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Opinion and Commentary
Commentary: CSME jobs for you and me?
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| Published on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | Email To Friend Print Version
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By Linda Petrusi
Who says CSME does not create jobs? All one needs to do is a quick online search to discover that a whole new cottage industry has emerged. Namely: Workshops and Seminars. On any given day there is a workshop or seminar designed to educate, inform, "help the average citizen learn more about..." CSME. Not only that, there are many providers of such workshops all ready and willing to help the trade unions, schools, youth, etc. to learn more about how CSME can work for them. I have no idea how much they charge but it does strike me as a good profession to be in.
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Linda Petrusi holds a BA in International Studies, a Minor in Black Studies, a certificate in mediation and will shortly complete her Masters in Conflict Resolution. Feedback to:
linda@caribbeannetnews.com |
I also do not understand the need for all these licenses unless its another new industry emerging. If the point of CSME is free movement of people, goods and services, then why is it limited to certain groups or classification of people? Sounds discriminatory to me. What about those individuals who do not have licenses but do have fifteen years work experience? Who would an employer want to hire? A person with fifteen years work experience or a person with one year experience and a license? Just because a person has a degree in restaurant management does not mean he knows how to fry chicken.
On the other hand, just because a person knows how to fry chicken does not mean he knows how to manage a restaurant. But isn't that what CSME is designed to do? Connect the restaurant manager with the cook to produce a product that is consistent, good and sells? Maybe I'm missing something here. It seems to me people have gone beyond the point of being fed up to just not give a damn anymore. Any who can blame them? Is there a Citizen Advisory Board established? Maybe that would help the "average politician to learn more about...". Truth is that politicians, business leaders, schools and trade unions are doing nothing more than pay lip service to the goal of CSME and letting down the most important stakeholder of them all.
The young adults and youths throughout the Caribbean. In spite of all the bickering that goes on in the "inner sanctum" of CARICOM, the Youth Ambassadors continue to work towards a full integration.
If this sounds strange to you, then go to Facebook and search for CSME. There you will find young adults from the Caribbean posting news about CSME, exchanging ideas and thoughts on how to better improve. The young adults from Trinidad and Tobago do a tremendous job of posting news articles, events, and other interests on a daily basis.
They are optimistic that integration can occur and have a very good handle on what needs to be done. I also discovered a link to a website www.CSMEjobs.net. So I went to the website and discovered it was a job search engine for citizens of T&T. In October alone, there were 51 new job postings ranging from general labor at Pepsi to teaching English in Japan. Since I was new to the website, I decided to register and open an account. It's free and very user friendly. One can create a profile, resume, search for jobs, start their own blog, have their own inbox and have newsletters and new job postings sent direct to their email address all free.
However, since I noticed all the jobs were located in T&T, I decided to send a message to gefeedback. By the way, one can send messages direct to CSMEjobs.net and ask questions about all sorts of things. There's a drop box that allows you to decide what you need help with.
So I sent a message asking if only citizens of T&T can apply for these jobs? Now I have to admit I was a bit skeptical on how long it would take for a response. My past experience in trying to obtain data from individual states took around 3-4 weeks. However, the next day, I received a prompt and courteous reply which to me indicates a good level of customer service. I was informed that CSMEjobs.net was interfaced with another search engine TNT.com. Had I read the welcoming remarks on the home page better, I would have seen the link to this search engine. So with a click, I was re-directed to many more job databases. Craigslist, and Caribbean search engines. There I discovered banks, cruise lines, positions with CSME, United Nations, 3M, and many others. If you understand Black Jack and can shuffle cards, there's a job waiting on a cruise line. If you are interested in banking, there's a bank hiring and all jobs listed are open to anybody residing in member states.
So for all who believe CSME is a total waste of time, I challenge you to re-consider the possibilities. Imagine a region that is fully integrated, allows free movement for all people, free movement of goods and services and perhaps most important; the exchange of ideas, talent and minds. And to all the politicians who are only looking out for themselves, shame on you. To believe you can go it alone is irresponsible governing and undermines your credibility as leaders.
And to the young adults of the Caribbean, stand up and speak up. Teach the politicians who have for so long let you down. Teach them the importance of teamwork, collaboration, and most of all, leadership. And it they fail to listen or are condescending, then use your power as citizens and vote them out.
I've included a link to a video entitled, "The Girl who Silenced the World for Five Minutes." It is about a young girl who spoke before the United Nations in Brazil and silenced everyone. This girl puts things into perspective in a manner no adult can. Please take five minutes to listen to her words. | | | | Reads : 577 | | | |
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