And turning now to regional news, Belize today joined Barbados, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines by implementing the full Free Movement of their nationals among these four countries. Simply put, it means Nationals from these four countries will be able to travel to any of these four countries to reside, work and remain indefinitely, with the right to access emergency and primary health care as well as public primary and secondary education for their children.
It's a major leap forward in regional integration. And while we have seen addresses from the Prime Ministers of Barbados and Dominica telling their citizens why it's being done and what to expect - in Belize, the best we got was a black and white press release.
Today, the UDP's senior Senator Patrick Faber lamented the lack of public awareness efforts:
Patrick Faber, UDP Senator
"I am willing to bet that if the media people were to take their cameras on the streets, and ask the Belize young people what this means to them, they will tell you they have no clue."
"I'm willing to bet that if you go in the churches, I'm willing to bet that if you go to the market, I'm willing to bet that if you go into the business places and ask the employers the potential employers, what is the full scale effect of Belize signing on to this and it coming into effect today, October 1st? They will tell you that they don't know. And that is to be put squarely on the shoulders of the government of Belize. One of the other one of the other four countries, my friends, is Barbados. And the Prime Minister of Barbados held a press conference to inform."
"The Foreign Minister of Barbados, the minute he came back from the Jamaica Caricom heads meeting, where the foreign ministers sometimes attend."
"He went back and held a press conference in his country, and he was able to share what the sectors of the public were doing, what the various ministries were doing. He took on the tough questions. But in Belize, we don't know. We have not a clue."
"What is going to happen, should people from these other countries?"
"That our country cannot handle the issues that we are having among our own citizenry in this country. But we are going to take on more without a plan."
According to the release, systems have been established to allow for registration of incoming nationals, enabling access to services such as education and healthcare, and allowing national agencies to plan for any increased demand.
