After helping to lead his party?s opposition to Bermuda becoming an associate member of Caricom, United Bermuda Party MP Jamahl Simmons is now a Caricom convert.

Mr. Simmons told that he has been in dialogue with his colleagues to sell them on the as yet unrealised benefits of Caricom and is hoping to get a rewrite of the party?s position on its manifesto for the next election.

And he is suggesting that Government set up a working committee which would set the Caricom agenda in terms of what Bermuda wanted to get out of the relationship.

Caricom, Mr. Simmons said, provided Bermuda with access to an ?an extra infusion of brainpower ? of working on problems that sometimes we all share?.

Bermuda became an Associate Member of Caricom in 2003 ? a move opposed by the UBP as a potential waste of money and because the grouping?s primary goals of economic integration and foreign policy co-ordination were not to Bermuda?s benefit.

?We opposed because Government was really not very clear on why we were doing it, particularly because a lot of things that were being promoted by the organisation were not to our benefit ? such as the Caribbean Court of Justice and Caribbean Common Market ? two primary objectives that were not pressing needs for us,? Mr. Simmons said.

But he added that his recent attendance at a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting in Grenada led him to realise that there were a number of potentially substantial benefits that Bermuda could derive from membership in the regional grouping. At the week-long meeting last month he met many representatives of Caricom countries, including Caricom?s Secretary General, and left with a number of ideas for improving Bermuda. ?I see that there are a lot of things that we could benefit from the countries to the south of us but there doesn?t appear to be a plan,? Mr. Simmons said. ?I really believe that we could get something out of this as a country if we really put our minds to it.?

The main benefits came from exchanging information with Caricom members and learning how they resolved issues similar to those faced by Bermuda, he continued. ?From talking to a lot of people down there I think we?ve just cracked the tip of the iceberg of the potential.?

For example, he offered, some countries had ?appealing? approaches to minimising dependence on foreign workers and in Jamaica each constituency was allocated Government funds specifically to be spent on improving the community.

?Where we are different from the Bahamas and a lot of other countries is they have stated objectives in relation to Caricom,? Mr. Simmons added.

?My biggest concern politically is we have not taken advantage of this.

?Now that we are in I would like to see them establish a committee or working group that would examine and begin dialogue with countries on a regular basis so that if a country has something on housing, education or seniors that we are losing ground on they could bring it to Cabinet.?

The annual cost of membership, at about $100,000 a year, could go much further as an investment and cost savings could be had from learning from the mistakes of others, he said, noting that the Bahamas had enacted seat belt legislation before Bermuda and made the same mistake of not changing other laws to make it a ticketable offence.

?Once you?ve built those contacts then you should be using them on a regular basis. There are ways to communicate that would not necessarily cost a lot of money. I don?t think anybody will complain about spending money if it?s going to produce results.?

He said his party had opposed Caricom membership because Government had not ?come clean? with its reasons for pursuing it and the initiative seemed like ?just another excuse to take a lot of trips and not do anything?.

?It was a failure of communication on the front end but in the processing I don?t believe they thought through how we can get the maximum benefit for Bermuda,? Mr. Simmons continued.

?I think they would be well advised to really develop an agenda going forward. And really what they are talking about is a wider foreign policy agenda ... When we do see them looking at things from other countries it?s more a matter of being pushed into it. We end up reinventing the wheel. We have to recognise that we don?t know everything here. It?s just a matter of saying if they have a grip on this problem what can we learn from that.?

The first item on the agenda should have been examining how the other countries provide affordable housing for their citizens. While Mr. Simmons acknowledged that Government had made it clear that it was not going to opt in to arrangements for a Common Market, or ditch the Privy Council for the Caribbean Court of Justice ?they did not say this is our agenda and why. I don?t get the sense that Government has an agenda?.

Mr. Simmons attended the CPA meeting with Government MPs Derrick Burgess and Neletha Butterfield, the Environment Minister.

?I?m very glad I went. We don?t get an opportunity to interact with other MPs ? it?s very rare you get a chance to go outside. There are some things you could look at and say ?oh we don?t have that problem?. Others where you say ?that?s a good idea?.?

Asked how he thought his conversion would play politically, Mr. Simmons said that his party always wanted what was best for Bermuda and part of its role was to play devil?s advocate.

?Sometimes it?s not bad being wrong,? he added.