Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Edwin Carrington. AFP PHOTO

January 26, 2008: GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFP): The Caribbean Community's newly established anti-monopoly commission for the European-styled Single Market is already facing serious financial and legislative problems, Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington said Thursday.

He said the Caricom Competition Commission which was officially opened last week in Paramaribo, Suriname, is already suffering from a shortage of funds and all member-nations have not contributed to a 2.8 million dollar fund for the first year of operations.

"Some member-states have not fully met their obligations to contribute to the first year's annual operating costs of the commission," the Secretary General told the opening of Caricom ministerial council for trade and economic cooperation.

Staff conferences, technical assistance and other meetings of the commission will be largely funded through a 5.3 million-euro grant from the European Union, while recurrent costs are to be funded by Caricom member-nations, the Head of the EU Delegation in Guyana, Geert Heikens has said.