The following items are presented in a stream-of-consciousness rendering. That
there
should be any order or plan to this presentation is strictly coincidental.
Special
message to the Bank of Jamaica!
Jamaica was discovered by Christopher
Columbus on his second voyage to the
New World in 1494. Jamaica was inhabited
by Arawak Indians who are now extinct due
to Spanish occupation. The English captured
Jamaica from the Spanish in the seventeenth
century. There are few surviving Spanish
colonist’s descendants although there are
Spanish place names and some Spanish
family names. Jamaica became a haven for Spanish
and Portugese Jews during the
Spanish Inquisition. Consequently there is a good-sized
Jewish community descended
from these immigrants. The names De Silva and other
Portugese names are very common
among the white population.
African slaves were imported into the island first
by the Spanish and subsequently
by the English. The slave trade was outlawed about
1808 and slaves were emancipated
shortly thereafter. After emancipation it became
obvious that the African descendants
were unwilling to work in the cane fields
and other plantations as they had before so the
English undertook to import Chinese
and East Indian laborers. This back-fired upon them
in a manner of speaking because
the newcomers were so hard-working within two
generations they had set up their
own businesses and were no longer interested in toiling in
the cane fields. Other
components of the population include Welsh, Scottish and Irish who
were brought
in by the English to act as overseers of the Africans. Additionally there is a
small
German community descended from immigrants in the 1830’s.
Jamaica has a population
of about 3,000,000+. Of this one quarter of one percent
are white, one quarter
of one per cent are Chinese and maybe 3 percent are East Indian.
The remaining
96 percent are of African ancestry.
Jamaica until recently boasted literacy rates
of 90+%. That is declining because of
population pressures on the school system.
Jamaica offers education from pre-school to
the University of the West Indies
Medical School. A fully educated person from Jamaica
has a world-class education.
Several Rhodes Scholars are produced each year.
Infrastructure in Jamaica
is that which was inherited from the British at
independence in 1962. Since then
various projects have been undertaked with varying
degrees of success.
Electricity
is 50 Hertz 220 volt and generated by oil and gas fired generating stations.
Current
production is approximate 100 MW. Industry is the largest consumer of electricity.
Power
outages occur infrequently and are generally maintenance related.
Hurricane Gilbert
in 1988 provided the opportunity to string all new power lines throughout
much
of the island. Quality of the power varies as the load factor varies. There is some
voltage
drop as various demands increase.
Oil is all imported. There is a Texaco refinery
on the island which supplies basic
petrochemical and fuel products. Additional
needs are met by importers such as Shell and
Exxon.
Medical services
are almost world-class. It is possible to have open-heart surgery
or cataract
surgery at the University Hospital. Medicines of all types are generally available.
Transportation: Jamaica is served by a number of airlines among them Air Jamaica,
American,
Delta, Lufthansa, Condor (for tourism) Air Canada, and British Airways. Air
cargo
services are provided by these carriers as well as a number of independents (Jamaica
Air
Freighters is foremost) operationg from Miami. Additionally the island is served
by
UPS, DHL, & Fed Ex. All major steamship lines call at Jamaica. Kingston
harbor is the
seventh largest natural harbor in the world (though not the seventh
busiest).
Hapag Lloyd, Zim, Maersk, US Presidents all have offices in Jamaica.
Communications: Telephone service is provided by Cable & Wireless as well
as
internet service. It is generally uninterupted and trouble free. Prices are
lower than Germany.
Banking: All major banks have corresponding ofices
in Kingston. The Jamaican
dollar is a freely floating currency which has been
in the range of 35 to 1 for the last six
years. Inflation is minimal.
Politics:
Jamiaca is a lively, fully-functioning democracy. Elected power alternates
between
the Jamaica Labor Party (conservatives) of Edward Seaga and the Peoples
National
Party (ex-socialists) of PJ Patterson. The PNP is currently in power. Elections
are
due for Spring 2001 and JLP assumes it is their turn to be in power. The JLP is a
businessman’s
party and as such represents the interests of the whites and Chinese. It is
generally
deemed the more efficient party. There is mild corruption in Jamaica whether it
is
for getting a driver’s license or getting a major hotel building permit. However
it is a
background nuisance and generally doesn’t affect day-to-day activities.
That is to say one
can get a driver’s license the normal way by standing in line
or pay five dollars to jump the
queue. Fortunately it is not a major problem of
the likes of Nigeria or somesuch.
Periodically the government does attempt to
clean house and bring in independent auditors
to oversee its efforts.
Taxes
& Customs duties: Jamaica longs to be a member of the North American
Free
Trade Agreement and as a consequence has harmonized its tariffs and customs.
Average
customs fees are approximately 10%. Very professional, efficient customs
brokers
are available (Porter Brothers being foremost in efficiency). It is possible to
arrange
to repatriate profits from companies setup to do business in the island. There
are
programs are available for certain desirable sectors- for example textiles).
Taxes
are moderate on income and profits (20-30%). There is a VAT 15%.
Police:
The Jamaican Police are a generally efficient outfit headed by a Scotsman
Colonel
Trevor MacMillan. They have modern patrol cars and communications systems.
Army:
The Jamaican Army is a first-class organization inherited from the British
which
has never been involved in politics. It is overseen by a civilian Minister of Defense.
Legal
System: The Jamaican legal system is based on English Common Law and
since
Jamaica is a member of the English Commonwealth the final court of appeal is the
English
Privy Council in London. The courts system is generally fair and impartial with a
distinguished
and independent judiciary. A full panolopy of legal services is available.
Accounting
and auditing: All major accountancy firms (Price Waterhouse,
Coopers-Lybrand)
have an office in the island.
Raw materials: There is a brand-new cement
factory in Kingston on the harbor
built by Kashima of Japan. Bitumen for asphalt
comes from the local refinery or is
imported as needed. Crushed stone is available
from a variety of sources depending upon
the grade. These grades range from an
ultra-pure soft limestone to hard basaltic chip.
Gypsum is also readily available
on the island. Steel is imported in quantity in all
cross-sections from Mexico
and Brazil.
Spare parts and accessories: All major heavy equipment producers
have offices and
showrooms in Jamaica (Caterpillar, Komatsu, Deere, Case, Massey
Harris- even Belarus).
It is generally more expedient to have moderate weight
parts ordered in the USA and
shipped in via air cargo. All ball bearings are available
from three different local bearings
houses.
Accomodations: All major
hotels have a presence in Jamaica although many of
them cater to tourists There
are half a dozen three star hotels in Kingston for the business
traveler. Rent-a-cars
and minivans are freely available to rent. One word of caution-
Jamaica drives
on the left.
Crime: Jamaica is unfortunately well-known for a visible criminal
element.
Probably this harks back to Jamaica’s reputation in the 1600’s as a
pirate’s den. Port
Royal was a famous pirate’s hideaway frequented by Henry Morgan
(who later became
governor). Fortunately that does not generally impact upon tourists
and expatriates. Most
crime is among people who know each other. Every several
years a tourist will end up
intoxicated in the wrong part of town, get mugged
and then it is every tourist journal in
the world.
Drugs: Yes there
are drugs in Jamaica- traditional and recreational such as
marijuana. Dangerous
and risky such as cocaine. It is very easy to avoid these problems by
not being
involved. All drugs are illegal in Jamaica.
Natural risks: Jamaica sits
near two active geological faults- the Cuban trench and
a trench off the south
coast. There are minor tremblors several times a year and every
hundred years
a 7 or 8 magnitude earthquake strikes. Kingston was destroyed in 1693 and
1907.
Jamaica
experiences severe hurricanes approximately every 30 years. The most recent was
Hurricane
Gilbert in 1988 with a loss of 30 lives and Hurricane Michael? in 1950.
Disease:
There is no malaria, yellow fever, cholera or typhoid in Jamaica.
Periodically
a visitor from somewhere else will contract it but came from outside the
island.
AIDS is a small but growing problem. There are no indigenous parasites that afflict
humans
(except T-shirt vendors).
Water & Sewerage: These systems were left
by the British. The water quality is
first-class. Sewerage tends to sometimes
outstrip capacity.
Roads: There are asphalt roads island-wide.
Geography:
Jamaica is approximately 300 km long and 100km wide. It varies from
tropical rainforest
in the east to desert in the south with several mountain ranges in the
middle.
The highest peak is Blue Mountain which 2000+ meters. The island and the sea
are
warmed by the Gulf Stream. Average high temperature is 34 degrees with a maximun
of
36. Average low temperature of 20 degrees with a minimum of 15 C. Rainfall varies
through
out the island.
Geology: Jamaica surface depositions are the product of
marine deposition by the
Caribean Sea during the last 34 million yeras. In the
center of the island are various
metamorphic and igneous outcrops as well as some
ancient volcanic traces. The most
common strata island-wide is a soft yellowish
marl.
Recreation: There is every tropical delight in Jamaica. Swimming,
sailing, scuba,
snorkeling, wind-surfing and championship Marlin fishing. Foodwise
there is a cornucopia
of fresh fruits and vegetables, safely grown and processed.
Inland there is mountain
climbing, bird-watching and off-road exploring. Historically
there are numerous old ruins
of forts, plantations and museums. There is the famous
reggae music. The finest rums in
the world come from Jamaica. The finest cigars
in the world come from Jamaica. The
finest coffee in the world (Blue Mountain)
comes from Jamaica. They have excellent beer
(Red Stripe) brewed under supervision
of a German Braumeister. They also have a
Heinekin brewery and a Guiness brewery.
Coca-cola and Pepsi and Scweppes all have
bottling plants. Every October the German
Embassy and the Goethe Foundation have an
Octoberfest.
There is a full functioning
German Embassy in Kingston with additional offices in
Montego Bay.
Synopsis:
Jamaica is not quite English and not quite African. It has a foot in the
first
world and a foot in the third world. The positives include moderate to good
infrastructure,
rule of law, good judiciary, availability of raw materials and spare parts. A
reasonably
sophisticated work-force and proximity to the United States. There is visible
poverty
but not the grinding, life-threatening, malnourishing type. The negatives are the
fact
that the English left but they didn’t leave enough money for infrastructure
to cope with a
burgeouning population. A disastrous experiment with socialism/communism
in the 1970’s
under the PNP left a mark of failed institutions and residual political
violence that will take
a generation to heal. Because of the proximity to America
and the availability of Americn
TV, there is a generation of young people with
unrealistic expectaions of what life should
give them and consequently failed
delivery by the government of these same wants. This
breeds an arrogance and anger
that sometimes manifests itself in demonstrations and
public ill-will. As an indicator
of the uncertainty in the island, sometimes a street
demonstration degerates into
tire-burning and glass-breaking. On other occasions it might
all of a sudden become
a street party with beer vendors and dancing and music.
Suffice it to say Jamaica
is unpredictable.
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