Debt Free Jamaica?

Chinese companies, often state run, have been active buyers during the past few years in the Caribbean and Africa. In the following comments from Omar Davies, a ranking PNP politician and former cabinet minister, Davis promotes further ties with the BRIC countries. From recent Chinese activities in Jamaica, I take his comments to have a slant towards China.
The article says that according to Bank Of Jamaica statistics, China and Japan are not listed as "principal trading partners". I do not know the BoJ's criterea for listing but Chinese and Japanese products are ubiquitous in Jamaica. To begin with, Japanese used cars and trucks have transformed Jamaica's roads, adding thousand of new to Jamaica vehicles in the past 15 years.

BRICs needed to build debt-free Jamaica — Davies

BY STEVEN JACKSON Business writer jacksons@jamaicaobserver.com

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

JAMAICA's debt worsened nearly 50 per cent under the present administration and it won't grow its way out unless aligned with the prosperous BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China), according to Dr Omar Davies, opposition spokesperson on finance.

"(Finance minister Audley Shaw's) major achievement is the extent to which he has borrowed more and made us more indebted. When I left in 2007, the debt was $950 billion, we have now moved to $1,400 billion ($1.4 trillion) and he says, 'look how great I am'," Davies told an audience at a People's National Party Youth Organisation (PNP YO) meeting on the Univeristy of West Indies (UWI), last Thursday. "I can't help scoring this but that is his major achievement, and it doesn't matter what price you are borrowing at if the principal is growing. So we are a highly indebted country."

Davies' comments are corroborated by International Monetary Fund statistics which indicate that in only three years the island's nominal public debt jumped 30 per cent to $1.7 trillion or 139 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) versus $1.3 trillion in the fiscal year 2008/9 at the start of the global economic downturn. Davies was however finance minister for much of the 18-year administration of the PNP under which the debt ballooned to record figures up to 2007.

Jamaica's best growth prospect according to Davies is to trade heavily with Latin America and Asia, the fastest growing economies in the world.

"The future cannot be simply appending yourself more to the countries which have low growth prospects. Regardless of how much the US recovers, the US economy won't grow by more than 1.5 per cent per annum. Therefore if all of our aspirations of attachments are to the US then you are by definition reducing your own prospects for growth. There is a need to diversify our economic linkages," he stated.

Davies comments on the island's lack of diversity in its trading partners is underscored by the fact that China and Japan the second and third largest economies are not listed as 'principal trading partners' with Jamaica based on Bank of Jamaica statistics. Countries listed include the US, Canada, UK, Norway, the European Union, the Caribbean Community and Latin America (as a single group).

"You will not abandon your old friends but expand your circle of friends. Whilst keeping the UK, Canada and US (for obvious reasons) but realising that our future chances of growing our economy cannot be aligned with countries which can't grow by over 1.5 per cent. Therefore we need to seek to identify countries with similar challenges," he said.

Jamaica — characterised by high debt and slow growth — is projected to grow the seventh slowest in the world up to 2015 according to IMF statistics previously anlaysed by the Observer. Jamaica is projected to grow about 1.3 per cent annually over the next five years, or three times slower than the world economy, according to charts within the World Economic Outlook (WEO) published this month by the IMF. The only territories -- amongst 150 -- projected to grow at a slower pace on average than Jamaica over five years are St Kitts & Nevis at 0.3 per cent, oil-rich Venezuela at 0.33 per cent, Brunei Darussalam at 1.03 per cent, Croatia at 1.03 per cent, Antigua at 1.13 per cent and Equatorial Guinea at 1.23 per cent.

Interestingly, three of the six territories trailing Jamaica are in the Latin America and Caribbean region. However, generally, the region is projected to outperform the world economy at 4.5 per cent on average over the period due to stellar performances expected from Brazil, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Chile and Colombia.

"The US is still the dominant country, but its dominance is in decline. China has become the number two economy and the only question is when will they intersect. When one is growing by 1.0 to 1.5 per cent and the other is growing at seven and 10 per cent the graphs will intersect sooner than later," stated Davies.

Air Pollution In Jamaica

From The Observer:

The right to breathe fresh air

BY DR PATRECE CHARLES-FREEMAN

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

OUR constitution gives us the fundamental right to life, liberty, personal safety and, of course, the age-old right to vote; but what about the right to a breath of fresh air?

Environmental degradation has been on the rise and is observed in both rural and urban communities due to the lack of effective restrictions on a wide range of development projects. Among the most severe environmental problems affecting Jamaica are those related to air pollution, which threatens health, vegetation and infrastructure.

According to the WHO 2000 Fact Sheet N187, air pollution causes serious health effects mainly respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, and lung cancer.

Following concerns expressed by the communities living within close proximity to bauxite processing plants, I conducted an investigation into the effects of pollutants, specifically particulate matter on the health of persons living in these areas.

The study examined the levels of particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5 and the prevalence of respiratory illnesses within communities that were believed to be exposed to industrial pollutants emanating from a bauxite factory. The communities represented urban, rural, industrialised, and non-industrialised areas. The monitoring of air quality, health assessment of the individuals who participated in the study and the relationship between health and the environment were investigated.

The study showed that adults within six miles of the bauxite company had higher levels of sinusitis, allergies and asthma. Children within the same area also showed higher rates of sinusitis and allergies, however, no clear relationship was established with asthma.

The results suggested that particulate matter associated with bauxite mining may have significant negative impacts on the health of persons in communities, particularly those residing closer to the factory who are exposed to unacceptable levels of PM10 and PM2.5 particles.

The Charles-Freeman 2007 study examined the levels of particulate matter at sizes 10 and 2.5 µg/m3. The mean average of the levels of the pollutants for both PM10 and PM2.5 showed an exceedance above the national average acceptable safe level of 50µg/m3 at a distance of one - six-mile radius from the bauxite processing plant.

This study pointed to an increase in particulate matter exposure for individuals living in close proximity to the bauxite factory than those individuals living further away.

Whilst one accepts that industrialisation is central to economic development and improved prospects for human well-being, particularly in developing countries such as Jamaica, we cannot be unmindful of the fact that this often brings with it many negative implications for health.

It is in this context that we must review the renewed quarrying on the Puerto Bueno Mountain near the Queen's Highway between Rio Bueno and Discovery Bay in St Ann.

The communities have a right to be concerned, not only about the protection of the natural environment on the Puerto Bueno Mountain, but also for the health of the residents who live within six miles of the site of the quarry and crushing plant.

More attention needs to be given to the plight of the residents who will be exposed to the air pollution resulting from the quarry and crushing plant on the Puerto Bueno Mountain. The data set from the Charles-Freeman 2007 study clearly established that there was a higher prevalence of sinusitis, asthma and allergies for adults and that there was a need to examine and monitor respiratory symptoms of adults living within a six-mile radius of the bauxite factory.

Likewise, children may experience an increasing vulnerability to the pollutants and higher rates of sinusitis and allergies were reported amongst children living closer to the bauxite factory versus those living further away. It therefore stands to reason that the communities in close proximity to the quarry and crushing plant will be exposed to significantly higher levels of unacceptable particulate matter and will also experience similar health effects.

The Charles-Freeman study suggests, to some extent, that with technology comes inherent negative impacts on our environment. We must explore effective means of combating the effect of technological advances and globalisation on environmental degradation and the health of our people.

— Dr Patrece Charles-Freeman is a public and environmental health consultant

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/The-right-to-breathe-fresh-air_8453339#ixzz1FSAtyocI

Change One Way Or The Other

From The Observer:

Rome is burning

Lloyd B. Smith

Tuesday, March 01, 2011

"Rain a fall but di dutty tuff

Pot a bwile but di food no nuff

A hungry man is an angry man..."

- Lyrics attributed to Bob Marley

ONE of the most compelling reasons why people revolt against their government is hunger. The recent people's revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Libya among others speak to unemployment and lack of economic opportunities which often lead to empty stomachs.

The French Revolution is one of the most classic examples of hungry citizens taking to the streets and "storming the Bastille". Marie Antoinette's now infamous but telling utterance, "Let them eat cake!" after the hungry peasants clamoured for bread cost her head and the heads of her fellow aristocrats who had lost touch with the proletariat. Unfortunately, some of our leaders have no sense of history and feel rather comfortably that they can fool all the people all the time.

A look at the social pages in the nation's various newspapers would suggest that all is well in the state of Jamaica. Yet while the elite of the society wine and dine in fine style, savour caviar and sip champagne, the price of bread is going up...and yes, so is cake!

Then there is the price of gas which ironically is going up because of the people's revolutions in the Middle East. And when this happens, the prices of most goods and services also go up.

The latest "cake" that the government has given an increasingly angry and hungry populace is the Dudus/Manatt Commission of Enquiry, and one suspects others are planned such as the highly touted JDIF which will be timed to afford sufficient mileage going into the general election of 2012. Meanwhile, Youth, Sports and Culture Minister Olivia "Babsy" Grange, not having got sufficient hype out of the Under-17 Reggae Boyz overall performance, must now be salivating at the prospects next year of the nation's 50th Independence anniversary celebrations and the London Olympics. That feel-good factor that successive political parties have used in Jamaica to postpone the revolution indefinitely.

Every time I hear about the success of the JDX, the trending down of interest rates and the acquisition of low interest loans and I juxtapose those against the harsh socio-economic realities facing especially poor and working-class Jamaicans, I want to puke. Yes, these are noble achievements for which the government should take full credit, but the potent question now is what next? After all, the occasional one-day bellyful cannot fatten "mawga cow".

According to the latest statistics, some 400,000 Jamaicans are unemployed, and of that number some 220,000 are not seeking any jobs which means they have given up doing so, while there are those who have never worked in their entire lives!

There are hundreds of thousands of young Jamaicans in this country who feel hopeless and fed up with the present state of affairs. They are turned off from both the major political parties because they believe it is a case of "no better herring, no better barrel". They are convinced that politicians are interested only in obtaining and retaining power which they use to enrich themselves, their relatives and cronies. In this sad scenario, the people are no longer the centrepiece of any development strategy, but the victims of a system that does not engender equal rights, equal opportunity and justice for them. No empowerment, no self-actualisation, just persistent poverty and hopelessness. Is it any wonder that many Jamaicans are selling their votes?

There is the well-known Jamaican expression, "Fire deh a muss-muss tail, 'im tink a cool breeze." When one observes what takes place in the House of Parliament these days, it is clear that the people's business is fast becoming a footnote. Instead, rabid political one-upmanship, personal aggrandisement and crass ineptitude have become the norm.

Are our politicians aware that there is a seething anger among the people which cuts across party lines, and this is so because there is a serious disconnect between the electorate and those who were elected to govern? Are they aware that among the 80 per cent of black Jamaicans there is a growing feeling of alienation and that Jamaica no longer belongs to them but to those who have one foot in and one foot out of this country?

Hunger is not necessarily just a physical experience. The Jamaican people are hungry for good governance, hungry for a justice system that is equitable and timely, hungry for meaningful opportunities to advance themselves and not to be overtaxed, overworked and underpaid seemingly to ensure that the plutocracy can remain alive and well. And most important, they hunger for respect and a government that cares, not one that rules by fear and arrogance.

Now that Jamaica is approaching its 50th year of having achieved political independence but most ashamedly has not attained economic independence and social equity, it is time that our current crop of political representatives and their colleagues come to the inevitable conclusion that Jamaica is a failing state. It is therefore incumbent on them to seek to come up with a new order and in that context the reform of the 1962 Jamaican Constitution must take top priority.

Regrettably, it is felt by the Jamaican people that our politicians are not too eager to change the status quo; after all, to give the people justiciable rights would abrogate from the power of Parliament. In other words, contrary to the ethos of the Westminster system which we claim to embrace, politicians are our masters and we are their servants.

So while they fight for the power and the glory, Jah kingdom goes to waste. Rome is burning; fiddle on, Nero!

lloydbsmith@hotmail.com

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/pfversion/Rome-is-burning_8449809#ixzz1FSAIdWXQ