Listening to Barbados Deputy Prime Minister Mia Mottley, speak in Aruba one could not but have sympathy with her and the difficult hand that she has been given to play over Caricom’s new visa regime.
There in front of Caribbean hoteliers, industry representatives, tour operators, journalists and others, she presented the rationale behind the new arrangements that are being introduced for the period of world cup cricket and possibly beyond.
Despite facing a largely hostile audience, she was able in a calm and measured way to disarm most present. She explained in detail why Caribbean heads of government took a decision to require all visitors from certain nations during the period of World Cup cricket to obtain a visa at a fee of US$100.
Although most present argued about the unfairness of charging say a visitor from Switzerland who had previously not required any visa to enter the Caribbean, the minister patiently explained why this was necessary. She also detailed why Caribbean heads of government have three times ratified their decision on this issue taking into consideration intelligence advice; the level of security co-operation offered by the countries concerned; and the variable national visa requirements that presently exist across the region.
No one who cares about the long term viability of the Caribbean tourism product and the safety of all who live in the region, and who listened carefully to the minister, should have been left in any doubt about the validity of what she had to say. In her presentation she, by her own admission, went right to the edge of what she could tell a public gathering about the security preparations in place for Cricket World Cup.
Although she made clear that those involved in such issues had no indication of any threat, she suggested that within the region and based on the best external advice, the danger of a terrorism-linked event was ever present. She also came very close to recognising the inadequacies of Caribbean governance when it came to the administrative practicalities relating to tourism and transport.
In saying so she found herself in the same difficult position that all governments around the world now have in trying to balance the need for secrecy surrounding issues relating to national security, the right of the public to know and for individual freedoms such as travel not to be unreasonably curtailed.
I took away from the Deputy Prime Minister’s careful remarks a number of messages, some of which are unlikely to be popular with government, the tourism sector or the less responsible sections of the media.
The first is that individual Caribbean governments urgently need to establish a system whereby prime ministers prioritise to their cabinet colleagues matters that are of national interest. To hear that it has been impossible to find dates when ministers involved with national security, transport and tourism can meet or that key simulations – in some cases involving external security advisors – are agreed to and then few of the ministers concerned actually turn up, is shocking. So much so that it seems to suggest that in the not too distant future a crisis will occur because many ministers are unwilling or ‘too busy’ to focus on what matters most.
The second is to suggest that Caribbean heads of government and ministers need to develop a much better way of trying to explain in good time to those most affected – in this case the tourism sectors representatives, the media and journalists and the region’s diplomats – why decisions are being taken and how they are to be implemented.
In doing so their advisers have to learn how to manage the natural public scepticism that surrounds any decision based on restricted information.
The third is to note that these situations arise because of a widespread distrust of government – not isolated to the Caribbean -and scepticism about in whose interests elected officials are acting.
Next is the issue of timing and the implementation of decisions. No one is going to say publicly that the manner of the introduction of the visa system for Cricket World Cup demonstrates all that is administratively less than competent about the region. However, it simply is not enough for Caribbean heads of government to take a decision of this nature unless its effect is discussed with ministers and then privately with those who have the most to lose or who are directly involved in implementation.
Then comes the matter of the mutual incomprehension that seems to exist between the public and private sector over who pays for a decision that affects negatively a corporate bottom line.
At an individual level too much of the tourism sector is still self-interested and not prepared to see the bigger picture. Having said this it can not be beyond the wit of governments and hoteliers to develop a scheme that rebates in some way visa costs during this unique period, as a measure of goodwill.
In Aruba, Mia Mottley was enormously flexible and at the conclusion of the meeting indicated her preparedness to ameliorate the impact of the new arrangements where it was administratively possible. Despite this, some present including ministers, remained unrealistic, in denial or without any statistics to indicate the dimension of the problem. Some from the industry also seemed blithely uncomprehending that a terrorist attack or operation mounted out of the region would result in the industry as a whole and the Caribbean’s economy going overnight from growth to disaster.
No doubt the entry arrangements and individual experiences with immigration officials and customs officials during world cup cricket will lead to individual horror stories. There will also be negative publicity illustrating the unreformed nature of the entry regimes in some Caribbean nations if, as one suspects, present inter-regional and other prejudices endure.
Despite this, the probability is that the new security arrangements that have been put in place will largely work and provide a legacy of a joined-up regional system. The Caribbean will become a safer place with new international linkages enabling the exchange of actionable information that the region presently only has limited access to. Beyond this the idea and operation of a single economic space will have been administratively enhanced, one hopes for the benefit of Caribbean citizens and external visitors alike.
By the end of April we will know the outcome. Hopefully some lessons will have been learnt along the way; not least that governments need to take into their confidence in a timely manner those that they govern and whose business success they depend upon.
Previous columns can be found at www.caribbean-council.org
