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  • Jamaica Gleaner Editorial | Lovell should opt for free movement

Jamaica Gleaner Editorial | Lovell should opt for free movement

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Cynics will probably cast the proposal by Antigua and Barbuda’s main opposition, the United Progressive Party (UPP), to eliminate work permit fees for Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Dominican Republic nationals as a tactic to wrangle votes in this month’s general election.

Which it may well be. The proposal, however, suggests that Harold Lovell, the UPP’s leader, has an inclination towards regional integration and a notion of the value that the movement of skilled people across the Caribbean can bring to national economies.

Mr Lovell, though, should go further in advancing the spirit of CARICOM, especially its intention to transform itself into a genuine single market and economy, by committing a UPP government to free movement of labour for community nationals. He should start, at least, with an embrace of the recommendation on the issue two years ago by the Persaud Commission on revitalising the community.

Antiguans will vote on January 18 in an election which Mr Lovell hopes will deny Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) a third consecutive term in office.

Among Mr Lovell’s campaign pledges is to “waive all work permit fees for nationals of CARICOM and the Dominican Republic, who have been working and resident in Antigua and Barbuda on or before January 1 this year”.

That, on the face of it, may appear a strange election promise – not the kind of offering that is normally expected to excite voters. Except, proportionally, Antigua and Barbuda has among the largest number of ‘foreign’ residents in CARICOM.

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Guyanese, for instance, started arriving in the 1970s, during race-tinged political tensions in their country. People from the Dominican Republic, especially women, came in the 1980s, drawn, in part, by booming tourism and the prospects of employment in leisure-related jobs.

MOST VISIBLE

But it is Jamaicans, who work in all sectors at all stratas of the economy, who are the most visible and probably the largest segment of Caribbean residents. Their numbers are not immediately available, but anecdotal estimates place the figure at upwards of 10,000. That would roughly be equivalent to having in the region of 300,000 Antiguans living in Jamaica.

These residents, as Commonwealth nationals, have the right to vote once they have lived in the country legally for at least a year. So, Mr Lovell’s promise, cynics might argue, is intended to break the lock the ABLP is perceived to have on that vote.

Mr Lovell, though, has pitched his promise as a high-minded undertaking, citing it in the context of the right enjoyed by citizens of the seven-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) to free movement of citizens within the union for residence.

“The OECS Economic Union has been effective in bringing citizens of the OECS together as one people and one community,” Mr Lovell said. “Work permits are not required for OECS nationals to work throughout the OECS, thereby expanding opportunities for job creation and the growth of regional economies.”

The capacity for labour to move in the wider CARICOM group falls significantly short of what exists in the OECS. Officially, CARICOM exempts the following category of community citizens from work permits:

● university graduates;

● artistes;

● musicians;

● sportspersons;

● media workers;

● nurses;

● teachers;

● artisans with a Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ);

● holders of associate degrees or comparable qualification; and

● household domestics with a CVQ or its equivalent.

However, applicants seeking exempt certificates often complain of the frustrating hoops through which they have to pass to receive permits.

GROWTH IN REGIONAL ECONOMIES

Yet, as Mr Lovell acknowledged to be the case with the OECS, the intermingling of skills and talent helps to expand job creation and growth in regional economies. However, large swathes of workers remain locked out of the automatic right to transport their skills and talents across the community.

According to Mr Lovell, his proposal, which would be law within three months if the UPP wins, would be an “advancement towards the Caribbean Single Market and Economy and regional integration”.

Perhaps!

But if he is serious that the policy proposal is more than a vote-getting ploy, Mr Lovell should instead make an irrevocable pledge that, if he becomes prime minister, he would give greater leadership on the matter, over and above what he has promised.

Antigua and Barbuda should be declared open to all CARICOM nationals – without the need for reciprocity.

If he is concerned about going all the way at once, a UPP government could, as the first phase, do as was recommended to CARICOM by the Avinash Persaud Commission – opening regional economies to community nationals who passed at least three subjects in Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate exams.

The commission explained: “This appears to be a marked lowering of the threshold, but it is a woeful fact that more than two-thirds of our school-leavers do not have this qualification. Maybe this new rule would encourage more high-school students to see obtaining a couple of CSECs as a viable route to opportunity. Equally important, however, is that we propose that those that have this qualification do not need any specially obtained documentation other than electronic verification that they do.”

As the OECS free movement arrangement has shown, the country would not be overrun. Antigua and Barbuda would probably be a catalyst for similar moves for other CARICOM states.

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REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL SELECTION)

 

OECS MSME Guarantee Facility Project

Loan No.: IDA-62670, IDA-62660, IDA-62640, IBRD-88830, IDA-62650

Assignment Title: Senior Operating Officer (SOO)

Reference No. KN-ECPCGC-207852-CS-INDV

 

The Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have received financing in the amount of US$10 million equivalent from the World Bank towards the cost of establishing a partial credit guarantee scheme, and they intend to apply part of the proceeds to payments for goods, and consulting services to be procured under this project. 

The consultant will serve as the “Senior Operating Officer (SOO)” for the ECPCGC and should possess extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to Micro, small and medium-sized businesses, knowledge of the internal control processes necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk mitigation procedures. The ideal candidate should possess an Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Accounting, Banking or related field, with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in lending, inclusive of MSME lending. The initial employment period will be for two years on a contractual basis. Renewal of the contract will be subject to a performance evaluation at the end of the contractual period. The assignment is expected to begin on September 30th, 2021.  The consultant will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of the ECPCGC.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be viewed by following the attached link below. 

 

https://bit.ly/3iVannm

 

The Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECPCGC) now invites eligible “Consultants” to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have:

  • An Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Finance, Banking or related field; and
  • Minimum of 5 years’ experience in MSME lending. Applicants should also have:
  • The ability to design and implement risk management procedures 
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to small and medium-sized businesses
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME banking operations
  • Knowledge of the internal controls necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk management procedures
  • Experience developing and presenting information in public, including responding to questions in real-time
  • Experience lending to MSMEs located in the ECCU
  • Knowledge of marketing and communicating with the MSME sector
  • Ability to draft procedures to be used in a lending operation
  • Familiarity with the mechanics of a loan guarantee program
  • Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills, and
  • Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office suite.

The attention of interested Individual Consultants is drawn to Section III, Paragraphs 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers July 2016, [revised November 2017] (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Approved Selection Method for Individual Consultants set out in the clause 7.34 of the World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers. 

 

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0800 to 1700 hours:

Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation

Brid Rock, Basseterre,

St. Kitts.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form by e-mail by August 11th, 2021, to [email protected]

 

For further information, please contact:

Carmen Gomez-Trigg                                                            Bernard Thomas

Chief Executive Officer                                                          Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 868-620-8144                                                                  Tel: 869-765-2385

Email: [email protected]                                          [email protected]