By Richard Simon

St. George’s, Grenada, 09-02-2022 – When Bob Marley sang “Exodus, movements of Jah people,” he never envisioned a day when “Jah People” would be unable to move at will around a region that has been talking about regional integration, regionalism and a single market and economy since the 1950’s.

When the Jamaican and Caribbean reggae star passed away in 1981, he was already aware of efforts by regional governments to establish CARICOM and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in the sub-region, all in the hope that intra-Caribbean travel will be the glue that keeps the pieces together and allow increased and regular people to people contact to underpin the integration effort.

The establishment of Leeward Island Air Transport (LIAT), British West Indian Airways (BWIA) Caribbean Airlines, Air Jamaica, Caribbean Star, among others all gave hope of a level of people to people contact that will drive the pieces closer together for our own survival and in an effort at efficiency in our tourism and trade sectors, but alas, none stayed around long enough to move us from our state of hope.

“In 2022 it’s harder to get around the region than it ever was”, one leading medical practitioner said as he tried to get from Trinidad and Tobago to Grenada for a two-day stay. “If I have a one-day meeting in Grenada, I have to stay for at least 4-7 days as opposed to just 2 years ago when I could come up early in the morning and go back down the same evening,” He said.

The problem is affecting all areas of Caribbean life, including the economic benefits of people travelling between the islands at annual high points, including summer and Easter in particular. Its also impacting the security of Caribbean leaders who must sit in person to conduct the business of the nations of the Caribbean.

In a recent CARICOM Heads meeting in Suriname, some OECS Leaders met in Barbados and were packed into a small aircraft operated by the Regional Security System (RSS) to be flown to the meeting. One error in judgement or a lightning strike and our islands would be plunged into mourning. 

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell says he understands the importance of the issue and has given early indications that he is prepared to work with his regional colleagues to provide opportunities for Caribbean people to travel among the islands more efficiently, less costly and without the immigration barriers that currently exist.

“I genuinely feel that there has been a lack of political will to make travel among the islands and the OECS and CARICOM as seamless as we can. It’s one of the things I want to champion within CARICOM in general and amongst our islands, is the need for our people to travel seamlessly as citizens of CARICOM,” the Grenadian leader said.

He was particularly focused on the relationship between Grenada and its southern neighbor, Trinidad and Tobago, which has a history of family and other relations, with 90 miles of seawater separating the two countries. “It is difficult for me to understand why we still have a lot of the immigration restrictions amongst ourselves given our close ties, our sporting ties and our family ties,” the Prime Minister said.

The issue has taken on additional importance given the role intra-regional travel plays in supporting the Caribbean’s single most important symbol of integration, Cricket. A former West Indies cricket captain and team operations manager Sir Richie Richardson described, on his Facebook page, a recent experience just trying to get back to his home after doing regional duties. 

“After travelling around the Caribbean working for the past 10 weeks, and dying for a rest in my own bed back home, I am here stuck at Sir Grantley Adams International Airport, Barbados, from 8:40 am and now have been told that my flight has been delayed to 4 pm. My concern, though, is that so many people are complaining about how difficult it is to travel around the Caribbean – it’s a shame! “ he lamented.

In what appears to be a well-rehearsed chorus, Richardson joined the conversation in several regional capitals in his recognition that the lack of readily available travel options among the islands is holding back the region’s destiny to be one.

“How can we speak about Caribbean Unity when we are deprived of the easy access we had before to travel, interact and do business with our Caribbean brothers and sisters? Why can’t we have an airline or airlines that would fully suffice the travelling needs of Caribbean people?” he asked.

His cry is echoed by his own Prime Minister Gaston Browne who has blamed the airline travel debacle for the inability to move produce around the region, as he addressed the recent inaugural Agri-Investment Forum and Expo in Guyana.

“A regional approach is necessary to increase food production in all of our territories. Let us not fool ourselves, if we do not have adequate transportation, then all our efforts will be in vain. In this regard, reliable regional transportation by air and by sea is imperative and urgently requires attention,” Brown said.

The Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley also agrees that a different approach, to include a combination of airline and shipping, may be needed to meet the special needs of the movement of people and cargo across the region.

“We have to ensure that our ports of entry….. are priority areas of investment to facilitate the movement of cargo and people and at this moment when maritime transport is at its greatest challenge, we have to recognise that the bridge to resuscitating Caribbean tourism air transport may well be having regional air cargo moving to help offset the investment to move our people,” Mottley added.

“Our people need regular affordable access to air transport, and not just simply on a periodic basis,” Mottley said, signalling an intention to work with her regional leaders to ensure Bob’s movement of Jah people is finally realized, as we traverse and build the region together.