By LR LiburdSt. Kitts-Nevis Observer
While it must be agreed that nationals of St. Kitts and Nevis ought to get first preference in vacancies that exist in the twin-island Federation, there is an urgent need for many of them to be educated on the importance of the free movement of skills initiative under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
The reality of this situation was evidenced early last month at the Ocean Terrace Inn in Basseterre during a public forum on Sensitisation of the CSME with special emphasis on the Free Movement of People; an initiative facilitated by the CARICOM Skills Certificate.
At that forum, many questions were asked and appropriate answers were provided. However, there was a particular attendee who obviously had no idea what the Free Movement of People meant and she boldly voiced her frustration over CARICOM nationals coming into the Federation and getting jobs that should be given to locals.
“Kittitians and Nevisians must be priority and nobody should be in here and given priority over Kittitians and Nevisians. That is not fair…I can’t see that as fair! And already you have seen it,” she said.
She inferred that it is unfair for locals to be competing at home with their CARICOM counterparts, adding that “it is impacting our country and I think it shouldn’t just be automatic”.
Following those statements, she asked: “Who is assessing it? Who is assessing the situation to know that St. Kitts cannot accept a certain amount of CARICOM persons? How could a CARICOM national have the same privilege like me a born and bred Kittitian?”
In response, Deputy Programme Manager, Free Movement and Labour of the CSME Unit in the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Olivia Smith told her that migration is always a very emotional issue and it is not unique to people in the Caribbean, citing the current situation that exists in the European Union. “There is nothing new under the sun,” she said.
Dr. Smith explained that the CARICOM Secretariat was given the mandate by the Heads of Government to undertake a number of studies to look at the free movement of persons in CARICOM member states, including the OECS.
She also gave one of the main reasons for migration and what the studies revealed in relation to certain categories of work.
“CARICOM persons are not people who will just pick their mass and move anywhere; CARICOM people like home. When CARICOM nationals come to other member states, they come at two levels – either to take up high-skill jobs that you don’t have the skills and competencies in your country or they come at the bottom where they take the jobs that you no longer want.
“What we do know is that during period again, that’s of economic recession, nationals find the job they didn’t want before very attractive and suddenly you hear we are competing for these jobs. That is what is happening! Again, that’s nothing new. Every time there is prosperity we welcome them, when there is retraction we cry out. It’s a fact globally; every country, sending and receiving states, have the same characteristics!”
With reference to the attendee’s last question, Dr. Smith said: “With respect to affording CARICOM nationals rights you have, if a person is in your country or if you are in New York where lots of Caribbean people are and you are working and you are paying your taxes and you are providing inputs into the economy, why should you not benefit from where you are making inputs?”
There was no answer, and it was perceived that not only the person who had asked the question left the venue with a better understanding of the Free Movement of People, but also most, if not all, of the attendees.
In an effort to garner the views of some employers on the subject matter, The Observer spoke with a number of contractors in St. Kitts, most of whom, on condition of anonymity, preferred the services of skilled CARICOM nationals than some locals.
“You cannot get many of the local construction workers to work after 12 o’clock on Fridays…and if you take a walk at the Ferry Terminal or in Fort Street you’ll find them drinking late into the night. On Friday nights you can also find plenty of them at The Strip in Frigate Bay and they would not turn up for work the next day,” one contractor said.
Another one stated that it is worse during the Christmas and Carnival season.
“We contractors get deadlines and when people don’t turn up to work we lose money. You can get the foreigners to work every day in the week and even on holidays, because they know the worth of money and they have their aims. But some locals don’t think that way; they have grown to always depend on government. When we fire them they go about telling people that we are bad and that we prefer to employ foreigners instead of them. They must tell people the truth.”
A senior member of a particular construction firm however stated that his company does not experience workers’ lateness and absenteeism.
“Our company has a small amount of foreign workers; most are locals. We normally get our employees to work on weekends and sometimes on holidays because we provide transportation, we pay them well and we also have a strict policy.
“The policy stipulates that any employee who arrives late at work on three occasions or absented himself for the same period without reasonable excuse, he will be fired. The policy was enforced after we had experienced a very high percentage of locals arriving late and being absent when told they would be needed to complete given tasks. We however do not force anyone to work on weekends, unless there is an urgent need for their presence, neither do we force them to work on holidays.”
The Observer also spoke with former Guyana Honorary Counsel to St. Kitts and Nevis, Stanford Conway, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of SKNVibes.
Conway agreed that people need to be educated on the CSME’s Free Movement of People. He said this should not only be done in St. Kitts and Nevis but throughout CARICOM member states, as he reflected on his arrival in the Federation almost 13 years ago as a skilled CARICOM national.
“Firstly, I think we have to move away from the insularity concept. Historically, we are all migrants, taking into consideration that our ancestors were brought from Africa to the West Indies to provide slave labour for the accumulation of wealth for the Europeans. Therefore, with St. Kitts being the island where our ancestors were brought and sold in Pall Mall (Independence Square) then shipped to other parts of the region, who can justify that many of us are not blood-related.”
He also spoke to his tenure with The Observer as the Bureau Chief in St. Kitts.
“I came here on contract with The Observer. Not only was I qualified as a journalist to be working here without a work permit as a skilled CARICOM national, which is in keeping with conditions of the CSME, but also as a university graduate. However, at that time, although the Federation had signed on to the agreement, it was not enforced by the Government. I however achieved my CARICOM Skill Worker Certificate in 2007.
“But what bothered me is the manner in which that woman stated that CARICOM nationals are coming to the Federation to competing with locals for jobs. She needs to do some research. In doing so she will certainly find that in addition to those individuals who came from Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean to harvest sugar cane, a job from which locals shied away, many Guyanese were here before them contributing to the development of the Federation. Included among them were doctors, nurses, teachers and even a military officer in Captain Oscar Pollard who assisted in the administrative aspect at the formation of the Defence Force. And not to forget the late George De Peana who contributed to the Trades Union as well as the late Derrick Odessa Thompson who served as Commissioner of the Police Force.”
Conway reminded that when The Observer was established some 22 years ago, its owner had to import journalists and technical personnel for the printing of the newspaper.
“I was not working with The Observer from its inception but I do know that Mr. Williams had to import journalists from as far as North America. One such individual was Gino Lorenzi. However, being a Caribbean man, Williams turned to Guyana and at one stage of his operations he had more than eight Guyanese working with him, including Winn FM’s Managing Director Clive Bacchus.
“That clearly indicated he could not have found resource persons in St. Kitts and Nevis. Therefore, in order to compete with the Labour Spokesman and The Democrat, political arms of the Labour Party and PAM respectively, he had to seek qualified persons outside of the Federation to work at the then only independent media house, and still is, in the Federation.”
He noted that even though there were locals who could have filled those vacancies, those who were trained and qualified to perform such tasks were either already employed at home or were working abroad.
Seemingly perturbed by the woman’s statement on CARICOM nationals having the same privilege as locals, Conway was unwavering in his declaration that she was misinformed.
“That woman is ignorant of the facts and is blind to reality. It is a known fact that CARICOM nationals who are residing in St. Kitts and Nevis and have not gained citizenship have to pay two and three times the price a local pays for treatment at the JNF Hospital although they contribute to Social Security. Even though some of them are citizens, they are not charged the same fees as locals for their children’s attendance at the CFBC.
“Medical treatment in Guyana is free of cost to all and sundry, unless one seeks treatment at a private hospital or private medical practitioner. Evidence of this lies in a number of cases. For example, some three years ago, a male Kittitian, on advice of his Guyanese friend, had taken his daughter to Guyana for dialysis treatment to her only kidney. She was admitted immediately and when the father disclosed that they were from St. Kitts asked the doctor how much money he would have to pay, the response was: ‘Nothing…you can even come from Timbuktu, medical treatment is free.’
“I would also like to ask that woman why so many of them travel to the United States of America to deliver their babies. Also, and very importantly, let her ask the Hon. Mark Brantley where was his father residing and working for some four decades before returning to his native land?”
The Observer learnt that a group of young men and women from the Federation are currently undergoing a six-month training programme with their CARICOM counterparts, which on completion, will provide them with the knowledge and ability to educate nationals of their respective countries on the CSME and the Free Movement of People.
