One Jamaica

Jamaican political parties party to scandal?

2008-09-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Anyone with basic connections knew that both parties in Jamaica, the JLP and the PNP, accepted money from Cash Plus and Olint, companies that were deemed to be unregistered financial entities flouting the law.

The Jamaica Gleaner today carries an article titled Parties should repay Cash Plus, Olint by Rev. Devon Dick and I must say that I agree with his reasoning.

It is strange that the then governing party, PNP, would accept money from Cash Plus and Olint when its own minister of finance was so strident against these two companies and there was a cease and desist order against one company. The PNP was saying one thing and doing another. The JLP would have information about these companies that ordinary Jamaicans would not have. I was made aware from September/October last year of some of the things that have since proven true. To accept donations from Cash Plus and Olint was worse than accepting money from Trafigura.

"Do as I say, not as I do" - no surprise. Few politicians ever lead by example.

If it were in the United Kingdom or the United States of America, the leaders who received the money and had knowledge of it would have resigned. In addition, the present minister of finance, when he was Opposition spokesman for finance, gave an endorsement of such enterprises in his budget speech. Some church leaders were principals and participants in foreign exchange trading clubs. A football entity headed by a former prime minister negotiated a sponsorship deal with Cash Plus and it was expected that ordinary Jamaicans should know that Cash Plus was little more than a pyramid scheme?

I highly doubt a single head will roll.

Welcome to Jamrock

Jamaic Under Spanish Rule Again?

2008-08-26T13:48:00.000-07:00

I read the Jamaica Observer editorial today and had to agree (see Globally - unsurpassed glory; Locally - same old story).

In it, the Editor says:

At any other time, it would still have been painful to read the story in our Friday edition that the St James Parish Council, in a hurriedly called meeting, approved the illegal building plan under which RIU has built three four-storey buildings as part of its Mahoe Bay Hotel near Montego Bay.

and..

Historically, no Jamaican has been able to build more than three storeys in the flight path of the Sangster Airport. They would have been summarily locked down, chased out of the country or vilified to the point of shame and degradation.

The Jamaican people must be asking who is running our country - the Spanish or the Government? Why don't we just hand over the reins of government to them? After all, the Spanish once ruled Jamaica.

While we chastise our own and usually don't support them until some foreign entity recognizes them for something, we seem prepared to let the Spanish investors walk all over us.

Disrespecting the people and the government of a country you do business in is not the right way to win friends.

I look forward to the PM making a very clear statement that we will not tolerate this kind of behaviour and no one's money is worth selling ourselves short.

We as Jamaicans must support those companies that respect us and deal with the ones who still have a colonial mindset, thinking that their money allows them to get special privileges and not follow the laws of the land.

Who Has The Worst History of Doping?

2008-08-22T12:39:00.000-07:00

It is quite interesting to see Americans accuse Usain Bolt of doping when Jamaica has no history of doping but the USA has the following:

The dawn of drug testing was the 1983 Pan Am Games in Caracas, Venezuela and when Canadian weightlifter Guy Greavette tested positive for steroids, a dozen American athletes in various events suddenly withdrew from the competition and returned to the U.S., and at least another dozen athletes from other countries also left without explanation.
Former U.S. Olympic Committee anti-doping chief, Dr. Wade Exum, wrote a 30,000+ page report in 2003 that said:

(1) 19 American medallists were allowed to compete at various Olympic Games from 1988 to 2000 despite having earlier failed drug tests

(2) More than 100 athletes from several different sports tested positive for banned substances between 1988 and 2000 but were cleared by internal appeals processes.

(3) According to Exum's evidence, Lewis was one of three eventual Olympic gold medallists who tested positive for banned stimulants in the months leading up to the 1988 Seoul Games. Lewis was awarded the gold medal in the 100-metres after Ben Johnson was disqualified for using steroids.
US athlete Jerome Young being allowed to compete – and win a gold medal – at the 2000 Sydney Olympics despite testing positive for steroids in 1999.
2003 was a big catch:
(1) U.S. sprinter Kelli White stripped of her two gold medals from the World Track & Field Championships for testing positive for Modafinil
(2) four-time U.S. 400 hurdles champ Sandra Glover
(3) 25-time U.S. middle distance national champion and two-time 1,500 meter World Champ silver medalist Regina Jacobs
(4) 2003 U.S. national shot put champion Kevin Toth
Tim Montgomery - 100m World Record revoked after he admitted accepting steroids and other performance enhancing drugs from BALCO
CJ Hunter
Marion Jones
Cyclist Floyd Landis
Justin Gatlin, the American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist, with a 100 m personal best of 9.85 seconds. He is currently serving a four year ban
Alvin Harrison, an American athlete that won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at both the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics and a silver medal in the 400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Alvin Harrison did not compete in the 2004 Olympics due to circumstantial evidence of using a banned substance. In October of 2004, Harrison agreed to a four-year suspension with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Antonio Pettigrew was a 2000 Olympic gold medalist in the men's 4x400 meter relay for the United States, by his own admission while using performance-enhancing drugs between 1997 and 2001. The 2000 Sydney Olympics 4 x 400 metres relay US team was stripped of their medals after Pettigrew admitted that he had used performance-enhancing drugs
Jerome Young (born in Clarendon, Jamaica) attended high school in Hartford, Connecticut at Prince Technical, is a sprint athlete. His reputation as a sprinter has been tarnished as he was caught doping in 1999. He and his teammates were stripped of their 2000 Olympic medal in the 4x400 m relay
LaTasha Jenkins is a former American sprinter who tested positive for nandrolone in 2006

And this is mainly track and field. I haven't even scratched the surface of the doping cases in the NFL or Baseball!

It is very interesting when any American throws the doping allegations at others - maybe it's because they are intimately familiar with the idea of doped up athletes and just can't believe that they are not the supreme country in something.

Jamaican Athletes Get Gold Medals thanks to IOC decision

2008-04-11T05:36:00.000-07:00

It is well-known that Jamaica's track and field athletes are among the best in the World and during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, we won Silver medals in the 1,600 m relays.

The winning team was the USA, a team that included a doped up Marion Jones. US athletes have frequently been accused of doping and a number of them have been caught. A good!

The members of the Jamaican team will now receive gold medals instead of silver thanks to the disqualification of the cheating US team.

Congrats Jamaica, all natural performance and excellence wins again.

Sign The EPA and then negotiate afterward?

2008-08-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

I am not sure why anyone would first sign a deal with the hopes of re-negotiating it afterward because to my knowledge, once you sign a contract, it is legally binding so if there are things in there that one does not like - don't sign.

The Jamaica Observer today carried the article Caricom hopes to renegotiate EPA which says:

Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries will sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Europe on September 2 as planned, but they are still hoping to renegotiate the deal afterwards

Thank God that the deal is between individual countries and not Caricom as a block because I hope Jamaica won't sign if there are things we want re-negotiated. Gone are the days when business can be conducted on trust and a handshake.

The EU could agree to re-negotiate after we sign and then back out afterward, leaving us stuck with a deal we do not like.

Prime Minister Golding - do not sign it unless you agree with all of it.

Disappointed With Bruce Golding's "Extortion" Remark

2008-08-08T05:39:00.000-07:00

I wanted to wait until after Independence day to comment on Bruce Golding's statement in late July pertaining to auxiliary fees at schools - partly because I wanted to give him time to apologize.

The Jamaica Gleaner ran an article on July 23rd that said the following (School extortion - PM chides institutions for attempting to make auxiliary fees mandatory) :

PRIME MINISTER Bruce Golding has described as extortion, the practice of some schools turning away students who do not pay the non-obligatory auxiliary fees.

Commenting on the vexing issue in Parliament yesterday, a strident Golding told the nation that auxiliary fees are voluntary.

"We are not going to allow schools to find some other ways of extorting," the prime minister said.

It is very unfortunate that he would make such a statement, knowing full well that his administration unilaterally eliminated school fees and then only provides J$5,000 to each school when 5 years ago it was shown that the schools needed at least J$10,000 per student to function properly.

The auxiliary fees are the only way to make up the shortfall and the Prime Minister has now caused major sections of the population to believe that they are being robbed by those fees.

My suggestion to the principals is to run the schools with the government's money and the day it runs out, close the school. The Government of Jamaica is behaving very irresponsibly when it comes to improving our education system and Bruce Golding's comments have hurt the schools, not helped them.

If his heart is truly in improving our education system, he would increase our educational budget so that the schools can function properly without having to charge auxiliary fees or beg for money like people on the street, or encourage parents to contribute what they can.

The only thing that is going to happen under the present atmosphere is that parents will refuse to pay auxiliary fees and then turn around and complain about the low pass rates and poor state of the schools.

It would seem that the Prime Minister has given the schools baskets to carry water.

Green Project Model for Jamaican Inner-City Communities?

2008-08-04T06:06:00.001-07:00

I came across this video thanks Jamaicanresearcher.wordpress.com

David Mullings Interviewed About Jamaican Independence on South Florida's NPR Station

2008-08-02T07:20:00.001-07:00

Check out this video, great history lesson:

170 Years of Emancipation!

2008-08-01T20:42:00.001-07:00

Jamaica is celebrating 170 years since the abolition of slavery in the island. Few people realize that slaves in Jamaica were freed before slaves in the Southern United States of America.

August 1, 1838 was the day when all slaves were freed and the apprenticeship system, established in 1834, was eliminated, 2 years earlier than planned.

The famous Jamaican song 'Augus Mawnin' is all about that newfound freedom.

Learn all about the struggles for emancipation and the full history here.

Re: The Jamaica Gleaner's "Say it loud, say it often"

2008-07-30T06:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the Gleaner carried this excellent column: Say it loud, say it often by Colin Steer and this is my feedback.

I agree with the content of your recent column titled "Say it loud, say it often" because while Jamaica needs short, medium and long-term solutions, very little seems to have been really done in decades and yet we expect something different. When I was in high school in the 1990's, Bounty Killer had a hit song called "Look into my eyes" and the lyrics pointed out exactly what the problem was, lack of opportunity.

Look into my eyes, tell me what you see?
Can you feel my pain? am I your enemy?
Give us a better way, things are really bad,
The only friend I know is this gun I have.
Listen to my voice, this is not a threat
Now you see the nine are you worried yet?
You've been talking 'bout' you want the war to cease
But when you show us hope, we will show you peace
Look into my mind, can you see the wealth?
Can you tell that I want to help myself?
But if it happen that I stick you for your ring
Don't be mad at me it's a survival ting.

While there are critics of Dancehall, what has been done since the 1990's to address the issues he rightly brought up in that song? Without opportunities, young men have been left no choice but to take up a life of crime. When the PSOJ toured some inner city communities, some people were surprised that Jamaicans actually live like that but didn't we all know that some of our brothers and sisters have been neglected for so long or were we not paying attention to our own country?

I often speak of 3 Jamaicas - Uptown, Downtown and "Country". We have ignored the "Downtown" part and it has essentially become another country, away from the eyes of many. Where are the TV specials showcasing the plight of the inner city residents, the hardships they face and the lack of opportunity? Where are the Jamaicans who put their money where their mouth is and actually invest in upliftment?

There are some, but too few in number to turn the tide.

Many of us have a real chance to make a difference, even on a small scale, one person at a time, but we are not taking advantage of it. I have had the opportunity to speak with many inner city residents and musicians. Hearing their stories and seeing some of these places hurts me as a Jamaican who is proud of the impact of my culture on the World stage. I remember visiting numerous business owners and learning about their entrepreneurial activities and what they felt they needed in order to move to the next level. The hardworking people I met at places like Coronation Market need a helping hand.

We need people and companies to invest in businesses, not loans, angel investors and grant programs. We need mentorship programs in the communities to expose young men to positive role models, internship programs for inner city youth, startup incubators, book clubs to encourage reading and jobs set aside for those from those areas who have worked diligently to better themselves in terms of formal education.

I am not calling for handouts, I am calling for real opportunities. We cannot continue to make the excuse that they lack the skills or they are not educated enough - train them and help to educate them, otherwise it hurts the entire nation.

You cannot talk down to a segment of the population that has never really been listened to. Until we see these Jamaicans as truly "Out of Many One People" and recognize them as our brothers and sisters, Jamaica will never be able to "play her part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race". I grew up reciting our National Pledge every day in prep school and I was taught to take it seriously. When I said that "I pledge the love and loyalty of my heart, the wisdom and courage of my mind, the strength and vigour of my body in the service of my fellow citizens", I meant it and I have worked hard to live up to that in everything I have done and continue to do.

I know that there are more people like me out there and we need to come together and work as one. We have countless Jamaicans at home and in the Diaspora that want to give back by investing in social programs and businesses. I attended the recent Diaspora conference as the Youth Spokesperson for the Southeast Region of the USA and that allowed me to make some great connections but the time for talk passed when I was a child and now at 27 I have not seen the kind of progress I envisioned when I graduated from high school in 1996.

I applaud the companies that have made positive contributions to our national development and job creation. We need more of them and we need to support those companies.

No one is asking for a handout, they are asking for a better way and unless we provide it, as Bounty rightly says, "it's just a survival ting."

Olint Suffering From a "Run On The Bank"?

2008-07-18T12:31:00.000-07:00

David Smith has rightly pointed out that no financial institution can survive a run on the bank. We can look at recent examples such as Bear Sterns, IndyMac Bank and Northern Rock.

When an institution suffers from a crisis of confidence, depositors start withdrawing their money quickly and sometimes the crisis is due to false rumours - but then the reality of rapid withdrawals makes the rumours self-fulfilling.

Even if Olint has been on the up and up, the confidence crisis that has ballooned due to the lack of payments in recent months would lead to serious problems. There are some questions that need answering for us to get the full story:

(1) Why has Olint been unable to make interest payments for the last few months?

(2) Why did Olint move its operations outside of the jurisdiction of Jamaican authorities once it was served with the cease-and-desist order instead of complying and getting licensed?

(3) Which bank reported the wire transfer and why?

(4) Has Olint followed all International KYC regulations (Know Your Customer)?

(5) Has any local bank refused to cash Olint cheques? If so, why?

I know for a fact that US authorities have been investigating Olint and other investment clubs because of money laundering concerns. To my knowledge the investigations have to do with dirty money being put into schemes in Jamaica, not the schemes using money for illegal things.

Jamaica is considered a high risk country for money laundering activity.

See Jamaica seen as high risk for money laundering (2007) and Kingston Declaration On Money Laundering (1992).

Olint can achieve high payouts through Forex trading - no one questions that, they just question consistent high payouts.

More importantly, I do believe that a Jamaican could be smarter than traders elsewhere and provide great returns consistently, but all regulatory compliance should take place and it would be imperative to keep a high level of confidence among club members if the institution is to survive.

If Olint suffered because it could not increase the number of members, that indicates a problem. That limit however doesn't have to affect the amount of money being brought in because I could have just given my friend money to add to their account, so getting more money to trade most likely was not a problem.

I close by saying that I give David the benefit of the doubt but I have always been concerned about high payouts. I hope he is vindicated and makes Olint very transparent so the rumours can end.

Otherwise people will say that just like the many MLM (multi-level marketing) companies in the USA, a person can run an entity that looks very normal on the outside, conducting everyday business, but somewhere in there is a problem that does not add up and depends on exponentially increasing the membership to generate money to pay members.

Jamaica Labour Party Launch New Website

2008-07-15T10:49:00.000-07:00

The JLP, the current party in power in Jamaica, has launched a new website and I have to admit, they certainly are with the times.

See it at JamaicaLabourParty.com

They have news, video, blogs, live chat and links to external sites such as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and Flickr - taking real advantage of the web.

It seems that someone has learnt much from Obama. I wonder if the PNP plans an upgrade now?

Maybe this is an indication of the JLP's plans to bring positive change to the country and leveraging technology for the betterment of Jamaica.

Or I could just be reading way too much into it :-)

Buy a Villa on a Private Island in Jamaica For US$2.5 million

2008-07-15T07:02:00.001-07:00

I came across this yesterday: Pellew Island Villa, Jamaica

They are building 4 villas on an island off the coast of Port Antonio and you can have one today for a mere US$2.5 million.

Watching foreigners buying up the USA right now, and what has happened to Jamaica in the past, will we be seeing more and more of our real estate going to wealthy Europeans and people from the BRIC countries?

Jamaica Observer Blog Dead?

2008-07-13T12:43:00.001-07:00

I was so happy when the Jamaica Observer launched it's Jamaica Observations blog - finally a media company in Jamaica was making some strides into the 21st century, their websites after-all are way behind the times.

It seems that this happiness has been short-lived, I haven't seen an update since June 23rd, woefully inadequate for a blog of that level and visibility.

I was taught that if you are going to do something, do it right, or don't do it at all. This blog has provided some great material, some of which even made it into the paper itself.

I hope the reasons behind the pause are sorted out and it gets back into a regular rotation, otherwise it just looks like a half-assed attempt at trying something that is getting a lot of buzz.

My business school experience made it clear that priority-level, accountability and commitment were integral for any project to succeed within a large company.

Is the Jamaica Observer committed to it's blog?

He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life

2008-07-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

This is a direct quote from an article in the Jamaica Observer today regarding the ongoing investigation into the assassination of Douglas Chambers, Chairman of the JUTC.

The area has been tense since Saturday. In fact, when the Observer sought to get information on Monday, the residents were unwilling to talk about the incident.

"He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life," a female resident said Monday.

The full article is at Alleged informer told nothing, police say.

The "informer fi dead" culture in Jamaica must change if we are to make any headway in solving crimes and the requires serious work on the part of the Govt. and the Police force. The distrust of authority and the clear inability of the police to protect witnesses in past cases are serious problems.

Add to that the fact that some of the members of the police force are themselves corrupt and involved in illegal activity.

OLINT Feeling The Heat

2008-07-07T06:22:00.001-07:00

The Jamaica Observer carried this article last Friday - Olint under US pressure.

How comes the Jamaica Observer can have such great investigative articles into Cash Plus and Olint yet the Jamaica Gleaner doesn't have even a peep?

I am also not surprised by the article and complaint, but the most interesting parts were the following:

The NFA said that as part of its investigation, it asked I-Trade to provide Smith's personal bank records. "However, I-Trade claimed that it was unable to obtain Smith's bank records and, therefore, withdrew Smith as a principal on December 31, 2007 and repaid his membership interest in the firm," said the document.

According to the NFA, "highly suspicious activity occurred in a number of I-Trade's customer accounts between November 2006 and April 2008. Most of the suspicious activity occurred in the accounts related to Smith (ie, Olint and TCI) and involved activity identified in both NFA's Interpretive Notice and I-Trade's own AML (anti-money laundering) programme as "red flags". This activity included extensive and unexplained wire activity; deposits followed by a request to transfer the funds to a third party without any apparent business reason; and unexplained, extensive wire activity with very low trading levels in the accounts".

"During the first two months this account was open, no trading activity occurred; however, during this time, Olint made four deposits totalling approximately [US]$59 million and eight withdrawals totalling about [US]$35.5 million."

So we have "red flags", inability to obtain the personal bank records of the principal of a company and no trading activity during the first two months the Olint account was open yet withdrawals of US$35.5 million after deposits of US$59 million.

The big one for me though is:

NFA's review of the activity in these accounts, as well as other accounts at I-Trade, revealed suspicious activity, which I-Trade failed to report by filing a Suspicious Activity Report with federal authorities

Giving Olint the benefit of the doubt, David Smith has said that he never risks most of members' money via trading so it can be argued that "While trading occurred in these accounts, only a fraction of the account equity in these accounts was used for trading" backs up his assertion 100%.

It is also well-know that leverage will provide outsized returns, in the months that are up.

So which is it?

I must admit that I was skeptical from day one when I was first asked to explain how Olint could possibly provide such high returns in such short periods. I have seen nothing that has convinced me otherwise, only evidence that large gains are possible, not large consistent gains.

My thing is this: If everything is on the up and up, why not be transparent like all regulated institutions, present your personal bank records when asked and operate within the law.

Air Jamaica Now A Better Acquisition Target?

2008-06-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

Today's Jamaica Gleaner carries the following story - Gov't to absorb $86b Air Jamaica debt.

I am not surprised because if I was going to bid for the airline, knowing that the Govt. was dying to get rid of it, I would use my negotiating skills to get as many concessions as possible and one of them would be reducing the debt load I take on.

The divestment plan has obviously not been going well and they finally realized that no one wants a debt-ridden company that has never been profitable.

Who do I think will bid for the airline now?

Michael Lee-Chin
Virgin
Eastern Caribbean Multimillionaire (probably from Barbados)

My money is on Lee-Chin to strike a partnership with Virgin and share the risk. His push for high-end tourism fits perfectly with Virgin Atlantic's brand and experience.

Would it still be called Air Jamaica though?

Would Lee-Chin go it alone without a major airline partner?

The Jamaica Gleaner Does Air Jamaica Wrong With Sensationalist Headline

2008-06-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

The Gleaner's article today stating "Air Jamaica Bankrupt" makes it's agenda quite clear for those who did not know already.

While I too speak about the burden of the airline and the need for divestment and redeployment of that badly needed capital, I do not use sensationalism and potentially problematic headlines to make my case.

There are lots of companies that operate with "more in liabilities than its assets were worth" and before turning a profit. Amazon.com lost money for 7 years and it's assets were never worth more than the liabilities (it benefitted from venture capital).

Look at them now.

Granted Air Jamaica has a history of losses and is no Amazon.com, but one should consider the consequences of such a headline.

While the definition of "bankrupt" is correct, Air Jamaica has not filed "bankruptcy", but few people know the difference. I can only imagine the calls to Air J with people asking if their flight is still on.

Responsible journalists would go for a less sensationalist headline. I am very disappointed with this kind of headline meant to sell papers and scare people.

p.s. I sent this as a letter to them today. I wonder if they will publish it?

Jamaican People and Businesses Must Play Their Role In Fighting Crime

2008-06-09T07:56:00.001-07:00

I read about the Jamaican pubic crying out for the government to make a real effort to solve the crime problem and corporate Jamaica is doing the same thing.

What I don't hear however is the affirmations to play their own roles in making this a reality. Governments need money to pay for policing and that money usually comes from tax revenue. Audley Shaw once again pointed out some disturbing facts at the recent economic forum.

Jamaican people need to:
(1) Pay their taxes - Cheating the government of the money it needs and then complaining about poor services and policing is hypocritical. Less than 250,000 people in Jamaica pay income taxes, with more than 220,000 of those being on the PAYE system, meaning that they pay taxes BEFORE they get their paycheck.

(2) Supporting the police by providing information - The "informa fi dead" culture is rampant and continues to be promoted. Nobody whose family member has been a victim would ever support such a stupid notion.

Corporate Jamaica needs to:

(1) Pay their taxes - "Corporate income tax accounts for 68 per cent of the arrears" and "One per cent of the firms account for 75 per cent of income tax". That makes no sense whatsoever. Corporate Jamaica needs to pay up because that is the money that trains the police, hires new officers for an understaffed force and allows upgrades to increase the efficiency of investigations.

Add to that the fact that these very same companies are calling for a tax rate reduction when they don't even pay their taxes anyway!

(2) Reduce the interest rates collected on national debt - The largest holders of Jamaica's national debt are Jamaican companies. Is the almighty dollar and the pursuit of profit more important than facilitating a a positive business environment? Lowering the interest rate by 1% saves J$5 Billion, money that can also go towards policing efforts.

There is a lot of blame to go around for the growing crisis and while the Government deserves much of it, the people of Jamaica and Corporate Jamaica must share some of the blame.

Ban All Dual/Multiple Citizens Or None At All

2008-05-23T06:10:00.000-07:00

I have followed the citizenship debate since day one and I do agree that the law is a shackle and should be followed.

However, I believe that the Constitution needs to be updated to reflect fairness for all rather than selective preference.

The fact that Commonwealth citizens can sit in Parliament is clearly a hold over from the days of colonialism and has no place in the Constitution of an Independent Jamaica.

I believe that Jamaicans have two choices: Ban all people with dual/multiple citizenship from sitting in Parliament or allow all of them. You cannot have it both ways and claim to be a country of equality.

It cannot be fair that a person born and raised in Jamaica who now has US citizenship cannot sit in Parliament yet some foreigner who spends a limited time in the country can. Many words come to mind to describe such a rule and they are not flattering.

While I am a dual-citizen and believe that some of us can make contributions in Parliament, I see the issues that can arise and the perception that is created with "one foot in, one foot out".

I have also seen some people clearly show a bias against Jamaicans with US citizenship, claiming that they are "nothings abroad" and merely want to come to Jamaica to be "big somethings", but that is grossly incorrect in the cases we are facing today. Most of these MPs did not fly in from America to be elected, they have been involved in politics for years, while being based in Jamaica and helping people in their respective areas.

A discussion about the possible benefits of dual/multiple citizens in Parliament, elected by the people, could go on forever because there are potential benefits and potential drawbacks that are very real so neither side will win.

The important thing in my opinion is to fix a Constitution that clearly is a legacy of British rule. Whichever way it goes doesn't matter to me as much as making it fair.

If dual-citizens cannot sit in Parliament, we will simply find other ways of continuung to support Jamaica in positive ways.

Fighting Crime Provides The Best Return On Investment For Jamaica

2008-05-19T05:33:00.000-07:00

All governments face decisions on how to allocate scare resources and the decision is usually based on the projects that provide the best return on investment but more often than not, politics plays a bigger role.

The current government of Jamaica has interesting plans for the future of Jamaica but I believe that nothing can provide a better return on investment than investing in reducing the crime rate and especially the murder rate.

A better healthcare system only means that we can treat gunshot and stab wounds more efficiently. Free tuition means that when violence flares up in a community and children have to stay home, the parents are not the one's wasting money, it is the tax payers (hopefully the parents are taxpayers too but based on the recent numbers, that seems overly optimistic).

Jamaica cannot become an offshore financial centre, a top destination for high-end tourists, a more attractive location for overseas companies to invest or a major player on the casino circuit if crime, especially murder, is not curtailed.

Does anyone doubt that Jamaica's future is predominantly determined by the level of crime?

More citizens will continue to leave in order to take advantage of opportunities outside of Jamaica if jobs are not created and the country becomes less safe. More people in the Diaspora will choose not to return to Jamaica after retirement for the same reasons.

Also, a country cannot be so dependent on remittances, an "industry" that is entirely dependent on the economies of the sender's country. The economic slowdown in the USA undoubtedly has had some impact, add to that the rising costs of food and fuel, which means an increased cost of living that disproportionately hurts lower and middle-income earners, the main source of remittances. It is entirely possible that the growth of remittances actually lulled previous administrations into complacency, removing the urgency for needed reforms that would help to grow the local economy.

Grow the economy by reducing crime because that makes Jamaica more attractive to internal and external investors, which means more jobs, more tax dollars and more opportunities for all.

Jamaica must fight the insurgents

2008-05-10T13:06:00.001-07:00

Some people will say that using the word "insurgent" to describe our gunmen, a word popularized by the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, is too harsh, but I beg to differ. An insurgent is defined as:

* a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions)
* guerrilla: a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment
* in opposition to a civil authority or government

Surely our gunmen and armed gangs are easily described by the above. While I am glad to see the authorities making some moves, I believe that we need a new approach, a counter-insurgency approach. These are no ordinary criminals and the current policing strategies have proven woefully inadequate to solve our gigantic crime problem. Every Jamaican should feel some shame in having such a high murder rate, especially for a country that is not at war nor has armed guerillas hiding in the hills trying to overthrow the government.

If the money can be found to free up education and healthcare, it must be found to solve our crime crisis because nothing impacts healthcare costs and education than crime. Children in volatile areas have had to stay home from school and our hospitals and clinics treat far too much gunshot victims for such a small nation.

The time has come and gone to declare war on those who have already declared war on us. It will also not suffice to merely deal with the small and medium players, the big fish must fry too, even those with political connections. Rooting out corruption on both sides of the aisle must be part of the strategy and it is high time that criminals start to feel the fear that they have instilled in us Jamaicans.

I in no way advocate extra-judicial killings and expect that the authorities will involve people with expertise in combating these kinds of hardened and heartless criminals. Lastly, if new opportunities are not created for the youth, especially the many young males, dealing with the current criminals will only result in the void being filled by new criminals.

The surest way to reduce crime is to facilitate job creation and skills training and this government seems to be on the right track in that regard. More involvement from NGOs and the private sector is needed however to truly transform the landscape in Jamaica to one of opportunity for all.

I pray for Jamaica and my fellow Jamaicans everyday. I do not believe that God ever allows one to encounter more than they can handle and while you may question why something bad happens, down the line you look back and see how it helped you become a better person. I believe that Jamaica as a nation will be much stronger in the future thanks to the hardships of the present.

Naive statement about Hip-Hop vs. Dancehall

2008-05-09T05:14:00.001-07:00

This article today greatly hurt the credibility of the writer and marred what was otherwise a good article.

He said that "I believe hip hop artistes know just how far to go and they never push the envelope" in an effort to counter the argument that dancehall is similar to hip-hop in content.

He noted that some people said that "American hip hop music as falling within the same genre and how it was not frowned upon by the Americans" which also indicates a serious lack of the facts. A basic search on Google for "hip hop backlash" (see results here) turns up this article as the top find: Hip-hop faces increasing backlash.

That article alone destroys BOTH arguments put forward anyone who has actually paid attention to hip-hop since inception can attest to the fight it has gotten, from the days of NWA to "gangsta rap" and the big issue of 2004, rapper Nelly swiping a credit card between the bottom of a black woman in a hip-hop video (see Black college women take aim at rappers).

Americans have ALWAYS confronted aspects of Hip-Hop music and you would have to live in a bubble to not have known about the Tupac vs. Biggie story that the media used to show the negative aspects of rap music, the 2 Live Crew court case in Broward County in 1990 because of the release of their album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" or the hearings on Capitol Hill.

Rap music and those hearings are one of the primary reasons the USA has parental advisory labels on CDs now, thanks to Tipper Gore (wife of Al Gore). Read Rap, Rock, and Censorship: Popular Culture and the Technologies of Justice by Mathieu Deflem to learn more.

I don't take argument with the overall point of the article, just the ridiculous assertion that "I believe hip hop artistes know just how far to go and they never push the envelope".

Obviously Mr. Dennie Quill doesn't think the credit card butt-swiping pushed the envelope.

My thoughts on the budget

2008-05-06T17:49:00.000-07:00

The budget presented by Shaw is an election budget and will not hold up over the next financial year because of a fundamental flaw which Omar Davies rightly pointed out:

"an anticipated deceleration in rate of increases in international commodity prices""

That was one of the biggest assumptions used in creating this budget, establishing an inflation target of 9-10% and assigning expected expenditure for oil, etc.

Does anyone in here believe that commodity prices will decrease in 2009?

Oil keeps climbing, food prices keep climbing, biofuels are putting even more pressure on food crops and China and India are just hitting their strides in terms of demand.

By the way, inflation in Jamaica for 2007 was 16.8% and close to 20% for the fiscal year 07/08.

The budget is financed mainly through debt and that debt is being issued at variable interest rates in the local market ($130 billion), which means that the ultimate size of dependent on inflation since investors ALWAYS want to account for inflation.

Contrary to popular belief, most of the national debt is held by LOCAL investors, not foreign ones.

$44 billion in new tax intake? HA, this I have to see. I have zero confidence that this much will materialize. It's nice to have big goals to aim for, I commend that, but you also need to have a back-up plan with more realistic numbers.

I hope that they have a back-up plan they are not telling us.

Lastly, the Jamaican dollar is pegged to the US dollar, a dollar that has weakened significantly against all major currencies and continues to weaken.

This weakening has not yet taken into account the inflationary pressure from the Fed's bailout of Bear Stearns. Any money for the any portion of losses from the US$29 billion of guaranteed money for losses will have to be PRINTED out of thin air.

This would hurt the Jamaican dollar because printing more US money reduces the value of the money supply in the hands of the public, thus reducing the value of our dollar.

If the Jamaican dollar's value continues to decrease slowly, it increases the price of exports and pushes our budget up.

I also predict that the new cigarette taxes will result in less tax revenue overall. I think that the combination of inflation and higher price to consumers have adjusted the point on the supply/demand curve to a point where more consumers will drop out than can be made up for by the increased revenue per person.

e.g. $1 tax, 100,000 consumers = $100,000 tax revenue
$1.50 tax, 60,000 consumers = $90,000 tax revenue

Granted that is VERY over-simplified, but that is the idea - increased costs reduce the number of consumers and I think this increase is major because the REAL increase is not just the tax increase, but the inflation increase as well.

For all the reasons above, and more (increase in expenditures thanks to freeness, the bigger pork barrel fund), I believe that this budget will continue the tradition of being overly optimistic, but will miss projections worse than any previous PNP budget.

Let's hope that I am wrong.

Good links:

THE 2008 BUDGET DEBATE OPENING PRESENTATION BY THE MINISTER OF FINANCE AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE, HON. AUDLEY SHAW

BUDGET PRESENTATION BY DR. THE HONOURABLE CHRISTOPHER TUFTON, MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, APRIL 2008

2008/2009 BUDGET PRESENTATION BY DR. OMAR DAVIES

PRESENTATION OF THE MOST HONOURABLE PORTIA SIMPSON MILLER, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION TO THE BUDGET DEBATE 2008

Focusing on Brazil, Russia, India and China is Smart

2008-04-27T18:24:00.001-07:00

I must commend the move to forge closer relationships with China in terms of tourism opportunity. We should not leave out the other BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia and India - as so named by Goldman Sachs in 2001. Brazil is known to be a large Reggae market and Jamaica obviously stands to benefit tremendously by tapping into that heritage and providing appropriate attractions.

For those who doubt the soundness of targeting these countries, Goldman Sachs recently released a report these 4 countries will contribute almost half of all global growth in 2008 and 2009. There is no doubt that the middle-class in these countries and growing, people are getting wealthier and their disposable income will undoubtedly partly be used for vacations to new parts of the World.

Jamaica has one of the strongest brands in the World and I do not doubt that we will stand out in the minds of the Chinese when we take to the track at the coming Summer Olympics in Beijing. Stereotypes about Chinese and Indians have no place in the globalized World of today. Jamaica must think like a luxury goods maker - go where the money is. Moscow boasts one of the highest concentrations of Billionaires of any capital city in the World according to Fortune magazine and India had 53 Billionaires on the most recent Forbes list of the World's billionaires.

Do we dare NOT make a real attempt to raise the profile of Jamaica as a quality destination in the BRIC countries? We should be confident enough about our country and our tourism product to reach out to anyone. More importantly, with the expected opening of Cuba, we need to move quickly to diversify our customer base like any well-thinking business. I hope that more Jamaicans will do research on the BRIC countries before writing them off based on outdated stereotypes.