by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN)—The 7th Sitting of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Assembly convened on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, under the poignant theme, “Strengthening Regional Unity in a Shifting Global Order”.
The gathering brought together OECS Heads of Government, the Director-General, representatives from the parliaments of full Member States, and the legislatures of Associated Member States, including Members of the Opposition.
The Assembly’s agenda featured the reading of five crucial regional bills: the Animal Health Bill, the Plant Health Bill, the Food Safety Bill, the Standards Bill, and the Customs Control and Management Bill.
These legislative proposals aim to further the OECS economic union, established by the Revised Treaty of Basseterre in 2010, which replaced the original 1981 treaty.
The Revised Treaty aims to create a unified financial and economic space, facilitating the free movement of goods, people, and capital, while also harmonising monetary and governmental policies.
Prime Minister Hon. Dr Terrance Drew of St. Kitts and Nevis, leading his national delegation, which included Alexis Jeffers representing the opposition, emphasised the collective thrust of these bills (OECS Assembly Convened in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 2025).
“But when looking at these five bills, and I look at them as a suite of bills because I think they have the same thrust, and that thrust really is to promote and increase trade among member states, but also to promote and to help to solidify even further our unity as a region. And in that spirit, I would speak to the suite of bills that are before us today.”
Dr. Drew further referenced the foundation of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
“The treaty of, the revised Treaty of Basseterre, as you know, was in 1981, my home country. I don’t think I can remember it. It may have been too small to remember even that. But I would say when you look at it, the essence of it is really to bring us closer together as a region.”
He asserted that the benefits derived from regional unity would be unattainable by individual states.
Highlighting the tangible benefits of this unified approach, Dr Drew pointed to the Eastern Caribbean currency.
“Our currency, of course, is in our small region. We are just about maybe 650,000 people. I think we are less than 1 million. But none would doubt that our currency has punched above its weight. Tell me which individual country in here could have had a currency if they were to have one for themselves. Again, speaking to the power of our unity and speaking to the power of the OECS.”
Eight OECS members share the Eastern Caribbean Dollar, a currency governed by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
Dr Drew also drew a compelling parallel regarding healthcare costs.
“I will also speak to the fact that within the region, we may not know that, while I see recently, Joe Biden had to pass a bill to make insulin accessible to the people of the United States. I could not believe. I studied in the United States as well. But I did not recognise that there were people who could not afford insulin. And he had to pass a bill to make sure insulin, a very basic medication, was available to the people of the United States. And this is the most powerful country, richest country on earth, that could not guarantee insulin to all of its members. What does that have to do with us? Because of the OECS structure, where we buy medication in bulk, and many of us don’t even recognise that. The cost of insulin is very cheap in our region. And so we take it for granted. Almost every country in this union have insulin-free, of course. Or the cost is so minimal that nobody ever speaks about it. But it’s not because we are special, but it’s because the OECS is delivering a platform and a mechanism to ensure that our people can have access to a medication as basic as insulin, when powerful countries as the United States, where insulin may have developed, they could not even deliver it to all of their people.”
Pooled procurement of health commodities is indeed a promoted solution to reduce prices and increase availability.
Further advocating for increased regional collaboration, Dr Drew turned his attention to the high cost of energy within the OECS.
“What if we were to buy in bulk our energy needs as a region? I am almost certain that that cost will go from 30 to 40 U.S. cents and can be driven down to 10 cents because we’ll have more bargaining power in addition to a broader market.”
He underscored this as a “low-hanging fruit” and not a “pie in the sky,” given the OECS’s proven track record of successful joint ventures.
A significant portion of Dr Drew’s address was dedicated to the importance of political unity, citing the geothermal energy project in St. Kitts and Nevis as a prime example.
“In St. Kitts and Nevis, I have taken a different approach in terms of my relationship with the opposition. On the second day that I was elected as prime minister, I called the leader of the opposition, and I said to him, we’re going to disagree on a lot of things, because that’s what oppositions do. They’re supposed to complain about a lot of things. That has its role. But I said that there are some things for national development on which we will not disagree. As a matter of fact, we will unite and put a united front, because the benefits that we are to derive from these things will benefit all of us, and individually, no government, no party will be able to achieve it.”
The Nevis geothermal project, backed by significant funding from the Caribbean Development Bank and other international partners, is set to drastically reduce electricity costs and carbon emissions, demonstrating bipartisan cooperation.
“Nevis has a rich deposit of geothermal, one of the largest in the Caribbean and most accessible,” Dr. Drew stated, adding that the federal system historically complicated its development due to political strife.
“But because of the federal system of St. Kitts and Nevis, no one government would ever have the opportunity to really leverage that unless there is cooperation between government and opposition, generally in the country.”
He highlighted the positive outcome of their unified approach.
“We have reached the point now where we are about to open the bids to start the drilling for the geothermal, something that could not have been done for decades because of political strife.”
This collaborative spirit, as emphasised by Dr Drew and Premier Mark Brantley, has been crucial to the project’s advancement.
Dr Drew concluded his remarks by urging a similar commitment to unity at the regional level.
“So my message also here to us is that as the oppositions are here, there are things we can always disagree. We can disagree 95 plus percent. But there has to be at least one or two major things that we must agree on. And that can help, of course, to advance not only our individual countries but also the region.”
His parting message was a call for “greater unification, which will result in benefits for all of us,” using St. Kitts and Nevis’s recent success as a tangible example of what can be achieved through common ground.
In a differing perspective, St. Lucia’s Opposition Leader, Allen Chastanet, addressing the same Assembly, expressed concerns about the OECS Assembly becoming “too ceremonial” and suggested that the OECS should consider “breaking away from CARICOM” if the relationship is not yielding desired results.
He questioned the practicality of a standard policy on tariffs given the differing stages of development among member states.
Despite these reservations, the prevailing sentiment at the Assembly, as championed by Prime Minister Drew, remains a focus on harnessing regional unity for collective advancement, drawing lessons from successful internal collaborations and past OECS achievements.
