Taino Heritage

• For those who might be new to this blog, I have a particular interest in the fate of the sugar industry and I've blogged a lot about the pending divestment since starting this blog. Here is some hopeful news from Sunday's (3/29) Gleaner. It appears that the government if finally open to selling individual plantations as opposed to the entire Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ). This I think is the way to go, especially if local investors get a piece of the action. The SCJ is not, and quite frankly has never been a viable commercial entity and it would have taken a herculean effort to make it one.
  
• Don Robotham is alarmed. He thinks a return to the IMF as inevitable and it might not be a bad thing: "So it is back to the IMF after all these years. We should not fear this step. It should not become a political football. It is simply unavoidable if we are to stave off collapse."
  
• Former Prime Minister, Edward Seaga makes an eloquent case for bolstering the of human rights provisions of the constitution. Yep he's still mad about the 1970s.
• Geoffery Philip bats for Calabash and ends up having to defend free speech.
  
• Carolyn Cooper discusses Vybz Kartel and Spice going all double entendre with the 'Rampin Shop.'
• 'Most' Jamaican politicians don't properly weigh the long term consequences of their decisions when formulating public policy. Apparently this might also be true in their personal lives as well. (A friend of mine raised some questions about the validity of the claim that "most ex-MPs" are destitute. I share his skepticism.)
• PNPYO President, Damian Crawford contemplates :

  "We are the party that has always done, and is most likely to do, things for the poor and working class of this country. However, we have been caught, like many other parties that were left of centre, in the hypocrisy of the capitalist state and the capitalist media, and by extension, we have come too much to the centre," Crawford says.

• Former Junior Minister Delano Franklyn contemplates :

  "With the financial situation in the world, it's a tough time to run any country. We can't be coming with the old, tired thing of times hard and poor people suffering," the former junior foreign affairs minister argues. "We have to present credible policies and direction."

No it could not go down like that at all. So TEF or no TEF, Calabash is on this year thanks to an eleventh hour move by the CHASE Fund. Funding for 3 years. Miracles do happen indeed. Check tomorrow's gleaner and you just may see the reason I referred to butterflies.

It was a hot, dusty afternoon. The glare from the white hot marl was blinding. What little breeze there was sputtered like a furnace trying to get started. The sea was flat. Still. The air under the tent oppressive. White plastic chairs dug into the earth. The one year it didn't rain.

When I got up there, placed the binder on the carved lectern, inhaled the salt spray of sea and sweat, and surveyed the crowd - a dappled mixture of unknowns and the greats whose names anointed the spines of tomes on my household shelves - for one brief moment my breath got trapped in my ribcage and couldn't dislodge.

Curving my fingers around the smooth, bamboo(?)finish of the lectern, I shook myself, "jooked" my breath and pried it off my ribs, filled my lungs and began to read.And as I began, I thought of Lorna Goodison's hair blowing in the wind at Half Moon, I heard Austin Clarke's lilting cadence dancing through Pig Tails n Breadfruit, my mind travelled back to the seat on the Air Jamaica plane wherein I first discovered Oonya Kempadoo in a Skywritings magazine years before I would hand her a copy of her book and a pen.

As I began I travelled back years to Colin Channer standing in the Hilton talking about the need for vision in Jamaica, I returned to Shelly Harris sitting in my living room rifling through pages of her poetry, I journeyed back to the library steps at Mona and the privilege of holding a hand-scribbled, nascent Kei Miller piece. As I read I heard Kim Robinson again on the other end of my telephone, sat again in Betty Wilson's presence, listened again to a young Garfield Ellis reading at the Tom Redcam Library.

As I began, they all rolled in front of me, a procession, Paloma, Maryse, Grace, Kwame, Toni, Arundahti, Earl, Rachel, Pam, Velma, Margaret, Vidiadhar, Jean, Ziadie, Sam, Lucy, Michelle, Marge, Hazel, Olive, a parade, a cavalcade of hundreds more who line my shelves, my memories, my dreams, who beckon me with their pens to come and join them, to set it down in black and white, to record it, they all stood before me, waiting, listening, they who had spoken to me time and again, waiting to hear what I had to say.

I stood at that lectern on that hot, dusty afternoon because there are some who believe in Jamaica's ability to affect the world. I stood at that lectern because there are some who believe in literature and heritage and excellence. I stood at that lectern because there are some who believe in an international literary festival. I stood at that lectern because there are some who believe in Calabash.

So how you must tell me now about cancelling Calabash? Where is the Tourism Enhancement Fund? There is a recession yes and the JTB can't come up with anymore. Fine. So what is the purpose of this Tourism Enhancement Fund? Calabash is not some fly-by-night program. Does it take nine years to convince you that something adds value to international scholarship, to Jamaican cultural heritage, to the tourism product? I won't get into paying American Airlines or saving Air Jamaica. All I am asking about is something that turned sleepy little Treasure Beach into a world renowned spot, something that gives small, very local enterprise big exposure, something that promotes and develops literature in every sphere of Jamaican and global society.
Somewhere in Trench Town is a young woman who needs to have a hot, dusty afternoon of her own, who needs to stand a stone's throw from Junot Diaz, to see the man on the spine of her school books and say to herself "that's George Lamming!", somewhere in Portmore is a young man who needs to browse the book while standing beside Nadine Gordimer, who needs to watch Robert Pinksy eat a fry fish.

No man, Calabash can't go down like this. Don't deny a young Jamaican a hot, dusty (or rainy) afternoon

In this news update from the Gleaner, the headline reads "Cabinet to sign off on new budget" heralding in the annual exercise erroneously called a 'debate' at Gordon House. For surely the budget has already been determined and will simply be presented in an elaborate series of press conferences called a debate. Parliamentarians not in the cabinet won't have any say in it, the Opposition will 'oppose' it and we will go through the whole song and dance.

You know, this reminds me of a story. Can I tell a short story here? Would that be OK?
Well its about a country, a far away place called Jamaica. And I am remembering a man who took a bold stand in that country a long time ago. He wasn't successful, but he showed a strength of character that was admirable. I think he could have been prime minister of Jamaica if he had a chance. But alas he had no chance.

The hero of our story is a politician named Bruce Golding. Mr. Golding had put his finger on a key problem with governance in Jamaica and felt really strongly about it. He called for a separation of powers in the government because with the cabinet being drawn from the majority party of the legislature it essentially renders the peoples representation element of parliament useless, it also gives inordinate power to the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.

Yes that Jamaica is much like our own beloved Isle Jamaica. Where the budget is conceived in the shadows and is simply presented to the people without them having any input or genuine chance to respond. Also in this Jamaica the budget that was presented in April was really a farce, as the Minister of Finance would simply return in November and present another one called a Supplemental, rendering the first one pretty much useless. Every now and then in Jamaica an unusual and totally unexpected act of God would be blamed for dislodging the plans of the budget. The Minister of Finance would go to parliament and express absolute shock and horror that the country, which is smack in the middle of the Caribbean Sea (much like our Jamaica), had actually experienced a hurricane or flood rains due to tropical storms. So unexpected were these anomalies, that absolutely no accounting was made for them in the budget. Who could have imagined such a thing happening? A snow storm or a volcano eruption yes, but not flood rains!

Though full blown constitutional change was a bit radical a political platform and maybe even unnecessary, certainly the idea of greater transparency in government and empowering the representative system had its merits. Surely these are values that the politician of Jamaica could embrace and even incorporate into their current system.

Our hero, Mr. Golding felt so strongly about this issue and the issue of "Garrison Politics,"(won't get into that today) that he took a principled stand for his beliefs. He walked away from the prominent leadership position he held in one of the two major political parties. This was at a time when surely he was on track to inherit the mantle of 'Leader'. And to complete his apparent political suicide, he and others of like mind launched a third party. They had no chance, he must have known that? Third Parties never succeed in Jamaica! None the less our Mr. Golding soldiered on. Though without political success, he continued to spread his message of improved governance with evangelistic zeal. These principles were that important.

I didn't always understand all the issues that were being discussed and didn't really agree with everything Golding advocated for. But I sure admired his courage, strength of conviction and principles. As we go through the 2009/10 budget debates sometimes I wish we had Bruce Golding as our Prime Minister in our Jamaica.

Some of you might have heard story of Courtney Grayson. He is a 23 year old young man who successfully pretended to be a police officer for six months with the Mt. Salem Police and was finally caught last week. This is truly disturbing. Dude signed out guns and went on raids! I could go on more about how terribly incompetent the police at the Mt. Salem Station were and how they were putting the citizens of Montego Bay in such grave danger, but today's (3/25) Gleaner editorial does a good enough job here. Yeah, what they said!

Also in today's Gleaner however, is a story written by news editor Adrain Frater that caught my attention. In it, Mr. Frater interviews a few members from the community soliciting their reaction to the story. Apparently Mr. Grayson (may he spend many years in prison for this stunt) had made quite an impression on those who observed him:

"I found him to be quite courteous and well-mannered," said a Mount Salem taxi operator who had his documents checked by Grayson during a recent police spot check.

"Unlike some of his colleagues, he displayed excellent interpersonal skills and was not as impatient as some."

And This:

Bwoy, me cyaah believe him is not a real policeman," a young man from the area told The Gleaner yesterday. "Him always look real neat and businesslike in his blue denim uniform, his bulletproof vest and his keep-and-care (gun)."

According to the young man, the affable Grayson also enjoyed a lot of respect from the young men in the community who would tone down whatever illicit activities they were involved in whenever he was around.

"He got a lot of respect around here as a policeman who live in the ghetto," the young man continued. "That officer never violate no youth around here, so we also give him due respect whenever we see him around."

Too often our idea of policing and crime fighting has to do with brute force. Fighting fire with fire and 'badding up' people. Maybe Mr. Grayson has laid out another approach which could be considered. Maybe if you treated people like human beings, just maybe they would be more responsive to you...such a novel concept!

In one of those sick-twisted-ironic-karmic things, a friend pointed out to me that this was the same police station where a REAL policeman was beaten to death in 2005 because they thought he was faking. Overcompensating maybe? The senior officer at the time had this to say about the incident:

"I am informed that there was an altercation at the barracks and subsequent to that an ambulance that was passing was summoned to give assistance to Corporal Waite, who was found on the steps of the barracks," Superintendent Warren Clarke, Commanding Officer for St. James, said.

Ah yes, the 'ol "he tripped and fell on my fist"explaination. It would have been better if Supt. Clarke just said "I wasn't there I have no idea what happened."

In a country that is rapt with violence it is not helpful to have a reactionary police force that is prone to the same sort of senseless violence. Jamaica has been policing like that for years, each time a new crime initiative is announced by the government it invariably means they are going to grant the police force more powers to use more brute force ('Radication Squad,' RAT Patrol, Operation Ardent, ACID...etc. etc.). Didn't work then, won't work now.

Apparently Mr. Grayson has always wanted to be a police officer and sought to achieve his dream the easy way. But it is heartening to see the vision of the kind of police officer he wanted to be. I hope our Police Academy would turn out some more Officer Graysons.

Last week I referenced to a post on Kingston State of Mind about crime and tourism. At the end of that post I quoted Garth Rattray saying essentially that we need to make Jamaica safe for everyone, not just tourists. Then late last week I delved into the controversy surrounding the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF). In that post I argued:

Tourism needs to be more integrated with the rest of the economy than it currently is. Greater integration can (a) reduce costs (b) spread the benefits of tourism to other industries (c) foster innovation and entrepreneurship. Ultimately enhancing the product. I suggested that it is through greater integration that the tourism product would be enhanced.

Now in comes Betty Ann Blaine in today's (3/24) Observer with a wonderful column which provides an excellent example of the kind of out of the box innovative thinking that we need in Jamaica's government. The column, entitled "Peace without Prosperity?", starts out by bringing some under reported good news about successful peace initiatives in various Kingston inner-city communities. She suggests that this new peace creates an opportunity to totally rethink these communities in what she calls 'post-war reconstruction.' Ultimately peace would only be sustained if these communities aren't able to claw their way out of stifling poverty.

By way of illustration as to show what a reconstructed community could look like, she gave an outline of a wonderful idea for redeveloping the Mountain View corridor. Forgive me for the extensive quote, but this is sooooo good:

The Mountain View community is a prime candidate for post-war reconstruction. The community possesses huge physical and social possibilities, if only our government were serious. The area is the main transportation corridor that links eastern Kingston to the wider Kingston Metropolitan Region, and is
the main artery to the Norman Manley International Airport.

The possibilities are inexhaustible. As the main airport corridor, the potential to "gentrify" and reconfigure the Mountain View area as a major tourist attraction is exciting. One of the neglected areas of tourism is the Jamaican tourists who come home by the planeloads, rain or shine, bad press or good press.

The minute they land at the Norman Manley airport, the tendency is to gravitate to whatever things Jamaican they can get their hands on. That is why there is a never-ending stream of customers lined up at the coconut vendor near the airport roundabout and why Gloria's fish restaurant at Port Royal has become a "must-go" destination for Jamaicans coming in and leaving the airport. The prospect of creating sidewalk cafés, restaurants, clothing stores, craft shops and the like along the entire airport corridor, especially from Rockfort to Mountain View Avenue, is enticing and distinctly pragmatic and productive.

The key to this type of spacial and social re-engineering would be the opportunities that would be open to residents to "own" their respective enterprises. The idea would be for government to provide incentives for small businesses to be established, and then leave market forces and the natural entrepreneurial spirit of the Jamaican people to flourish. Unlike the "established" tourist sector where the lion's share of profits goes into the pockets of a few privileged players, the returns from the Jamaican tourist community product would immediately go to the bottom of the society, facilitating the type of "trickle down" economics that has so far eluded us.

Now what does this have to do with the TEF you ask? Everything! The fund so far seems to be dedicated to preserving the tourist industry as is, ensuring that North Coast resort towns are in good shape for visitors. I cannot imagine that the TEF would ever be used to fund a study into a project like this one. The Jamaican government irrespecive of regime, has had a myopic view of tourism focusing almost entirely on supporting large coastal resorts. What would it look like if even a portion of the US $41 million in cost overrun, paid for by the Jamaican tax payer, to build the money pit called Sandals Whitehouse was spent on a project such as this one? (Let me take this opportunity to reiterate my fear that Harmony Cove is heading in this direction)

It is time to burst the tourism bubble and allow great ideas like Ms. Blaine's to be explored and developed. Redeveloping the Mountain View corridor could bring well needed economic activity to the area, enhance Jamaica's overall tourism product AND make everyone safer. It is time for Jamaica's public policy to be more holistic and less disparate.

"Vaz, who says he will not be celebrating a victory if he does not win by 2,000 or more votes, was not as sanguine, though he expects to win."

--Jamaica Observer, March 7th

"The party’s candidate Daryl Vaz whipped the PNP’s Kenneth Rowe by gaining a 2,289 margin of victory."

--Jamaica Gleaner, March 24th

Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Don Wehby makes the case for privatizing Air Jamaica in today's (3/22) Gleaner. Here's the rub:

Over the past 10 years, our national carrier has seen accumulated losses of well over US$1 billion or approximately J$88.5 billion.

For perspective, those accumulated losses represent approximately 25 per cent of total fiscal expenditure for the current year - valuable resources that could be used to improve health care, education and social safety nets.

(Emphasis Added)

Since John Issa's rant against the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) last week, the chairman of the TEF board came out to defend the actions of his agency. In this article he gave the rationale behind some of the individual initiatives which they have chosen to finance. In doing so Mr. Dyer demonstrated one of the main problems with the fund, that is there does not seem to be a cohesive plan behind how the fund is to be used. Mr. Issa put it this way they seem to be "[using] this great deal of money for anything remotely connected to tourism".

Here's what I think is wrong with the TEF:

• For it to be dispursed in this seemingly whimiscal fashion, funding each an every good idea that rolls around is not a sustainable way to go. Eventually the money will run out or they might be compelled to raise the tax levied on visitors to keep the fund going.
  
• Since it is based on taxing tourist arrivals, it makes Jamaica an even more expensive destination to visit. Eventually the goose is going to notice that her golden eggs are being stolen.
  
• The TEF is funded with public money without the accompanying public accountability. Mind you, public accountablity has never been highly regarded virtue in Jamaica's governance and this is a long standing problem. The TEF only adds another layer of unaccountable government beurocracy to the cake, at a time when we ought to be going in the other direction.
  
• Having the TEF, funded by tourist arrivals, dedicated to enhancing the 'tourism product' only serves to further insulate and indeed isolate the tourist industry from the population and now even from the Jamaican economy as a whole. It is seeking to become some sort of self contained bubble on to itself. Tourism needs to be more integrated with the rest of the economy than it curently is. Greater integration can (a) reduce costs (b) spread the benefits of tourism to other industries (c) foster innovation and entrepreneurship. Ultimately enhancing the product.

I am sure that that the TEF board is well intentioned and genuinely desires to serve the tourism industry. However the TEF seems to be designed to maintain the industry as is. This might not be to the benefit of the country as a whole in the long run.

For other opinions on the TEF issue read the Gleaner editorial here and Butch Stewarts response here.

I am not the queen of websites. In fact with less one year's experience designing pages within the confines of a goverment system, and the fact that I am more "art" than "craft", I'd have to call myself the "verandah server" of websites - good enough to come out of the kitchen and serve drinks to the guests on the verandah, but not good enough to be reclining in the chaise lounge and sipping the lemonade. In fact you'll notice I am dealing with a pitcher and tumblers (jug an glass fe dose who don't know) serving lemonade on the verandah and not ice buckets, wine glasses and a bottle of Grey Goose after a five course meal... but I digress terribly!

I am the verandah server of websites, but I'd like to encourage all the young, talented Jamaicans out there who have the web design experience to get with it man and help get Jamaican sites looking better.

Whether you are a fan of FB's constant makeovers or not, it helps to keep current. I have not been to The Jamaica Observer's site in some time but man I was pleased to see what is for me a redesigned layout that was sharp, attractive, colorful and eye-catching. The Gleaner, who supplies most of my yard news when I get 3 minutes to check online, would do well to take a few pointers and modify the slim, never ending column of news bites weighed down on both sides by endless ads. No, I am not anti-Gleaner so don't bash me. Neither am I pro Observer (haven't been on their site in months I said).

My issue is that websites take a mix of creativity and science. And nuff of my friends are good like that. My encouragement is that all you Jamaican webmasters out there who don't live on the rock any more, you kings and queens of web design, share the talent with sites that are connected to Jamaica somehow. Improve the brand Jamaica.

I do not have a whole lot to say on the debate about dual citizenship in Jamaica's representative politics at this point. Sometimes I think I should have a stronger opinion though, but I don't really. It is a consequential issue for Jamaica at this time and needs to be addressed. Chief Justice Zalia McCalla determined that Daryl Vaz was not eligible to sit in parliament because he held a U.S. passport at the time of his nomination in 2007. He has since renounced his American citizenship and is running to legitimately hold the seat by contesting in next weeks by-election (3/23) for the West Portland seat. There are three other cases before the courts right now challenging sitting government Members of Parliament base on eligibility. If the Dabdoub v Vaz precedent is held in these other cases, the Jamaica Labour Party's (JLP) narrow parliamentary majority would be eroded, making governing for them untenable. This controversy could compel Prime Minister to call an early general elections.

I've never read the constitution, and I'm no lawyer so reading it probably wouldn't do me much good. I am not cognizant of the legal arguments which led to the Chief Justice's decision to abrogate the 2007 election result in the West Portland constituency . I don't know how this sort of thing is handled by other Caribbean countries either. Clearly enough people who matter have accepted the notion that holders of dual citizenship should be able to run for elected office. This is evident in that both our major political parties figured it was OK to include such persons on their roster of candidates for parliamentary elections. Nor did these persons have any qualms about running. If some people feel its OK to disregard the constitution that doesn't make it right. Regardless of the outcome of all this for the short term make up of parliament, Jamaicans (politicians and civil society) need to convene some sort of constitutional convention to bring resolution to this problem one way or the other.

For my two cents, I think if someone is offering themselves for elected office, they should be fully committed to the people and constitution they are seeking to represent and serve. They should have a complete stake in consequences of the decisions they make in parliament every day...or every month...or well, however often they feel like showing up to Gordon House. That's how I feel about it right now, I'm still really forming an opinion on it as I weigh the merits of each side.

Now if you are interested in delving deeper in this issue, I would suggest the following articles and blog posts as great resources:

• Henley Morgan laments the trend among the upper class in Jamaica of valuing foreign citizenship and owning property abroad, and suggests that this 'flirtation' is unworthy of the high calling of public service and which he likens to a marriage.
• Ken Jones of the Farquharson Institute thinks the citizenship clause in the constitution is pointless, has been disregarded by several and now its time to do away with it.
• Ian Boyne does not take a strong position either way, but argues that Jamaicans do not have strong a culture of sacrifice and don't seem to even expect it of their leaders. Dual citizenship is seen by many as a rational option for self preservation in light of economic uncertainty.
• Dr. Paul Ashley, lawyer and political scientist on his Questionable Conduct blog, posits that dual citizenship is strictly prohibited based on his reading of the constitution here. Ultimately he appeals to the original intent of the framers of the constitution to bookend is arguments here. One of whom is former Prime Minister and renouncer of U.S. citizenship, Hon. Edward Seaga who, in an appeal to loyalty,came out against dual citizenship in this 2007 column.
• PD of the Verandah Talk blog thinks dual citizenship is a scourge and is darn near treasonous in a time of crisis. Now how do you really feel PD?
  
• With a perspective from the diaspora, Ralston Nemhard suggests that the citizenship clause is no longer appropriate in today's world; especially considering the economic significance of Jamaicans living abroad to the island today. He believes they (we) have as legitimate a stake in the country as those that live there.
• Finally the folks from the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) studied the matter pretty thoroughly and came to the following conclusions: (1) Conflicts of interests surrounding dual citizenship rarely arise in the legislative process, and when they do they are inconsequential (2) Allowing people with dual citizenship to participate in the political process would widen the pool of quality candidates and(3) Although many countries restrict the practice, there appears to be a trend towards more openness around the world. Read a synopsis of the research here.

I encourage concerned Jamaicans to pay attention to this issue and to weigh in on it as the debate goes on.

Relatively speaking, Agriculture Minister Chris Tufton has moved with impressive speed to restart the sugar divestment process. Yesterday it was announced that the government had received fourteen bidders for the government sugar assets after only reopening the bidding just over a month ago. Listed among the fourteen is Infini-Bio Energy...is this some kind of sick joke? How could they be back in the running after they were the ones that proved to be incapable of closing the deal after multiple extensions? Last time we went through with this several red flags were raised about selecting the unproven and questionable Infini-Bio Energy. We were assured that they were fine and the assets were in good hands. Now that the government was supposedly burnt by Infiniti, it now has a chance to hit the reset button.

One would think that Infiniti's bid has already been tossed aside. It is interesting to me that after only a month, the government received even more bids now than they had a year ago. The excuse for Infini's inability to close the deal was the global credit crunch, which last time I checked is still going on. Why were we putzing around granting them all these extensions when they were others willing and able to take over? And supposedly now they are in a position to make this happen after only a month. Makes me wonder if that really was the problem with the divestment deal and if there isn't more to the story than was disclosed.

This is a chance to finally do this divestment right. We are fortunate anyone wants to take on this ailing industry, lets do it right this time.

Hotelier John Issa is hopping mad. What's he mad about? He is suggesting that the government's Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) has devolved into a "corrupt conspiracy." The TEF was established in 2004 and is supposed to be funded by assessing a fee on every tourist that enters the island, $10 from airline passengers and $2 from cruise ship passengers. Apparently the Port Authority, which has been tasked with the collection of the $2 from cruise ship passengers, has refused to do so. Both Former Tourism Minister Aloun Assamba and Port Authority President Noel Hylton were quoted in this article and neither of them seemed to have a satisfactory explanation as to whether or not the fee has been collected, why not and if it has been where it is. By Issa's accounting upwards of US $ 8.5 million should have been allocated to the TEF since its inception in 2005 from cruise ship passenger arrivals, but cruise liners have not been to paying over money they collect from their passengers .

Issa went on further:

He lamented that the law was written and passed with language which allows the fund to "use this great deal of money for anything remotely connected to tourism".

"So it has been used for, among other things, providing guarantees to American Airlines

, to fly delegations to the Olympics and elsewhere and to finance

the jazz festival," he said.

I would like to take a step back and ask why does this so called TEF exists in the first place? There is a cabinet minister with responsability for tourism, who then has a Director of Tourism who then heads the Jamaica Tourist Board which oversees marketing efforts. Then there is the Tourism Product Development Company established in 1996 and they are "the central agency mandated by the Government of Jamaica to facilitate the maintenance, development and enhancement of the tourism product." So in comes the TEF in 2004 established to ostensibly enact the "Master Plan." However in her presentation to Parlaiment in 2006 to clarify the purpose of the TEF, then Tourism Minister Assamba stated that the fund would not duplicate the functions of other agencies and would "...concern itself primarily with incremental work to add value to the tourism product and tackle some special challenges on a one-off basis," doesn't sound like a master plan to me. So what you end up with is a project like this which involves THREE government agencies spending JA$ 143 million to sweep a bunch of streets, trim trees and cut lawns. Or this gem of an idea, which essentially commits the government to subsidising the operations of American Airline flights to Jamaica, as if subsidising Air Jamaica wasn't enough already.

Seems to me that Mr. Issa is on to something. But what he has uncovered is that the government has created a complex web of operations within the tourism management apparatus which looks something like this mess. The TEF seems to me to be a totally unnecessary layer of bureaucracy and a sure fire formula for corruption and cronyism. Issa is mad that there is cronyism, I'm mad this thing exists at all.

Dutty Bwoy on the Kingston State of Mind blog brings this Washington Post article about crime and tourism in the Caribbean to our attention. The article argues that despite the rise in violent crime throughout the Caribbean (yes, its not just a Jamaican phenomenon, even though we might be worse off than others) tourists are actually relatively safe traveling there. The article points out that the majority of the violent crime in both Jamaica and Trinidad stem from 'gang-on-gang' activity and is concentrated in certain localities.

The article was meant to reassure would be tourists that despite what they might here, its not that dangerous to take a tropical vacation. It is as disturbing to me a Jamaican as it is reassuring to the potential traveler. Garth Rattray in today's Gleaner put it best when he concludes his column:

Not only must we continue to increase security efforts to make a significant dent in crime; we must also respect all our citizens and remedy our social disparities if we are to make Jamaica safe for everyone. We can't continue the hypocrisy of falsely advertising our people as happy, contented and part of the 'tourist package' while failing to address their needs.

As annoying as it was to see this story about alternative energy again in today's (3/16) Gleaner, I have the same questions about it as I did the first time it was run less than six months ago. Is there a national energy policy that has a cohesive plan for alternative energy ?

Cutting energy costs and reducing light bills is a great idea, and I would love to see Jamaicans being able to diversify their sources of energy and to take advantage of alternative fuel technology. However I am interested to know more about the big picture and not just read an unpaid advertisement (presumably) for Jamtech Energy Solutions . Allowing the alternative energy industry to develop in an ad hoc fashion might be a prescription for disaster and would be regressive in the long run. We saw how the unregulated 'alternative' investment industry went and how much harm that caused.

There needs to be a comprehensive regulatory structure for the energy industry. One which would protect consumers as well as encourage and facilitate entrepreneurs like Messers Levy and Anderson of Jamtech. Unfortunately the wheels of the legislative process don't turn fast enough in Jamaica to expect a policy like that to emerge in a reasonable timeframe. It would be great to get out ahead of this movement and pave a smooth pathway for its progress. Unfortunately we see instances like the plan to construct a waste-to-energy plant at the Riverton City Dump get stuck in a quagmire as a result of an unclear policy and different arms of the government apparatus tripping over itself.

Currently the Jamaica Public Service has a monopoly on electricity distribution in Jamaica and the process of selling to the grid needs to be made easier so as to encourage others to get into the energy generation business. I would love to see a company like Jamtech not only retrofitting individual houses as they are doing now, but even building energy generating systems for apartment complexes and even entire neighbourhoods.

We saw a cable industry emerge organically and the government eventually regularised it, we also saw how the breaking of the Cable and Wireless telephony monopoly has brought Jamaica to the cutting edge of cell phone technology. Now that we are told that the JPS has to bleed the consumer dry in order to meet the growing energy needs, the time is ripe for the orderly evolution of an alternative energy industry in Jamaica.

In the midst of the global financial crisis that we all now find ourselves in, there might be a great opportunity for the Jamaican government to reset and realign its priorities. One of the things that I've been struck by in all this has been the range of 'assets' that the Jamaican government actually owns. Why on Earth does the Jamaican government own a Cotton-Polyester Mill? This makes me wonder what else does the government own right now?Are there more 'assets' going to waste, or worse being a drag on the public purse? Are there 'assets' that are actually productive and making a profit, and maybe those are the ones we should try to sell right now. Anyway, is there a list of this somewhere, I cant seem to find one online.

An article in last Friday's (3/6) Jamaica Observer covered another sitting in the now controversial deliberations of parliament regarding legislation for sexual offenses and HIV/AIDS in the workplace. In his submission to the debate Stokely Marshall of the Lawyers Christian Fellowship argued in parliament for a strict and limited definition of sexual intercourse:

"to include anything other than vaginal intercourse in a government policy document, could set the precedent for a change of wording in other policy documents (Sexual Offenses Against The Person Act and Incest Punishment Act) could result in the elevation of both anal and oral sexual activity to the level of sexual intercourse."

(Emphasis mine)

Now there is a lot to respond to in this article but I'm just gonna single out this one thing for now. As the article noted, senators Dennis Meadow and Sandra Falconer hit the nail on the head with what the problem is with narrowing the definition in this way. That is, it does not provides proper protection for everyone who might be the victim of an assault. Why would you want to limit the definition of a sexual offense in the law when those perpetrating these crimes have no such limitations? This is not an issue of 'elevation' of particular sexual acts, it is about protecting people! The law has to face the gruesome reality of whats out there and respond to it accordingly in order to protect the innocent and properly punish those who do harm.

Wiberne Persaud has a pretty good article in today's Gleaner (3/6) about Air Jamaica. His column really hones in on the question of government and profit making enterprises. He affirms a number of the issues I raised in my last post about this issue, so I won't go over them here. Let me highlight are a few sections of the article:

Political vs. Commercial Considerations

Air Jamaica lost money essentially because it was overcapitalised and was being used as a tool of public policy. Even in periods when it booked operational profit, once debt service was paid, the result was an overall bottom-line loss. Advice to seek subventions from the major beneficiaries of the airline's subsidy was not even tolerated. As a result, there were voices both among the airline's management and from outside, that advocated a lean national airline, not so heavily committed to tourism airlift, one that concentrated on the routes that were profitable - London, New York and Miami at the time. But those voices were drowned out by the need to provide airlift for the tourism enterprise.

Socialized loses:

When finally, the airline was 'privatized' it was to the savvy and immensely successful entrepreneur Gordon Stewart of Sandals Resorts. The airline's image was spruced up and took on several new routes, servicing both Jamaica and the Caribbean's tourism industry. This would be a great move except that the privatization was not complete. Jamaican taxpayers still had a stake and ended up with a losing proposition.

Finally, Mr. Persaud shares my own skepticism on the eventual price Air Jamaica will fetch at this time:

Even with the newly developed route structure proposed for 2010, a return to profitability is, therefore, neither immediate nor imminent. Prospects for a great sale price and/or private capital injection given our high interest rate regime and surly international economic conditions are, therefore, remote. It seems as if our negotiators will be having to, like it or not, pay some attention to some of the non-bottom line and purely monetary aspects of the proposed sale, if we are to avoid a steep plummet after the former soar to new heights. This decision will not allow for an easy do over.

Ernie Smith quackery redux

An idea that's maybe ten years too late.

I wonder if the IDB think they can work around Jamaica's high interest rate regime with their new program:

One aim of the programme is to help put SMEs in a position to grow, which, often, is hindered by a lack of capital and inability to borrow.

The high price of democracy in Jamaica.

It has been argued by many economists that countries which enshrine and preserve essential political, economic and social freedoms tend to have higher rates of economic growth than those that don't. There seems to be something to this assertion when one examines indices such as the Global Competitiveness Index and the Index of Economic Freedom and observe the countries at the top versus those at the bottom.

In a recent Brookings Institution Working Paper, Peter Blair Henry and Conrad Miller suggest that though institutions are important, they are not the only thing that matter. They argue that the actual policy output of various countries might be just as, if not more important than an effective institutional framework. This conclusion was inspired by examining the economic performance and Barbados since there independence in the early 1960s.

we examine a pair of countries
whose income levels diverge over a 40-year stretch
in spite of no obvious differences in the institutional
arrangements of their economies at the beginning of
the observation period.

And the results are dire:

the income gap between the two countries now exceeds
Jamaica’s level of GDP per capita.

They conclude:

...the proximate source of Barbados’ superior
performance was a set of growth-facilitating policies—
monetary restraint, fiscal discipline, openness to
trade, and ultimately wage cuts to restore competitive
unit labor costs—that had the side effect of enabling
the monetary authority to maintain the exchange rate
parity without losing external competitiveness.
In contrast, Jamaica’s policies were never consistent
with maintaining commitment to any parity the government
might have wanted to adopt.

In this brief paper Henry and Miller do not attempt to go into what factors led to the divergence in macroeconomic policy. What was it about the Jamaican political/economic situation that led them to make the choices that they made? I don't claim to know the answer to that, but I suggest reading the Caribbean Policy Research Institute's Taking Responsability report which delves into that question deeply.

What this says to me going forward though is that policy matters. It matters what happens in parliament. We should care what's been voted on there. The budget presentations matters, even though the targets are almost always ignored, the minister shows up to Gordon House seven months later and disregards it with the so-called supplemental budget. This is what lies at the heart of the problem. It is this same lack of discipline and seriousness which permeates our political process that results in poor policies. From the farcical election campaigns, to parliamentarians not showing up to Gordon House, to Members of Parliament abusing "Parliamentary" privilege to spout whatever nonsense that comes to their head (Ernie Smith, I'm looking your way). All these things are consequential to our country and its future. We as Jamaicans need to start taking our politics more seriously and hold our politicians accountable.

The encouraging note in this is that history and circumstances have not doomed our country. Jamaica and Barbados started out in similar places, are vulnerable to the same external shocks and share similar institutions. They've been able to make good policy choices which allowed them to make tremendous progress. With the right choices so can we.

...and blog space, I'll just say this: Read Claude Clarke whenever he writes a column!

I think he's one of our most astute economic thinkers in the public sphere.