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Crime and Security was the central focus yesterday as Heads of Government of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) continue the 50th Meeting of the OECS Authority.

Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer will miss the second day of talks as he returned to Antigua to testify in court in election challenges filed by the Opposition Antigua Labour Party. Ambassador Dr Clarence Henry now leads the delegation.

On Thursday, Heads spent much of their time on the treaty that will create an Economic Union for the nine countries and territories that form the OECS. They have reportedly decided to sign the treaty on December 29 in Basseterre, St Kitts. The document will still be subject to public consultation and parliamentary scrutiny even though it will be signed just before year’s end. It is hoped the six-month interval to June, 2010 will be sufficient for all parliaments to agree so the document can come into force.

Heads assembled here have agreed that the sub-region’s legal minds should provide advice on how to keep all current members at the table when it comes to the union. On Wednesday and Thursday Monsterrat’s Chief Minister Reuben Meade said all the current members should be allowed to stay at the table. This may be jeopardised because the United Kingdom seems not to favour the move. It has also been put forward that the matter should be discussed with the UK’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Trinidad.

Other matters covered on Tuesday include education, energy, agriculture and private sector engagement. Talks focussed on how these sectors could be used to further development goals.

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