00:00Next October the 1st, 4 CARICOM countries will be part of what is called the Full Free Movement of People Initiative,
00:07a project that opens the door to the regional bloc's funding principle of having a single market and economy.
00:13Our correspondent Crystal Hyatt with the details.
00:20As 4 CARICOM countries, Barbados, Belize, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines launch the Full Free Movement of People.
00:29While the initiative is a funding principle of the CARICOM single market and economy,
00:34its implementation across the region has been slow.
00:38David Comashaw, Barbados' ambassador to CARICOM, explains what this development means for the region.
00:45This is historic because this represents a level of unity that we have been trying to achieve
00:53ever since the destruction of the West Indies Federation way back in 1962.
01:01The CARICOM single market and single economy have been working back to that very deep level of unity.
01:09The kind of unity where the citizens of the CARICOM countries will be able to travel to each other's country,
01:17will be able to live indefinitely, will be able to work without need for a work permit,
01:24will be treated to certain basic rights like a citizen of the country.
01:30Ambassador Comashaw acknowledges that it would have been ideal for all 15 CARICOM member countries
01:36to move forward with the initiative.
01:38But when the question was raised at the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting, only four countries were ready.
01:45He also shares what he believes to be the primary barrier to wider implementation.
01:50The old psychological barrier of being afraid of your neighbors.
01:58For some reason, ever since the decline of the Federation back in 1962, this phobia seems to have taken root.
02:09Because one of the reasons the Federation collapsed was that big fear that Jamaica had
02:15that Jamaica would be invaded by hordes of people from the Eastern Caribbean.
02:22And for some reason, that idea seems to have taken root.
02:27Starting October 1st, nationals from these four countries will be able to live and work freely across borders
02:35without the need for CARICOM skills certificates or work permits.
02:39For Sto Hoyt, Telusir, Barbados.
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