All Barbadian labour is asking caricom for is reciprocity in terms of wages and working conditions. But you seem not to understand that.

As for our exports the common external tariff ensures that we can sell to one another. Ask TCL the regional monopoly on cement production if caricom is not working for them. By the way they export most of cement manufactured in Barbados to the Windward Islands and it can be bought at a cheaper $US price than in Barbados.

Grantley Adams went down the caricom road before. People do not forgive only God does that and we have not forgiven the big three by the way (Trinidad, Jamaica and Guyana). Besides why do not you send this article to the Bahamas I am sure they will agree with everything you say. The Rt Hon Owen Arthur went to Bahamas to get the Bahamaians warm to freedom of movement. From the footage i saw from ZNS they were not exactly receptive of the idea.

Frank Da Silva once said on CBC that once Trinidadians, Jamaicans and Guyanese could get into the labour markets of Canada, England and USA they would by pass all other caribbean countries including Barbados for those said opportunities. Now that those said countries are making it hard for them to enter their countries Barbados is now the stop gap.

We have a saying in Barbados where you spend your summer you can spend your winter. Barbados can only export so much to Caricom and Caricom can only buy so much from us. As a rational expectation there is only so much Caricom labour we can import and there are only caricom job for Barbadians can get.

I have heard that Barbadians have fear called the “the fear of lacking”. ie we think the economic pie in Barbados is so small that Barbadians can not get share we think we deserve. Barbados and the most of the caribbean is capital constrained region and we are very aware of this. Your obvious response to this would be say we can pool our resources but how can equally agree on on how we benefit from this effort. You might also say that Barbados has benefitted from substantial invest from Trinidad but to that I will say given Trinidad’s socio economic and political problems where else can they put their money. Guyana could use it more than we could but Mr Jagdeo wants to put the kind of restrictions that would not benefit the Trinidadian investor ( Alien land holding act and Corporate Foreign Ownership Legislation.

Barbados has enforced more treaties as it relates to Caricom than any other Caricom state. Your misguided and uninformed opinion should be directed at the other Caricom countries and their protectionist laws. You dear writer are the ultimate xenophobe.

Why is it that Barbadians and West Indians have two DISTINCT opinions on CSME? The person who commented above me is echoing what I’ve read from Richard Hoad, and even here in another editorial lambasting CSME… while Caribbean people in general think it’s a good thing. Curious…

Did Mr. Arthur intend to call me xenophobic? Or anti-Barbadian?

The irony of his comment is that it proves the article – or, at the very least, it does nothing to refute the salient points.

I must say the article was indeed written with a very Pro-Caricom/highly critical view of Barbados, in the same vein that Hoad et al. write exceedingly critical views on “Caribbean people coming to pilfer the goodies from Barbados” under a CSME regime. Fair exchange?

@ CA

Because we are pragmatic. Most of the other Caricom nationals have no real info on the CSME. I think the main emphasis from other caribbean countries is that it is economic release valve for their unemployment problem. Barbados current development path needs far income than we can possibly derive from our neighbours. CSME does not work because to everyone mutual benefit because we all can not agree on want we want out of it. Barbados needs more foreign reserves than it currently earns ($US, Pound Sterling, $CAD, Euros) and I do not think other Caricom nations are going to sign those reserves over to us. Do you include the Bahamas, Suriname and Belize? I am sure you do not. Each Caricom nation elects a Numb Nut to manage the affairs on their nation state not the affairs of others. Can you ever recall if Tillman Thomas, Patrick Manning, Dr Denzil Douglas, Dr Ralph Gonzales, Dean Barrow, David Thompson, Balwin Spencer, Barat Jagdeo, Roosevelt Skeritt, Stephenson King wrote a budgetary estimate inclusive of other Caricon nationals? Your deafen silence confirms my suspicions?

Well I am loving the debate. I too think the CSME is s***t, for the simple fact that development really isn’t even across the islands and I think it would be a logistical nightmare to implement! I’ve also seen the vast numbers of “other nationals” in Barbados and was a bit stunned. However, I was MORE stunned that Owen Arthur is still clamouring for it to be implemented and implemented as fully as possible. I am only married to a Barbadian and not a Barbadian myself, but I must say I feel equally as strongly against CSME!

@ Ms Maharaj

You are a Trinidadian by birth yet you do not live there. Why? I hope your country’s murder rate has not scared you from your birth right. Barbados is just saying to the rest of Caricom we have reached or about to reach the upper ceiling on the number economic migrants we can sustainably accommodate in our country. We have a right to express that view. The same way Trinidad is the leading country in deporting caricom nationals from its shores. All 17 Caricom heads of state need to do is stop having these behind close door meetings about CSME and let the Caricom public hear what are really saying to each other. Would you not like to hear what Patrick Manning is really discussing with OECS leaders instead of those irritating sound bites and empty rhetoric or would you prefer to hear it from Panday or Pamela Bissessar. Realise that bajans are not complaining caricom national but the numbers they are arriving at our doors. Have you ever hear bajan complain about nationals from Belize, Suriname, Bahamas, St Kitts because they have arrive in the number other caricom nationals. CSME is too dependent on economic deprivation to encourage labour movement. And it is high time you so called regionalist to see that and get off your condescending high horse.

So in essence, CSME is about poor West Indian migrants coming to Barbados, end of discussion? There are no other aspects of the CSME besides free movement of *skilled* nationals to you Mr. Arthur?

Does Barbados have not one, not *one* Bajan who is a potential economic migrant? Please don’t say no – given the masses that go to Canada to work farm labour, and the equal masses who try to work in the UK/US. Hearing you speak, it’s like you believe Barbados is in so blessed a position that anything that CARICOM could add is either not necessary or downright evil.

And let’s not be politically correct here – just say your main grouse is Guyanese and ‘poor people from CARICOM’ coming to Barbados. So far, that’s all you’ve been able to touch on.

I agree that CARICOM heads of state should stop closed door meetings and talk to the people – because ignorance is thriving.

By the way – I cannot help where my job takes me, but my loyalties are to Trinidad & Tobago and the West Indies. Our crime rate (as if Barbados is one to talk) had nothing to do with me being away from Trinidad.

Funny how I am the xenophobe in this dialogue and your colours are showing quite clearly here. Typical Bajan? Shame.

There are two great ironies in this dialogue.

A Trinidadian writer is chiding Barbados for not being receptive of CSME when Trinidad is the most racist, xenophobic island in the region, who dislike the notion of any form of integration from outside and who, in fact, barely like themselves.

The second irony is that this is so typical of any Bajan-Trini dialogue since it appears we could never get along. I am just waiting for the author to invoke flying fish and this will be a quintessential Trinidadian debate.

CSME is a joke, and I really believe that deep, deep down, the writer knows this. She can barely defend her argument in favour of CSME when really all her article was focused on was bashing Barbados from start to finish.

Bravo! You are a typical Trini – the type our Bajan borders should forever keep out. Fire on CSME – for the good of everyone.

“I am just waiting for the author to invoke flying fish and this will be a quintessential Trinidadian debate.”

hahahahhahahahahaha!!

I work with a skilled national from Trinidad and he is a great friend of mine. And trained me on the job. Like the typical condescending and soaked with petro dollars Trinidadian you make Barbadians sound like a nation of evil doers. There are many Barbadians who have migrated to USA (my next door neighbour and a cousin), a fellow worker who was on the canadian farm labour programme and many another fellow worker who have worked in other caribbean islands. Ms Maharaj answer me this what do you think would be the social and economic impact to Trinidad if US economic fall out had to send many of the Trinidadians (other caricom nationals) back home to caribbean? How will caribbean cope with the sudden influx of people it can not find work for? I must throw this sprat to catch an intellectual caricom regionalist like you. You seem to think Barbados is the problem with CSME? Caribbean Court of Justice ring a bell to you?

Do not get me wrong i would CSME work like the EU. But we have 17 Numb Nuts who are to be setting the guidelines for our integration wrong from since the 1970′s. We all know there economic disparity amongst us and social issues which divide us. The lack of blunt open dialogue about our internal and external issues hinder us. Yes i have a problem with the number of guyanese national that are in Barbados. So does Trinidad but you just sweep it under the rug. As I have said Barbadians not complain about people from St Kitts, Antigua, Dominica, Belize, Grenada or Suriname. I have yet to encounter these nationals in my country in any significant number. Dose it not seem strange to you that Trinidad soaked in petro dollars cannot seem to absorb the caricom work force. Or is it Trinidad is only for Trinidadians.

Mr. Arthur, unfortunately I have to bid you adieu for tonight. I am devastated that I can’t continue this debate ad infinitum with you – my new #1 fan. You have not answered any of my questions and I fear we’re going around in circles. I do hope you come to Trinidad and get over your seeming dislike for our warm island, and eventually you and your comrades will see the good side of CSME sooner or later. I will prepare another article shortly where you can kick up in the sandpit again.

i am a bajan and on principle i cannot agree with the delivery of the article but there are many points i agree with. i do not believe that the author likes csme any more than we do, i get the impression that she uses our dislike for it as a platform to bowl a yawker to barbados. i also believe that if she could sign out and curse you stink without losing her lil pick, she would. all that said, we are a xenophobic nation, we do not want west indians flooding us, we do not think csme can do anything for us and we want barbados to be for barbadians. nothing is wrong with that! i don’t need caricom to tell me how i should see my own island. i love barbados and opening the floodgates for all and sundry (well intentioned or otherwise) is doomed to fail.

“i also believe that if she could sign out and curse you stink without losing her lil pick, she would.”

I do as well.

Poor CSME. Maybe they should concentrate on the ‘other’ aspects, and leave out this mass migration a la European Union for much, much later? To me, it seems like they’re putting the cart before the horse. That migration policy has wreaked havoc on some EU states – especially Britain. I can’t imagine how it would be for Barbados. Why are we so keen to implement that part of the CSME agreement anyway?!

Moderated two very angry comments. Let’s be fair to the other islands in criticizing CSME. Many of them aren’t very happy about it either and I’m sure would not dream to migrate from their own islands to live in Barbados. Sure, everyone’s entitled to a view but it is easy to offend on issues as touchy as these.

Interesting article, I agree with your main thesis but I disagree with some of your reasons for saying so.

You seem to have fallen into the fallacy that somehow a service economy is “not real” as opposed to one that does “real things’ like manufacturing and minerals. To describe an industry that has underpinned Barbados’ economic growth for more than half a century as “tenuous” seems somewhat counter intuitive to me. Indeed in the light of an emerging China most of the world’s manufacturing is moving towards the east. Including most of the garment manufacturing in Trinidad!

What we are witnessing is very careful political theatre on the part of our politicians. Owen Arthur was a vocal advocate for the CSME, and you can see what happened to him. Our current political directorate plays lip service to the “anti immigration” crowd, but when you look at their actions they have continued to push for the implementation of the CSME. Indeed the minister responsible for immigration recently urged graduates to seek work in the region!

The hard truth of the matter is that individually we are all too small to be viable in the global marketplace. Collectively we are a very small blip on the radar, but at least we show up. The EPA has shown that most metropolitan countries think of the area as one region and the logistics of dealing bilaterally with “all these little rocks” is simply not worth the trouble.

Some of the anti regionalism is simply thinly cloaked racism (one commenter on Barbados Underground indicated that he had no problem with black Guyanese but had problems with indian Guyanese coming to Barbados). However I would believe that the bulk of it is simply a lack of education about the CSME and its benefits.

The average Bajan is woefully uninformed about the CSME and the benefits of being part of the CSME. Into this information vacuum pours the loudest voices on the subject, most of which comes from the nationalist (some might say almost fascist) crowd. The failure of our public figures to effectively engage in this debate is perhaps the biggest threat to the success of the CSME.

The implications of this failure to engage are quite far reaching, as the success of the Caribbean in the future is inexorably intertwined with the success of the CSME.

And this is so whether we like it or not.

Marginal

Marginal I agree with all your points, even the criticism. I am big enough to admit I took one, or two, below the belt jabs at Barbados, but on the note of tourism – one must admit that this is a rather frail industry to depend on, especially in the current climate. I’ve also seen the exceptionally ignorant comments from some Barbadians on CSME and to be honest, it’s scary.

I wouldn’t characterise it as frail at all. Understand that Barbados has no real natural resources to speak of other than it’s human resource. Tourism has survived recessions and oil shocks and terrorist attacks before and will again.

In Grenada after Ivan the first foreign exchange earning sector to recover was tourism. Agriculture probably still has not completely recovered.

If I were to look at Trinidad I would point out that it’s economy hangs on oil which was great for you 6 months ago, but with the recession now looming, if Manning doesn’t reign in spending I think life in T’nt is going to get even tougher. It has happened before in the 80′s, it could happen again.

Tourism is by no means perfect, but there are no perfect solutions in this world. Further the tourism industry in Barbados has led to a far more equitable wealth distribution than exists in TnT currently. Apart from the hotel aspect of the industry, it has led to a number of spin offs, restaurants, cafe’s, landscapers, pool maintenance, wine merchants, spas, etc. etc. etc.

Marginal

Marginal, tourism itself may not be a frail industry but Barbados’ tourism product is increasingly becoming sh!t! Overpriced, not much offering – a concrete jungle that people who visit ‘the Caribbean’ don’t expect to see. If the Minister of Tourism isn’t fired tomorrow, I’d be shocked. Do you *really* think dependence on tourism ad infinitum is the best for Barbados? Or am I misunderstanding your logic? It’s late.

Can Ms. Trinidadian writer tell us exactly how Barbados will benefit from thousands of West Indians flooding Barbados, and when exactly Trinidad will open the gates to such West Indians?

Oh no… “they” have arrived. Either way, I find myself torn between this article and the other CSME article here. Is there a middle ground? Can’t we do everything else in CSME *except* migration for now? By migration I mean European modeled free movement of ALL nationals.

http://blog.bajandream.org/2008/09/26/a-taboo-critique-of-the-csme/

*Forgot the link..

I have read all of the comments thus far and I must say that it is highly interesting debate. I am inclined to agree with Marginal who brought some clarity to the matter amidst all the anger, racism and anti Bajan/Trini comments. The truth is the Caribbean is still filled (even in 2009) with ignorance, selfishness and arrogance which continues to cloud our judgements and hinder our progress. The CSME like the EU and all other blocks of this kind will have its challenges as we try to implement amidst the vast cultural difference that preciptate our thinking (trust me I am a trini in Jamaica and I have realized that we are all carribbean people but we are really diiferent).

We are small nations in the scheme of things; some of dots on the map. Why do we believe that if we ban together it would be to our detriment? Why are we so arrogant that we believe that peoplen are going to take what is righly ours? Isn’t it better for us to concentrate on finding the best solutions, implement good systems to try to alleviate some of the negatives of CSME -instead of bashing it.

Let us be our honest, our comments come from our fears. Fear has no place in progress. CSME can work if implemented properly. Infact, today Trinidad has more jamaicans working there than 7 years ago; Engineers who are making a differece. In fact, Trinidad has a problem getting people to work as cashiers, perhaps there are guyanese, jamaicans who could offer this service. The possibilities are limitless. Let us not limit our minds.