illustrated, could serve the region’s current and future generations in myriad ways, if only we show more care to “our Caribbean history or our Caribbean achievements”.

I would encourage Amb Blake to continue to write and assist us all to demonstrate an enduring concern for the oft-elusive Caribbean regional integration.

P.I. GOMES