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Jobs, jobs... and we really need more jobs
Thursday, July 10, 2008
We are, of course, very encouraged by Karl Samuda's sensible decision, or at least his intention, to push for greater investment in agriculture and other areas of the economy besides tourism.
The industry, investment and commerce minister left with Jamaica's delegation yesterday for the annual Caricom-Spain summit, presumably with a plan to start there.
Spain is a good place to start, we suggest. In recent years, Jamaica has whetted that country's appetite for investment in the tourism sector, something for which we are grateful. Regrettably, however, the numbers of jobs promised and expected have failed to materialise.
It is a dilemma which Mr Samuda was at pains to explain at his press conference Tuesday. Out of a total of $23 billion worth of capital investment in Jamaica last year, he said, only 7,000 jobs were created. That clearly says that the investment projects were capital and not labour intensive.
For a Government which promised 'jobs, jobs and more jobs' as a key element of its election platform, the Jamaica Labour Party-led administration cannot be happy with such a scenario.
We suspect that the previous People's National Party Government might well have been disappointed too that more jobs did not come with the investment, despite the lengths to which they went to encourage investors, to the point of almost giving away the country.
The influx of Spanish investors is a good example. Many hotel rooms came, but nothing like the kind of numbers of jobs expected. The Jamaican tourism standard so far has been between 1.5 to 2.2 persons per bedroom, compared with between 0.55 and 0.65 persons per bedroom in the Spanish hotels.
This translates to less service in its operations, certainly in terms of quality, or as one critic describes it "a lot of concrete without much service". The Spanish hotels also promised significant airlift out of Europe, but the harsh reality has been that out of roughly 200 flights per week into Jamaica, they are responsible for no more than about six or so.
The truth is that one job created is one job we did not have before. But it just makes sense that in a situation where crime is often the result of joblessness, those who seek investments on our behalf must go hard after labour-intensive investments.
God knows that we bend over backwards enough for investors. Note, for example, how softly the Government is treading with RIU Hotel, which has breached local building and environmental laws with little, if any, punishment. The fourth floors built in the path of the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay have not yet been demolished, despite orders from the prime minister.
Investigations into how an illegal building plan, in Spanish, came to have the signature of a St James Parish Council official and official council stamp, without going before the council, has been barely proceeding, and only the parish council official is being probed. Which is a shame because he surely could not have acted on his own, out of charity and unrequited love for the Spanish.
Still we have to give credit to Spanish Ambassador Jesus Silva, upon whom we are bestowing the title of "Ambassador of Marketing" for the energy with which he has promoted his country and its interests. Would that our own ambassadors take a leaf out of his book.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
We are, of course, very encouraged by Karl Samuda's sensible decision, or at least his intention, to push for greater investment in agriculture and other areas of the economy besides tourism.
The industry, investment and commerce minister left with Jamaica's delegation yesterday for the annual Caricom-Spain summit, presumably with a plan to start there.
Spain is a good place to start, we suggest. In recent years, Jamaica has whetted that country's appetite for investment in the tourism sector, something for which we are grateful. Regrettably, however, the numbers of jobs promised and expected have failed to materialise.
It is a dilemma which Mr Samuda was at pains to explain at his press conference Tuesday. Out of a total of $23 billion worth of capital investment in Jamaica last year, he said, only 7,000 jobs were created. That clearly says that the investment projects were capital and not labour intensive.
For a Government which promised 'jobs, jobs and more jobs' as a key element of its election platform, the Jamaica Labour Party-led administration cannot be happy with such a scenario.
We suspect that the previous People's National Party Government might well have been disappointed too that more jobs did not come with the investment, despite the lengths to which they went to encourage investors, to the point of almost giving away the country.
The influx of Spanish investors is a good example. Many hotel rooms came, but nothing like the kind of numbers of jobs expected. The Jamaican tourism standard so far has been between 1.5 to 2.2 persons per bedroom, compared with between 0.55 and 0.65 persons per bedroom in the Spanish hotels.
This translates to less service in its operations, certainly in terms of quality, or as one critic describes it "a lot of concrete without much service". The Spanish hotels also promised significant airlift out of Europe, but the harsh reality has been that out of roughly 200 flights per week into Jamaica, they are responsible for no more than about six or so.
The truth is that one job created is one job we did not have before. But it just makes sense that in a situation where crime is often the result of joblessness, those who seek investments on our behalf must go hard after labour-intensive investments.
God knows that we bend over backwards enough for investors. Note, for example, how softly the Government is treading with RIU Hotel, which has breached local building and environmental laws with little, if any, punishment. The fourth floors built in the path of the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay have not yet been demolished, despite orders from the prime minister.
Investigations into how an illegal building plan, in Spanish, came to have the signature of a St James Parish Council official and official council stamp, without going before the council, has been barely proceeding, and only the parish council official is being probed. Which is a shame because he surely could not have acted on his own, out of charity and unrequited love for the Spanish.
Still we have to give credit to Spanish Ambassador Jesus Silva, upon whom we are bestowing the title of "Ambassador of Marketing" for the energy with which he has promoted his country and its interests. Would that our own ambassadors take a leaf out of his book.
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