We are frankly surprised at the hostility with which the visa regime, implemented by several Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries for the Cricket World Cup, has been greeted, especially in Jamaica.

Tourism interests have been particularly negative, but they are not the only ones. Others in the private sector, too, have suggested that they would prefer that the scheme be scrapped or that Jamaica pull out of it and go it alone. Which, we suppose, would mean that Jamaica would abandon its undertaking to host any of the matches in the tournament.

That, at this stage, would be absurd, particularly given the millions of dollars already spent developing the infrastructure and the time and effort put in preparing for the games. And in all likelihood, Jamaica would face great claims of economic liability.

It is perhaps true that the regional government ministers and technocrats might have done more to engage the Caribbean's private sector in modelling the visa regime and the structures for its practical implementation. What, however, escapes us is what fundamentally different could have been implemented in the absence of a common visa regime once the West Indies Cricket Board, with support from regional governments, vied for, and won, the right to host this tournament, the world's third largest sporting event.

The other issue that has not been sufficiently addressed is what should happen with the visa regime after the tournament, especially in the context of the Caribbean Community's move to a Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME). There are those who ask, with good reason, whether the system should be just be allowed to lapse, as is now being contemplated.

It is to be recalled that Caricom members which, although structuring mechanisms for sharing sovereignty, remain independent states within defined borders. Once several of them agreed to jointly host the Cricket World Cup that would bring large numbers of people to a specific event, they had to find a way, at least for a time, to remove those borders so as to allow easy movement and avoid gridlock. Indeed, the problem over movement among the participating countries is exacerbated by the fact that they are island states, separated by sea, rather than sharing a contiguous land mass.

It made sense, therefore, that a visa regime be implemented to allow immigration clearance for all the territories, similar to the Schengen visa regime between several European countries. Without such a system, a visitor attending a match in Antigua, Barbados, Jamaica and Guyana, for instance, would have to clear immigration at each entry point. If, perchance, that person came from a country for which each of these countries require an entry visa, then the visitor would have had to make four separate applications.

The facilitation of relatively easy movement between states is one important reason for the visa regime. Another is security. In today's world of the global terrorist, the Caribbean, though so far spared, cannot presume itself immune from their actions. A major sporting event like the Cricket World Cup provides the kind of large canvas which some might like to strike. A visa regime allows mechanisms against which to scrutinise potential visitors.

But, very important to us is the impetus it may provide for expanding within Caricom the free movement of nationals.