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Kingston versus the rest of us
Lloyd B Smith
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
From time immemorial, the "Kingston is Jamaica" syndrome has led to the underdevelopment of this country. As far as most of our movers and shakers in the capital city are concerned, the rest of Jamaica outside of Kingston and the Corporate Area is "country". And this sickeningly condescending attitude is to be found both in government and the private sector.
There is, for example, the classic case of the so-called Jamaica Chamber of Commerce that purports to represent all of the island. This is definitely not so, yet to the nation and the rest of the world it is being taken for granted that this is the status quo. Of course, there are several other such "national" bodies with Jamaica at the beginning of their names, yet in real terms all they do is to represent the interests of those in Kingston and St. Andrew. What poppycock! What hypocrisy!
As a sojourner in the West and more so Montego Bay, my stance on this matter is well-known - revered in certain quarters and reviled in others. But, what the heck! I will always subscribe that the "republic" of Montego Bay should secede from the rest of Jamaica because in so many ways the second city has been shortchanged by Central Government and those who sit in the hallowed boardrooms of Corporate Jamaica.
In this vein, I have always had special kudos for this newspaper's head honcho and chairman of Sandals International, Gordon "Butch" Stewart, who so wisely established his hotel chain's head office in the western city without much prodding from anyone. And while we are on the subject of tourism, it is still a most untenable situation that this particular industry has its headquarters in Kingston. It seems only logical to me that if Montego Bay is the capital of tourism then this is where the Ministry of Tourism should be, not in some distant ivory tower in New Kingston! Come on, Minister Bartlett, this is your call!
Regionalism has its place in national development and should be encouraged. Far too often, the rest of Jamaica has to wait for the crumbs to fall off the table at Jamaica House to be reasonably satiated. Just look at the powers that the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation has in comparison to the parish councils in the island. "A wha do we so?" Must we always be the hindquarters of the cow?
Then there is that joke of an entity dubbed the Office of the Prime Minister Western Region on Delisser Avenue in Montego Bay. For the most part, all that happens there is political work of an overt nature and the occasional meeting, when it becomes necessary, to calm the tempers of irate stakeholders who want certain things to be given priority attention.
The previous prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller, had promised that on a monthly basis ministers would visit that office in order to interface with us lowly westerners. It is not clear to me what is the intention of the Bruce Golding-led administration, but something meaningful needs to be done with that prime piece of real estate or else sell it and save taxpayers some money.
In the meantime, I must commend Prime Minister Golding for seeking (it would appear) to pragmatically address the "Kingston is Jamaica" syndrome by appointing a number of well-known Montegonians to chair various national entity boards. Among them are Godfrey Dyer, Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), Robert Russell, Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Winston Dear, Montego and Free Zone (Port Authority of Jamaica), George Johnson, Transport Authority, Mark Hart, Airports Authority of Jamaica and George Thomas, Jamaica Mortgage Bank.
Already, I hear that these "golden boys" from the west have their hands full taking on their counterparts in Kingston who are fighting tooth and nail in order to prevent them from turning the tables.
When one thinks of the large amount of foreign exchange that Montego Bay brings into the national coffers by way of tourism and the IT sector, it is grossly unfair that not even the North Gully can be cleaned regularly. Indeed, every time anything major is to be done, Montego Bay has to travel to Kingston with hat in hand and on bended knees to beg and beseech for help.
I hope that somewhere in his budget presentation, Prime Minister Bruce Golding will seek to address this vexing issue. Is it any wonder that there is such a mass migration to Kingston and the Corporate Area? Ways and means must be found through policy implementation to create a level playing field and to ensure that the rest of Jamaica gets the attention it deserves. Rural development with a mix of technologically driven agriculture, cottage industries and the decentralisation of many Kingston-based entities must be the way to go. Enough of this narrow-minded, vision-less, self-serving approach to national development.
And a good place to start this process is with Local Government Reform.
The role of members of parliament also needs to be redefined. Too many of them end up being "Missing In Action" because they get caught up in the corridors of power in Kingston. Already, there has been tremendous fallout for support in the parish of St James, for especially the Jamaica Labour Party's Ed Bartlett and Clive Mullings whose constituents are expressing disgust with them because they cannot "see" them. The irony is that these two gentlemen are two of Golding's finest parliamentarians and ministers!
If it is not to be "business as usual", then certain revolutionary changes must be made in the way this country is governed. And for starters, those who plan as well as implement national policies and programmes must be forcefully reminded that Kingston is not Jamaica!
lloydbsmith@hotmail.com
Lloyd B Smith
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
From time immemorial, the "Kingston is Jamaica" syndrome has led to the underdevelopment of this country. As far as most of our movers and shakers in the capital city are concerned, the rest of Jamaica outside of Kingston and the Corporate Area is "country". And this sickeningly condescending attitude is to be found both in government and the private sector.
There is, for example, the classic case of the so-called Jamaica Chamber of Commerce that purports to represent all of the island. This is definitely not so, yet to the nation and the rest of the world it is being taken for granted that this is the status quo. Of course, there are several other such "national" bodies with Jamaica at the beginning of their names, yet in real terms all they do is to represent the interests of those in Kingston and St. Andrew. What poppycock! What hypocrisy!
As a sojourner in the West and more so Montego Bay, my stance on this matter is well-known - revered in certain quarters and reviled in others. But, what the heck! I will always subscribe that the "republic" of Montego Bay should secede from the rest of Jamaica because in so many ways the second city has been shortchanged by Central Government and those who sit in the hallowed boardrooms of Corporate Jamaica.
In this vein, I have always had special kudos for this newspaper's head honcho and chairman of Sandals International, Gordon "Butch" Stewart, who so wisely established his hotel chain's head office in the western city without much prodding from anyone. And while we are on the subject of tourism, it is still a most untenable situation that this particular industry has its headquarters in Kingston. It seems only logical to me that if Montego Bay is the capital of tourism then this is where the Ministry of Tourism should be, not in some distant ivory tower in New Kingston! Come on, Minister Bartlett, this is your call!
Regionalism has its place in national development and should be encouraged. Far too often, the rest of Jamaica has to wait for the crumbs to fall off the table at Jamaica House to be reasonably satiated. Just look at the powers that the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation has in comparison to the parish councils in the island. "A wha do we so?" Must we always be the hindquarters of the cow?
Then there is that joke of an entity dubbed the Office of the Prime Minister Western Region on Delisser Avenue in Montego Bay. For the most part, all that happens there is political work of an overt nature and the occasional meeting, when it becomes necessary, to calm the tempers of irate stakeholders who want certain things to be given priority attention.
The previous prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller, had promised that on a monthly basis ministers would visit that office in order to interface with us lowly westerners. It is not clear to me what is the intention of the Bruce Golding-led administration, but something meaningful needs to be done with that prime piece of real estate or else sell it and save taxpayers some money.
In the meantime, I must commend Prime Minister Golding for seeking (it would appear) to pragmatically address the "Kingston is Jamaica" syndrome by appointing a number of well-known Montegonians to chair various national entity boards. Among them are Godfrey Dyer, Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), Robert Russell, Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), Winston Dear, Montego and Free Zone (Port Authority of Jamaica), George Johnson, Transport Authority, Mark Hart, Airports Authority of Jamaica and George Thomas, Jamaica Mortgage Bank.
Already, I hear that these "golden boys" from the west have their hands full taking on their counterparts in Kingston who are fighting tooth and nail in order to prevent them from turning the tables.
When one thinks of the large amount of foreign exchange that Montego Bay brings into the national coffers by way of tourism and the IT sector, it is grossly unfair that not even the North Gully can be cleaned regularly. Indeed, every time anything major is to be done, Montego Bay has to travel to Kingston with hat in hand and on bended knees to beg and beseech for help.
I hope that somewhere in his budget presentation, Prime Minister Bruce Golding will seek to address this vexing issue. Is it any wonder that there is such a mass migration to Kingston and the Corporate Area? Ways and means must be found through policy implementation to create a level playing field and to ensure that the rest of Jamaica gets the attention it deserves. Rural development with a mix of technologically driven agriculture, cottage industries and the decentralisation of many Kingston-based entities must be the way to go. Enough of this narrow-minded, vision-less, self-serving approach to national development.
And a good place to start this process is with Local Government Reform.
The role of members of parliament also needs to be redefined. Too many of them end up being "Missing In Action" because they get caught up in the corridors of power in Kingston. Already, there has been tremendous fallout for support in the parish of St James, for especially the Jamaica Labour Party's Ed Bartlett and Clive Mullings whose constituents are expressing disgust with them because they cannot "see" them. The irony is that these two gentlemen are two of Golding's finest parliamentarians and ministers!
If it is not to be "business as usual", then certain revolutionary changes must be made in the way this country is governed. And for starters, those who plan as well as implement national policies and programmes must be forcefully reminded that Kingston is not Jamaica!
lloydbsmith@hotmail.com
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