With construction stagnant in her native Jamaica, architect Mandilee Newton left one island for another \uff97 taking a design job in oil- and gas-rich Trinidad.<\/p>\n
By finding a position across the Caribbean, the bespectacled Newton, 27, said she managed to boost her career without migrating to Europe or North America like so many skilled workers from the region.<\/p>\n
“If you want to be an architect in the Caribbean, Trinidad is the place to be,” she said.<\/p>\n
Workers seeking better jobs have island-hopped for generations, but a regional integration project is now making it easier for professionals. Thousands have lined up to move under recently eased restrictions \uff97 a migration boost critics say will worsen economic disparities.<\/p>\n
Before, professionals seeking to work in another island had to be hired in advance by a company that would help them apply for a work permit \uff97 a complicated and lengthy process that often took months. Now, under the new rules for the Caribbean Single Market and Economy \uff97 an evolving economic union that groups together more than 6 million people in 12 nations \uff97 workers with university degrees or other special skills can register for a certificate that allows them to move before they secure a job. <\/p>\n
Those allowed under the special-skills provision in-clude calypso musicians, performing artists and journalists.<\/p>\n
Some on small islands have expressed concern they will be overrun by better-educated professionals from their larger neighbors.<\/p>\n
“Antigua is tiny compared to Trinidad and Jamaica. It’s clear we are not going to be able to compete with their larger talent pool,” said Winston Derrick, a newspaper publisher and radio station owner in Antigua. It’s too soon, however, to know whether the concerns have any basis, said Esteban Perez, a United Nations economist based in Trinidad who has studied the Caribbean Single Market.<\/p>\n
So far, there haven’t been enough migrants to harm any of the member nation’s economies, he said.<\/p>\n
About 2,000 professionals already are taking advantage of the new flexibility under the Caribbean Single Market.<\/p>\n
Some, like Newton, have secured higher salaries. Others, such as Trinidadian community development planner Saffrey Brown, 30, said career opportunities seemed more fulfilling elsewhere.<\/p>\n
“Yeah there’s a boom in Trinidad, where I could have made more money, but Jamaica is where I can grow professionally,” said Brown, who works renovating Jamaica’s ghettos.<\/p>\n
The free movement of professionals has been phased in slowly as part of the integration project that envisions the eventual adoption of a single currency and closer political ties. <\/p>\n
The Nassau Guardian<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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