Applewhaite to act

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman Bruce Golding Friday announced that Deputy Secretary-General, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite, will act as Secretary-General of the 15-member regional grouping from January 1 next year.
Ambassador Applewhaite, a Barbadian national with vast experience in the diplomatic service, is a former Director of the Centre for International Studies at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI). She has served as CARICOM Deputy Secretary-General since 2003.
In a brief statement, Golding, who is also the Prime Minister of Jamaica, said that Ambassador Applewhaite will remain in the post until a successor is found for Sir Edwin Carrington, who is retiring after 18 years.
A  Search Committee chaired by Barbados Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Maxine McClean, has been established to identify suitable candidates for the top regional public service job.
The committee has already submitted a progress report to the Bureau of Heads of Governmen and a CARICOM Secretariat statement said that the regional leaders have approved the recommendation of the Bureau for the Search Committee “to continue its search, review applications and conduct interviews with a view to submitting its recommendations” to the Inter-sessional Summit scheduled to be held in Grenada in late February or early March next year. (CMC)