As the debate over CARICOM free movement continues, we’re hearing more voices weigh in, including from the agriculture sector. With reports that the industry is struggling to find enough workers, we asked Agriculture Minister Jose Mai: could this agreement help fill those labor gaps? His response adds an interesting layer to the conversation.
Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture
“Of course, we have a labor shortage in this country. We lost thousands of boxes of citrus because we were unable to harvest citrus in time. We are unable to harvest the entire sugar cane crop because we could not find enough sugarcane cutters. The banana industry has the same problem. You cant find people to work on your farm. There is a shortage. If we can facilitate the movement of people to work in our country and then go back to their country and take the money back and help us do our agriculture work, it should a good thing, it will benefit.”
