What has happened to the Treaty of Chaguaramas?

THE EDITOR, Sir:

The recent uproar within the media about Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago saga has long been going on and is nothing new. Trinidad and Tobago has been boycotting Jamaican produce and goods for four years now. And to make things worse, they have been denying Jamaicans access into their country. Some Jamaicans have been ill-treated and unfairly deported. What happened to the right to free movement under the Treaty of Chaguaramas? Jamaica has been upholding her part for all these years, with only talks of boycotting Trinidad and Tobago, but no action.

It is time that the Jamaican Government and the citizens of this great country come together to stand against the unfairness and the disrespect the Trinidad and Tobago government has been showing us. President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) William Mahfood had stated that Jamaica should stand up for its rights and refuse Trinidad and Tobago access to the Jamaican market if it continues to restrict free movement of the Jamaican citizens.

I agree with the PSOJ president, but I also agree with the stand which the majority of the Jamaican people have taken, and that is to boycott Trinidad and Tobago. The Jamaican people are fed up with the discrepancies the Trinidad and Tobago government has been feeding us as to why they are, so to speak, blacklisting us from their country. The time is now for action and to take a stand by defending our rights.

K. Johnson