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JMEA President John Mahfood and Dr. Sanjay Badri Maharaj
By Warren Bertram
President of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA), John Mahfood, says Jamaica can benefit from the availability of workers from other countries in the region, with the implementation of free movement within CARICOM.
Last week, regional Heads of Government agreed to implement free movement for CARICOM nationals by March next year, going beyond the current CARICOM Single Market and Economy regime of free movement for agreed categories of skilled nationals.
The decision came at the historic 45th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government.
Speaking on Radio Jamaica's Beyond the Headlines on Wednesday, Mr. Mahfood said since Jamaica is in need of workers for all sectors, facilitating free movement of CARICOM nationals should be favourable.
"To the extent that we can pull people from other markets like a Guyana, for instance, that still has a high population and high unemployment, it may be a good thing for manufacturers, business process outsourcing and tourism," he suggested.
But independent defence analyst and attorney based in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Sanjay Badri Maharaj, questioned the practicality of the free movement announcement.
He argued that each country has its own certifications for skilled workers that may not be applicable in another jurisdiction.
Using the example of a lawyer, which is classified as a skilled profession and already allowed free movement under CARICOM, Dr. Maharaj said it is not a seamless process to allow a lawyer called to the bar in one country to work in another.
"Though there is a level of recognition of qualifications, you still have to apply to each jurisdiction to be called to the bar. Now it's not an onerous process but it is an encombrant. The thing is...that is something that can easily be fixed but we've never bothered to fix it because CARICOM specialises in bureaucracy," he contended.
Dr. Maharaj further criticised the announcement, stating that it is not a decision that will come into effect by next March, but rather an agreement by CARICOM heads to work on implementing their respective policies to allow for free movement of nationals.
"They have placed this in the hands of their legal teams for them to come back to them to implement something by 30th of March. What we have is a declaration of intent. We do not actually have a framework or series of guidelines as to how this is going to work or how it's going to come about."
Dr. Maharaj was also speaking Wednesday on Beyond the Headlines.
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