RODNEY BAY, St. Lucia, Jul 31 2015 – The rolling out of a card to make travel easier in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States has been delayed OECS Director General Dr. Didacus Jules has confirmed.
He said the biometric swipe card developed under a World Bank project has faced a number of setbacks with implementation.
“There are several things which have delayed the process including making some of the legislative changes that are required,” Jules said.
He said a challenge also existed in determining what entity would be responsible for rolling out the card.
“In some countries it was given to the electoral commission and in some countries it is the census office,” the head of the St. Lucia-based OECS Secretariat said.
He revealed that member countries are already in possession of the machines responsible to print the cards and the authorities are now discussing “how to expedite the roll-out of these cards,” although he did not set a timeline.
Nationals of Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Lucia, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts/Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands will be able to use the card to travel between islands.
The card is part of the OECS Integration movement which has already been set in motion with the removal of work permits for OECS nationals in member countries.
