{"id":167239,"date":"2023-01-11T12:19:32","date_gmt":"2023-01-11T16:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=167239"},"modified":"2023-01-11T12:19:32","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T16:19:32","slug":"jamaica-gleaner-editorial-free-movement-momentum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/jamaica-gleaner-editorial-free-movement-momentum\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamaica Gleaner Editorial | Free movement momentum"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This newspaper cannot claim credit for Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s recent advances on the mobility of labour in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).<\/p>

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We nonetheless welcome the accelerated pace with which things have developed on that front, including last weekend\u2019s elimination by Prime Minister Gaston Browne\u2019s government of the requirement for work permits by CARICOM citizens, in accordance with what it noted were its \u201cobligations under Articles 45 and 46, clauses 2 (iii) and 3 of the\u201d the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which governs the regional integration group.<\/p>\n

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However, the speed with which Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s political parties have acted on this matter in recent days underlines the fact that they can do even more. It is also further acknowledgement of the value free movement of labour potentially adds to a common economic space.<\/p>

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On that score, Antigua and Barbuda could help induce the CARICOM laggards on this issue, including Jamaica, to remove all barriers of what should be a key pillar of economic integration. They have, thus far, only done the minimum prescribed by the community.<\/p>

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Last week\u2019s action by Mr Browne\u2019s Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) administration \u2013 10 days before the country\u2019s general election \u2013 seemed designed to undercut any gains for the opposition United People\u2019s Party (UPP) among Caribbean nationals (the largest bloc of which is Jamaicans) living in the twin-island state from its own immigration initiative.<\/p>\n

Initially, the UPP leader, Harold Lovell, appeared to limit his own scheme to the removal of fees for work permit applications by CARICOM nationals, as well as citizens of the Dominican Republic who were living and working in Antigua and Barbuda \u201cbefore January 1 this year\u201d.<\/p>

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Apparently coincidental with this newspaper\u2019s suggestion that Mr Lovell go further by committing a UPP government to the total removal of work permits for CARICOM citizens \u2013 which also implies the granting of residency status \u2013 he appeared to advance the idea, saying at a political rally that the Browne administration had essentially adopted the UPP\u2019s platform.<\/p>\n

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However, Mr Lovell\u2019s proposed initiative requires further clarity.<\/p>

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