With the inevitable passage of time, and the tumultuous events of today, we can see clearly that the visionaries behind the West Indies Federation and Parliament — which lasted from 1958 to 1962 — were well ahead of their time.

The Federation ultimately collapsed, largely because of internal political conflicts and economic disparities between larger and smaller islands — notably after the withdrawal of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.

However, we can imagine how different the region would look with an evolving single market and economic structure benefiting from all the stupendous advancements of the decades and the things we have learnt since.

We in this space are in a mood of reflection following Tuesday’s announcement — yet again — that the heads of government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) are “committed” to implementing free movement of the region’s nationals by October 1, 2025, under the Single Market and Economy (CSME).

The indication by Caricom chairman and Prime Minister of Jamaica Dr Andrew Holness that the deadline applies to four of the member nations — Barbados, Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica — could suggest that the leaders are trying to be more practical.

When he was last chairman of Caricom in 2018, Prime Minister Holness, perhaps out of an abundance of inexperience, trumpeted that: “Our citizens, our voters, our electors can rest assured that as leaders we are addressing those issues that are important to them and that are practical and achievable and that we are using our energy to good effect.”

On Tuesday, as he addressed journalists at the closing press conference of the 49th heads of government summit in Montego Bay, the Jamaican leader admitted: “On the Caricom Single Market and Economy we agreed that the pace and scope of implementation was just too slow, and we agreed that we will do everything in our power to speed up implementation.”

At the same time, it is noteworthy that 11 of the 15 members, including the more well-off ones such as Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and The Bahamas, cannot make that commitment, after all this time.

This speaks volumes about the depth of that commitment to the achievement of the CSME, which was established on July 3, 2006 to be fully implemented by 2008, but paused in 2011 and then resumed, with some movement but mostly with more “commitments”.

The people of the Caricom territories are growing increasingly impatient to reach full integration. In their own unofficial way, mainly through music, sports, and culture, they are moving ahead of their leaders.

This impatience will grow exponentially more as the United States Administration deepens its crackdown on immigration; sending home our undocumented nationals and making America less attractive as a second home for Caribbean people.

The abandonment of the Temporary Protected Status under which an estimated 500,000 Haitians will imminently lose their shelter from the horrors in their ill-fated country, and the coming of new tariffs, will bring home, dramatically, the point that regional countries need to be a place of dignity and economic haven for their people.

What better time now than for the free movement of people to live, work, and establish businesses within participating member states, fulfilling the solemn promise of the CSME?