Government's official public awareness campaign on Associate Membership with the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) will begin tonight with a town hall meeting in Somerset.

"As many of you have been aware, we have submitted our application to the Caricom Secretariat and we are currently awaiting the terms and conditions regarding our membership," said Bermuda Caricom Committee chairman, Health Minister Nelson Bascome, at a press conference on the public meetings.

Mr. Bascome stressed that Government is not seeking full membership in the 29-year-old regional association and said the public meetings scheduled for the next two weeks will explain, in detail, the difference between full and associate membership.

The costs associated with joining the organisation will also be discussed at the meetings, the first of which will be held tonight at 7.30 p.m. in St. James Church Hall, Somerset.

"I expect the benefits of associate membership will greatly outweigh the costs associated with it," Mr. Bascome said.

The meetings will explore three topics under the theme 'Developing Connections' with 'Bermuda's reality' being the first.

"In this segment we will discuss Bermuda's isolation and the need to make connections with international organisations," Mr. Bascome said.

Bermuda's connections to Britain and North America will be explored as part of this discussion as well as how a Caricom association might aid Bermuda in international negotiations.

Secondly, the presentation will cover who the members of Caricom are and what associate membership means while the final segment will look at the connections that Bermuda has with the Caribbean organisations in the past and present.

"These meetings are geared towards providing the facts and informing the Bermuda community about Caricom," Mr. Bascome said.

"This forum will also give the public an opportunity to air any of the issues or concerns related to our application for Associate Membership in Caricom. We will also have the opportunity to correct any misinformation or misconceptions that may exist."

One of the chief myths in the community about joining Caricom, Mr. Bascome added, is that Bermuda would become part of a common economic market in the Caribbean.

"I can say categorically that is not an option we're looking at," he said.

Mr. Bascome also stressed that the final decision on Caricom membership will be made through the parliamentary process.

"Once the meetings have been completed, a paper on Associate Membership in Caricom, which reflects the terms and conditions and view of the public, will be prepared and presented to the House of Assembly for discussion in June," Mr. Bascome said.

"I want to add that no final decision will be made about Caricom until this process is completed."

In addition to tomorrow's meeting, two further meetings will be held over the next ten days.

St. Paul's Centennial Hall on Court Street in Hamilton will be the venue for a second meeting tomorrow and the following Thursday a third meeting will be held at Penno's Wharf Cruise Ship Terminal in St. George's. All meetings will commence at 7.30 p.m.

There are currently three associate members of Caricom - Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The 15 counties with full membership in Caricom are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Haiti.