CARICOM SUPPORT SG SCOTLAND!

Foreign Minister Fred Mitchell with the Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerritt, Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth at his departure from Marrakech 17 November

The Prime Minister of Antigua Gaston Brown issued a statement last week in which he said that the Baroness Patricia Scotland, the new Secretary General of the Commonwealth, had brought shame to the Caribbean.  His remarks came based on a set of leaked documents obtained by the Daily Mail of the United Kingdom which seemed to suggest cost overruns for the repairs of the official home of the new Secretary General.  The charge is being made that in a time when reform and financial prudence is necessary, the Baroness is being profligate.  The facts show otherwise.  The newspaper the Daily Mail has been on a campaign to seek to embarrass her since she got the job as Secretary General and it is being fed by those close to the man who lost to her for the job Ronald Saunders.  Caricom Prime Ministers ought to come to her defence.  The charges have been reviewed by the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth and all of them have been proven to be false.  The Caricom region as a whole should issue a statement in her defence.