childhood, which tells the story about the house that nurtured the brilliant and artistic manleys. but to me drumblair is not only a stunning biography about a house in which rachel manley grew up with her grandparents. to me drumblair represents a deeper narrative about a larger house, the west indies federation. when edna manley ’ s own cousin, alexander bustamante – jamaica ’ s first prime minister after independence – pulled out of the just two - year old federation in 1962 and caused the collapse of self - government for the entire west indies, dr. eric williams resorted to a new political arithmetic captured in his now famous utterance “ one from ten leaves nought ” and went on to take trinidad and tobago on the road to independence. today, caribbean leaders must consider a new drumblair, a new house. the caricom integration model birthed in august 1973 by the leaders of the then four independent countries – dr. eric williams, michael manley, errol barrow and forbes burnham – as a consolation prize to the federation has survived for more than 40 years. this is a significant achievement. in my respectful view, however, the caricom model which seeks to connect our small island states through trade and markets, has reached its limits. we need to build a new house – a new west indian national economy – that moves beyond trade and markets to one that powerfully unites all nations touched by the caribbean sea so that we can better respond to cross - cutting challenges that threaten the region ’ s future. regional central banks with their powerful development mandate must orchestrate regional solutions to what are undoubtedly regional problems, especially devising a strategy to permanently exit from the caribbean ’ s massive public debt overhang while redefining our love - hate relationship with the international financial institutions, particularly the imf. in her second book entitled “ slipstream : a daughter remembers ”, rachel manley offers a deeply moving personal account of her relationship with her father both as a child and as a woman, a father who is considered the most loved and feared, cherished and reviled, cursed and worshipped, and forgiven and unforgiven figure in jamaica ’ s history. bis central bankers ’ speeches in a most discerning passage about michael manley, that i find strikingly reminiscent of the charismatic influence of dr. eric williams on trinidad and tobago, rachel manley writes “ the island was living his personality. his restlessness, his rapture

this increasing interconnectedness is building up systemic risks and raises the chance of financial contagion spreading throughout the caribbean region, especially if another major hurricane strikes or another government undertakes a significant restructuring of its sovereign debt. i must remind you all that we are living in one of the most natural - disasterprone regions in the world : the six small island states in the eastern caribbean currency union stand out in terms of the frequency of hurricanes. a natural disaster can be expected to hit the eastern caribbean roughly once every two and a half years. the caribbean is also home to nine small island states considered to be among the world ’ s heavily indebted countries, with a rising probability of debt default. grenada is currently negotiating a restructuring of its sovereign debt, which, when completed, will bring to ten ( 10 ) the number of sovereign debt restructuring episodes in the caribbean within the past decade. we, therefore, cannot afford a tick - box, compliance mentality. as supervisors, we must not underestimate these gathering risks. we must expand cross - border cooperation through exchange of information and policy collaboration. remember … the caribbean ’ s financial ecosystem is at stake. as i close, let me encourage you to use this opportunity for discussion, but not just as a talk shop. take this meeting seriously, as given our current situation what is discussed here can have the potential to impact the caribbean region. take this experience and return to your home, wiser and ready to act. as supervisors, we need to remember who are at the heart of the financial system. we need to remember it is real human hearts : a teacher with a loan, a market vendor with a savings account in a bank, a bus driver with an insurance policy, or a doubles vendor with an investment in a mutual fund. our duty is to these market participants, who all rely on us. when the story is told, let it be said you, we as the guardians of the financial system, did all we could in our power, to protect the economies of our region. to conclude, let me reiterate the following key messages : • first, clico and its contagion was an early warning for us in the caribbean. rising financial interconnectedness is building up systemic risks and the likelihood of financial contagion throughout the region. this requires supervisors to see the whole financial ecosystem and not just the individual trees. • second, changes to supervision are our protection against those gathering financial storms. supervisors must