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65-637: The British Caribbean Football Association were a football association formed in January 1957. The BCFA was formed having witnessed the success of the West Indies Cricket team in the 1950s and their defeat of England during the decade. The BCFA was not technically a West Indies team as players were also selected from British Guiana who were not members of the West Indies Federation The six inaugural members were: None of

130-569: A referendum in September 1961 on political secession from the Federation. The result was 54% in favour of leaving the Federation, despite the opposition of Manley, the province's Chief Minister at the time. Manley himself lost the subsequent island elections in April 1962, and Bustamante became the first Prime Minister of an independent Jamaica on 6 August 1962. After Jamaica left, there

195-786: A Senator by Prime Minister Lynden Pindling in November 1974, Christie served in that capacity until June 1977. In January 1977 he was appointed chairman of the Gaming Board, which regulates casinos in The Bahamas. Receiving the PLP's nomination for the Centreville constituency in the 1977 general election , Christie was elected Member of Parliament for that constituency, and shortly afterward appointed Minister of Health and National Insurance , and held that position until 1982. During

260-594: A controversial decision, he contacted the opposition DLP groups in Jamaica and Trinidad, and appointed one DLP senator from each of those islands. Thus the Senate consisted of a total of 15 WIFLP members and 4 DLP members. WIFLP leader Sir Grantley Adams of Barbados became Prime Minister . The selection of Adams as the Prime Minister was indicative of the problems the Federation would face. The expected leader of

325-535: A particularly close relationship with Canada , which had a similar past as a federation of several former separate British colonies. In the early years, several Caribbean leaders suggested that the West Indies Federation should investigate the possibility of becoming a Canadian province . Despite the breakdown in talks, in May 1961, Canada government presented the West Indies Federation with two of

390-566: A phone call to FNM leader Hubert Ingraham . After the new FNM government was sworn in, Christie was sworn in as leader of the opposition . In November 2009, Christie was overwhelmingly elected, and returned as Leader of the PLP at its Annual General Convention, garnering more than 80% of the vote over Dr. Bernard Nottage . Christie was re-elected as Prime Minister of the Bahamas on 7 May 2012. Christie has brought programmes like Urban Renewal. Christie also introduced Value Added Tax at

455-479: A rate of 7.5%. The money raised from VAT was slated to pay off National Debt. No Freedom of Information Act has even been implemented under his government, although while in opposition he pushed for it. Multiple human rights violations have been investigated under his leadership, none of which have been solved. In a landslide defeat by the Free National Movement (FNM), the PLP was defeated in

520-428: A separate economy, complete with tariffs, largely because the smaller provinces were afraid of being overwhelmed by the large islands' economies. Also, complete freedom of movement within the Federation was not implemented, as the larger provinces were worried about mass migration from the smaller islands. Jamaica, the largest member of the West Indies Federation, opposed plans to establish a customs union and to increase

585-550: A strong federal state (capable of undertaking major economic development projects and redistribution) and those who wanted a federal structure that gave each member substantial autonomy. Eric Williams was a strong advocate for a strong federal state. Critics in Jamaica were opposed to any redistributive schemes that would primarily lead to Jamaica providing grants to the smaller islands. There were also some concerns about unequal development and its impact on areas with less competitive industries which wanted protectionist measures within

650-571: Is geographically considered to be part of the North American continent as all of its islands are in and around the Caribbean, even though Trinidad is located just offshore from South America and lies on the same continental shelf. See Transcontinental countries . The total population of the West Indies Federation was between 3 and 4 million people, with the majority being of black West African descent. Minorities included Indians from

715-569: The British Leeward Islands , British Windward Islands and Jamaica with its nearby former dependencies. See: History of the British West Indies . Many reasons have been put forward to explain the demise of the federation. These include the lack of local popular support, competing insular nationalism , the weakness of the federal government, prohibitions on federal taxation and freedom of movement, inadequacies in

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780-619: The British Virgin Islands similarly looked to a possible future association with the United States Virgin Islands . British Honduras was involved in a territorial dispute with Guatemala and saw the West Indies Federation as being too weak to defend British Honduras against its neighbour, instead looking to the UK for potential military assistance against Guatemala. British Guiana opted not to join when

845-590: The British West Indies . Britain intended that the Federation would shortly become a fully independent state, thus simultaneously satisfying the demands for independence from all the colonies in the region. However, significant political divisions among the former colonies persisted, and the Federation never achieved full sovereignty . The legal basis for the federation was the British Caribbean Federation Act 1956 , and

910-730: The Democratic Labour Party by Alexander Bustamante . In broad terms, the WIFLP consisted of the urban-based parties throughout the Federation, while the DLP consisted of the rural-based parties. A small third party, the Federal Democratic Party was founded in November 1957 by a group of Trinidadians, although it did not win any seats. The platforms for the two major national parties were similar in many respects. Both advocated maintaining and strengthening ties with

975-736: The Indian subcontinent (called East Indians), Europeans , Chinese , Arabs , and Caribs . There was also a large population of mixed descent (mainly mulattos , but also Afro-Indian, Euro-Indian and mixed-Chinese). In terms of religion, most of the population was Protestant, with significant numbers of Catholics and some Hindus and Muslims (both almost exclusively from the East Indian population). The West Indies Federation (or just West Indies) consisted of around 24 main inhabited islands and approximately 220–230 minor offshore islands, islets and cays (some inhabited, some uninhabited). The largest island

1040-411: The capital city of the federation: Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. Earlier in the federal negotiations the general opinion had been that the capital should be one of the smaller islands so that the capital would be in a neutral position to the larger territories and it would be able to inject some buoyancy into one of the (then) poorer economies. To this end, Grenada was tentatively selected as

1105-489: The 1960 West Indies Federation Games , with a future prime minister of the Bahamas, Perry Christie , as an athlete. Guyana would ultimately express interest in a very loose re-attempted Caribbean Federation around 1971. The Federation was an internally self-governing , federal state made up of ten provinces, all British colonial possessions. The federation was created by the United Kingdom in 1958 from most of

1170-756: The Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands (which are all fairly flat), and Trinidad (which has a large mountain range in the north and a small central mountain range in the interior of the otherwise flat island). The narrow coastal plains as well as historical trade is the main reason why almost all of the major settlements (cities and towns) of the Federation were located on the coast. Chief towns included Kingston , Port of Spain , Chaguaramas , Bridgetown , Spanish Town , Montego Bay , San Fernando , Mandeville , Castries , Roseau , St. George's , Kingstown , St. John's , and Basseterre . The climate in all

1235-757: The Centreville constituency. Three years later – in March 1990 – Christie returned to the fold of the Progressive Liberal Party, and was appointed minister of agriculture, trade and industry by the prime minister. Christie's ministerial responsibilities included the ministry of agriculture, trade and industry; mining, geological surveys, petroleum, fuel, oils and petrochemicals, industries encouragement, manufacturing, relations with The Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation, relations with The Bahamas National Trust, Andros reef and blue holes, and

1300-604: The DLP carried 19 seats. The bulk of the WIFLP seats came from the smaller islands while the DLP carried the majority in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. The DLP won 11 of the Jamaican seats and 6 of the Trinidadian seats. In appointing the Senate, Governor General Lord Hailes realized that only the St Vincent island government was DLP controlled and as a result the Senate was going to be disproportionately pro WIFLP. In

1365-448: The DLP had promised a climate favourable to both private industry and labour, development of human and economic resources. The WIFLP promised to encourage the Bahamas (in addition to British Guiana and British Honduras) to join the Federation, whereas the DLP did not. The WIFLP also campaigned to establish a central bank for the extension of credit resources and advocated a democratic socialist society and full internal self-government for all

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1430-630: The DLP, also declined to contest the Federal election, leaving the party leadership to the Trinidadian Ashford Sinanan . The absence of the leading Jamaican politicians from any role at the federal level was to undermine the Federation's unity. Other members of the Council of State included: There was also a Federal Supreme Court consisting of a Chief Justice and three (later five) other Justices. The Federal Supreme Court itself

1495-545: The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Co-operatives. In January 1993, following the PLP's defeat in the August 1992 general election, Christie was elected co-deputy leader of the PLP with responsibility for party activities outside parliament. Victorious in the newly created Farm Road constituency in the general election, he was elected leader of the PLP at a special convention on 5 April 1997 and appointed as leader of

1560-424: The Federal constitution , fundamental changes made to the constitution very early in its existence, political feuds between the influential leaders, the decision of the three most influential politicians not to contest Federal elections, friction between these leaders and the Federal government, the overwhelming concentration of population and resources in the two largest units, geographic and cultural distance between

1625-611: The Federation from the US. However the US and the UK disagreed and the Federation's Prime Minister Grantley Adams stopped the provincial leaders from obtaining Chaguaramas. For many Jamaicans it appeared that the Federation would then just hamper their development and movement towards independence. As a result, the Bustamante -led Jamaica Labour Party (the local component of the West Indian DLP) successfully forced Manley to hold

1690-513: The Federation was doomed to financial insolvency. Barbados now refused to shoulder the financial burden, and Antigua and Grenada began toying with the idea of merging with Jamaica and Trinidad, respectively. The Federation spanned all the island groupings in the Caribbean : At its widest (west to east), from the Cayman Islands to Barbados it spanned some 2,425 kilometres (1,310 nmi) (and across approximately 22 degrees of longitude) and from

1755-508: The Federation was formed due to its own ongoing political and internal struggles for independence from the UK, which had started in the 1950s. At issue was its newly formed political party with socialist leanings , at the height of the Cold War . It had hoped to join the Federation once these issues were resolved. British Honduras and British Guiana did participate in the Federation to a certain extent as observers. The Bahamas participated in

1820-465: The Federation's existence, each member continued to issue its own postage stamps as before; but on 22 April 1958, each of the members (except for the Cayman Islands) issued a set of three commemorative stamps . All of these stamps used a common design depicting a map of the Caribbean and a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II , with an inscription reading " THE WEST INDIES / FEDERATION 1958 " at

1885-588: The Federation's proposed capital in Chaguaramas on Trinidad, at that time still in the hands of the United States (having leased it as a naval base from the United Kingdom during World War II). Many of the Caribbean provincial leaders wanted Chaguaramas to be the Federation's capital. Provincial leaders, such as Norman Manley of Jamaica and Eric Williams, pushed for handing over of Chaguaramas to

1950-653: The Grenadines , and Trinidad and Tobago ; with Anguilla , Montserrat , the Cayman Islands , and the Turks and Caicos Islands becoming British overseas territories . British Guiana and British Honduras held observer status within the West Indies Federation. Several historically "West Indian" British colonies opted not to join the Federation for various reasons. The Bahamas and Bermuda believed that their future lay with association with North America , and

2015-453: The June 1982 general election, he was re-elected Member of Parliament for Centreville , and was once again appointed to the Prime Minister's Cabinet, but as Minister of Tourism. A dynamic minister, Christie moved tourism in The Bahamas to new heights. In 1984, however, he was dismissed from the cabinet, and during the 1987 general election ran as an independent candidate. He retained his seat in

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2080-655: The MV Willemstad on 17 August, and arrived in England on 30 August. They played in navy blue shirts with gold trim, and white shorts. Ages shown are at the time of the first game on the tour. The overall tour record was: P17 W4 D0 L13 F27 A63. West Indies Federation The territories that would have become part of the Federation eventually became the nine contemporary sovereign states of Antigua and Barbuda , Barbados , Dominica , Grenada , Jamaica , Saint Kitts and Nevis , Saint Lucia , Saint Vincent and

2145-529: The Turks and Caicos Islands in the north, to the Icacos Point , Trinidad in the south it extended 1,700 kilometres (920 nmi) (and across 12 degrees of latitude). However, most of the area along either of these distances was taken up by open water (with the exception of some of the other islands lying in between). By comparison Great Britain stretches across nearly 10 degrees of latitude and Spain extends across almost 20 degrees of longitude. Even though

2210-405: The United Kingdom, United States, and Canada (countries with which the islands had strong cultural and economic links); encouraging and expanding tourism; working to bring British Guiana and British Honduras into the Federation and to obtain loans, financial aid, and technical assistance. Despite these similarities, there were differences. The WIFLP had advocated the encouragement of agriculture while

2275-421: The WIFLP was Norman Manley, Premier of Jamaica, and the next logical choice was Dr Eric Williams , Premier of Trinidad and Tobago. However, neither had contested the Federal elections, preferring to remain in control of their respective island power bases. This suggested that the leaders of the two most important provinces did not see the Federation as viable. Similarly, Alexander Bustamante, the Jamaican founder of

2340-557: The WIFLP) passed a resolution rejecting any further involvement with the Federation. Williams himself stated that "one from ten leaves nought"—in other words, without Jamaica, no Federation was possible. Trinidad and Tobago became independent on August 31, 1962. Without Trinidad and Jamaica, the remaining "Little Eight" attempted to salvage some form of a West Indian Federation, this time centred on Barbados. However, these negotiations ultimately proved fruitless. Without its two largest states,

2405-528: The West Indies was spread across such a vast area, most of its provinces were mostly contiguous and clustered fairly close together in the Eastern Caribbean, with the obvious exceptions of Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Most of the islands have mountainous interiors surrounded by narrow coastal plains. The exceptions were Anguilla , Antigua , Barbados , Barbuda ,

2470-522: The ability of the federal government to levy taxes. Adom Getachew writes that relations between minority groups, such as the descendants of East Indians (which were a large share of the populations of Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana), and the majority population of Afro-West Indians were a source of tension in the West Indies Federation. For example, Guyana rejected the West Indies Federation in part because it lacked sufficient protections for ethnic minorities. There were tensions between those who wanted

2535-626: The associated FA's were members of FIFA at the time of the formation of the BCFA. The British Caribbean Football Association supported a design competition and the winning crest was designed by Andy Worrell, a Trinidad oilfield worker. The Jamaica Gleaner described the crest thus: "It show flags of the West Indies Nation and the Mother Country , along with tropical scenery, typical of Caribbean waters, palm trees, birds and sun. At

2600-492: The date of formation—3 January 1958—was set by an Order in Council proclaimed in 1957. The Federation of the West Indies was not the first attempt at a British Caribbean federation. The history of the previous attempts at federations and unions, in part, explains the failure of the 1958 Federation. The initial federal attempts never went so far as to try to encompass all of the British West Indies (BWI), but were more regional in scope. The historical regional groupings included

2665-490: The duration of the federation's existence. The Federation also had a number of units deemed to be common services for the entire federation, these were: In preparation for the first federal elections, two Federation-wide parties were organised as confederations of local political parties. Both were organised by Jamaican politicians: the West Indies Federal Labour Party by Norman Manley , and

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2730-411: The embryonic Federation were wrecked by struggles between the federal government and the provincial governments, and even power sharing between the two largest provinces (Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago) and the smaller provinces. The West Indies Federation had an unusually weak federal structure. For instance, its provinces were not contained in a single customs union . Thus, each province functioned as

2795-734: The enactment which allowed for appeals from the British Honduras Supreme Court to the Privy Council or the Supreme Court of Jamaica, namely the British Honduras (Court of Appeal) Act 1881 . (The arrangement for appeals to the Supreme Court of Jamaica had generally ceased in 1911 anyway.) Sir Stanley Eugene Gomes , Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago , was appointed Chief Justice of the Federation in August 1961. The Federation maintained

2860-494: The federal government. These requests were not well received, as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago together already contributed 85 percent of the federal revenue, in roughly equal portions. Furthermore, the office of the Prime Minister was a weak one. Unlike other Westminster systems with Prime Ministers, the West Indian Federation's PM could not dissolve Parliament. Three member states were proposed as hosts for

2925-489: The federation. In addition, the federal government could not take its component states to task. The initial federal budget was quite small, limiting the federal government's ability to use its financial largess as a carrot . It was dependent upon grants from the United Kingdom and from its member states. The provincial budgets of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago were both larger than the federal budget. This led to repeated requests for those states to provide greater financing to

2990-446: The financing of the Federation. Her representative, The 1st Baron Hailes , was given the title of Governor-General , synonymous with a self governing colony, rather than that of Governor more typical for a British Crown colony system of government. The title may have reflected the federal nature of the state, or indicated the expectations that the Federation would soon become self governing or independent. The Governor-General also had

3055-771: The full authority of the British Government to veto any laws passed by the Federation. The Federal Parliament of the West Indies Federation was bicameral , consisting of a nominated Senate and a popularly elected House of Representatives . The Senate consisted of nineteen members. These members were appointed by the Governor General, after consulting the respective territorial governments. Two members represented each unit (with only one from Montserrat). The House of Representatives had 45 total elected members – Jamaica had seventeen seats, Trinidad and Tobago ten seats, Barbados five seats, Montserrat one seat, and

3120-487: The islands is tropical, with hot and humid weather, although inland regions in the larger islands have more temperate climates. Regions falling within the rain shadows (southern coasts of Jamaica and Trinidad and eastern coasts of the Lesser Antilles) are relatively drier. There are two seasons annually: the dry season for the first six months of the year, and the rainy season (also known as the hurricane season) in

3185-554: The member state to host the capital but this was abandoned after protests from some of the parties involved, and at the London Conference the smaller islands were ruled out for consideration. Within Trinidad and Tobago the first proposed site was Chaguaramas , a few miles west of Port of Spain , but the site was part of a United States naval base . In practice, Port of Spain served as the de facto federal capital for

3250-703: The opposition by the Governor-General on 7 April. Christie thus succeeded Lynden Pindling, who had led the PLP since 1956. Perry held the additional portfolio of Minister of Finance from 2002 to 2007, and from 2012 to 2017. Christie's party, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), was defeated in the May 2007 general election , taking 18 seats against 23 for the Free National Movement (FNM), and Christie conceded defeat in

3315-457: The region's most important gifts: two merchant ships , named The Federal Palm and The Federal Maple . These two vessels visited every island in the federation twice monthly, providing a crucial sea-link between the islands. During that period, many calypsos made reference to the Federation of the West Indies , first expressing hope, then frustration as the process collapsed. During

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3380-460: The remaining islands two seats each. However the government (executive) would be a Council of State, not a Cabinet. It would be presided over by the Governor-General and consist of the Prime Minister and ten other officials. The West Indies Federation did not have independent sources of revenue (relying instead on a mandatory levy on the islands), and did not establish any agreements on a customs union, free trade, or free movement. The politics of

3445-545: The second half of the year. Many of the islands fall within the Main Development Region for tropical cyclone activity, with the exception of Trinidad (although it occasionally experiences low latitude hurricanes) and thus are at risk from potential wind and flood damage. Britain classified the Federation as being part of its "Caribbean and North Atlantic Territories" region which was shared alongside other possessions such as Bermuda . The Federation today

3510-428: The top and the name of the member state at the bottom. These stamps are quite common in both mint and used condition. Perry Christie Perry Gladstone Christie PC , MP (born 21 August 1943) is a Bahamian former politician who served as prime minister of the Bahamas from 2002 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2017. He is the second longest-serving Bahamian elected parliamentarian (behind Sir Roland Symonette who

3575-462: The top are eleven stars which serve a double purpose—representing the eleven players of the team or the eleven territories in the Association including British Guiana . All this is bounded by a gold chain linking the territories in the Association. The competition was open to residents in the West Indies and British Guiana." On 20 January 1957, Trinidadian Football Association Chairman Ken Galt

3640-431: The unit territories, whilst avoiding the issues of freedom of movement and a customs union. The DLP said nothing about full internal self-government, attacked socialism, wished to avoid high taxation (via loans and technical aid) and emphasized West Indian unity, freedom of worship and speech, and encouragement of trade unions. Federal elections were held on 25 March 1958. The WIFLP won the election, winning 26 seats while

3705-417: The units, the lack of a history of common administration, and the impact of the period of self-government that followed the promotion from Crown Colony system. However, the immediate catalyst for the dissolution of the Federation was Jamaican discontent. By 1961, there were a number of reasons for Jamaica's dissatisfaction with the state of affairs: The most important reason for Jamaican dissatisfaction

3770-427: Was Jamaica , located in the far northwest of the Federation. To the southeast lay the second largest island, Trinidad , followed by Barbados (in terms of population), located at the eastern extremity of the Federation. As with all British colonies of the period, Queen Elizabeth II was the head of state , and The Crown was vested with the legislative authority for matters concerning executive affairs, defence and

3835-425: Was an attempt to salvage a new federation from the wreckage of the old. Much depended on Premier Williams of Trinidad and Tobago, who had stated previously that he wanted a "strong federation". Premier Vere Bird of Antigua responded that his province would only be in a federation with Trinidad as an equal partner, not as "a little Tobago". He did indicate that a strong federation was acceptable provided that no attempt

3900-484: Was first elected to parliament in 1925 and served until 1977), representing the Centreville constituency from 1977 to 2017. He is also a former athlete. His Progressive Liberal Party is the oldest Bahamian political party, holding solid majorities in the Bahamian Parliament several times in its long history. Christie is believed to have been the youngest Bahamian ever appointed to the Senate. Named as

3965-437: Was made to create a unitary state. Negotiations on this new federation began in September 1961; however, they indicated that Trinidad would have to provide 75 to 80 percent of the new Federation's revenue. Also, even though Trinidad would now represent 60 percent of the new Federation's population, the proposals under consideration would give it less than half of the seats in parliament. By November, Williams indicated that he

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4030-485: Was nominated as President of the BCFA. The first Vice-President Jamaican Winston Meekes, then Jamaican Football Association president. The second Vice-President was the Dighton H. Ward of Barbados. The Trinidad Football Association's Eric James was installed as General Secretary of the BCFA. The representative team embarked on a tour of England between August and November 1959. The BCFA team left from Port of Spain aboard

4095-566: Was now in favour of the idea of a unitary state. Failing that, he resolved to take Trinidad and Tobago into independence. In this, he was buoyed by his re-election as Trinidadian leader on 4 December 1961. Later that December, Premier Errol Barrow of Barbados met with Williams, but failed to persuade him to keep Trinidad in the Federation. On January 14, 1962, the People's National Movement (the Williams-led Trinidad component of

4160-484: Was the Federation's continuing colonial status. Jamaica had joined the Federation because its leaders had believed that the West Indies would quickly be granted independence. Nearly three years after the formation of the Federation, this had not occurred; meanwhile, smaller British colonies, like Cyprus and Sierra Leone , had gained independence. Thus, many Jamaicans believed that the island could and should seek independence in its own right. There were also problems with

4225-809: Was the successor to the West Indian Court of Appeal (established in 1919) and had jurisdiction over the same territories (Barbados, British Guiana, the Leeward Islands (including the British Virgin Islands), Trinidad & Tobago and the Windward Islands) in addition to Jamaica and its dependencies, except for British Honduras, as the British Caribbean Federation Act 1956, which empowered the Privy Council to establish it, also repealed

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