Out­go­ing Chair­man of the 15-mem­ber Caribbean Com­mu­ni­ty (Cari­com) and St Kitts and Nevis Prime Min­is­ter Dr Ter­rance Drew has urged re­gion­al lead­ers to make every ef­fort to at­tend meet­ings where ma­jor de­ci­sions are tak­en, amid the on­go­ing con­tro­ver­sy sur­round­ing the reap­point­ment of Cari­com Sec­re­tary-Gen­er­al Dr Car­la Bar­nett.

Speak­ing at the open­ing of the 51st Reg­u­lar Meet­ing of the Con­fer­ence of Heads of Gov­ern­ment in Saint Lu­cia yes­ter­day, Drew stressed the im­por­tance of lead­ers be­ing present when crit­i­cal is­sues are dis­cussed.

“When­ev­er this Com­mu­ni­ty faces mat­ters of great sig­nif­i­cance, let us en­sure that every Head of Gov­ern­ment makes every ef­fort to be present,” he said.