ROSEAU, Dominica, Feb 17, CMC—Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says he does not support the criteria for a selected category of persons being afforded the opportunity to move and work freely within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), insisting that such a privilege should be given to every Caribbean national.
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders will open their three-day summit in Barbados on Wednesday. Skerrit, speaking at a news conference here, said that the issue of free movement under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) will be an agenda item.
Under the CSME, which allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour, and services across the region, only university graduates, artists, musicians, media workers, sportspeople, nurses, teachers, artisans, holders of associate degrees, and domestic workers benefit from the provision.
“.At this conference of heads we would be discussing many issues including the free movement. As you know I have been advancing the cause of the free movement of all people in the CARICOM.
‘It should not be an elitist…it has to be about everybody. Integration has to be about everybody benefitting, participating in this project and so we are stuck on the issue of Contingent Rights, whether people are entitled to education and if so to what extent.”
Skerrit said that the situation also extends to health care “and we are hoping we can make some progress in Barbados and get the full free movement.
“I have made it clear to them because they now want to add pilots and flight attendants. I am not prepared to support this because this is just convenient and I think that if we are truly committed to the CARICOM project which I think we are, then we should show it tangibly.
“The best way to show it is for people to move freely in the Caribbean and this notion that people are going to flock into this country or another country, the evidence does not show that”.
Skerrit told reporters none of the economies in the Caribbean “is as strong as it is so that people are going to flock to countries for opportunities.
‘We do not have enough people in the Caribbean, we do not have enough critical mass in any of these countries outside of Haiti with 11 or 13 million people and so we need to be able to have the movement of people so that we all can benefit from the skills and talents and opportunities that exist within the Caribbean space.
‘Free movement is central to this,” Skerrit said, adding that “the thorny issue of the cost of living and the cost of goods and services to our citizens is on the agenda and I am hoping we can spend some time on this”.
He said there is no “clear strategy that one can use ” given the region is dealing with imported inflation and the prices “are landed in our countries.
He said the summit should provide for an exchange of ideas among the leaders to help countries “cushion” the impact of the increased cost of living.
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