Caricom leaders paid tribute to the Prime Minister at the close of the 48th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of Caricom.

Dr Rowley will resign as Prime minister before the general election which is constitutionally due this year.

The leaders of Barbados, Guyana and Bahamas praised him effusively for his role in pushing Caricom's agenda and representing the region, as Jamaica's prime minister Andrew Holness described him as the 'epitome of a Caribbean man.'

Noting Rowley now has 'more time to spend in the pavilion' watching West Indies cricket, Holness said he felt privileged to have served with Rowley as a colleague.

He praised Rowley's ability to nurture relationships with other leaders in the region.

He said when he first met Rowley, relations between TT and Jamaica were 'at an all time low,' but Rowley was willing to do what was necessary to repair it.

'There were threats of boycott and threats of blocking citizens movements. Then we met and struck up a friendship, and I said, 'Listen, Prime Minister, come to Jamaica. Come and visit me man. Let us turn this thing over.'

'Prime Minister Rowley graciously accepted the visit to Jamaica. You were my first international guest and we had a good, very good talk about the issues.'

He said they went on to develop a strong relationship and were able to resolve the issues.

'I think today trade is better, movement of citizens between the two countries is better, I think the region (is better).'

Guyana president Irfaan Ali made light of the 'curry chicken versus chicken curry' debate between both countries saying, 'You know, we have a curry situation here.'

He, however, also praised Rowley for his diplomacy and described his contribution to Guyana as enormous.

He recalled Rowley's role as Caricom chairman during the period after the 2020 general elections in Guyana.

'There was great tension. Democracy was on the thread, (along with) rule of law and respect for the results from the elections. Prime Minister Rowley arrived from an international engagement at 2 am and, called by Prime Minister Motley, made his way to Guyana. And the rest is history.

He also thanked him for his role in resolving Guyana's border dispute with Venezuela.

'The second historic moment in the relationship of Guyana and Trinidad…was when we achieved the Argyle agreement in St Vincent.

He thanked him for travelling with other regional leaders to St Vincent to help 'in a very delicate time to resolve an issue where the temperature was high.'

Ali joked Rowley had a 'stone face' but urged people to never let that fool them.

'Don't be carried away with the stone face and the hard views. We need that. We have had since my time here very strong conversation, but at the end of it, they were all geared towards the best interests of the region and to give us the best possible result.'

Bahamas prime minister Philip Davis joined in on the joke adding, 'When I eventually became Prime Minister in 2021 someone said, 'No, he's a good guy. Just get to know