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Boycott threat hangs over Jamaican diaspora convention
Some overseas Jamaicans upset with gov’t
BY HAROLD G BAILEY Observer writer gandhihgj2@aol.com
Sunday, May 08, 2011
NEW YORK — The biennial meeting of Jamaicans living overseas, scheduled for Ocho Rios next month, could be hit with a boycott by nationals disgruntled over the Government's handling of certain matters.
Jamaicans in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, the three largest communities in the Diaspora, are up in arms over how the advisory boards governing their operations are selected and their involvement in the decision-making process.
BROWN-METZGER... dialogue is still ongoing in an effort to incorporate the input and concerns of the Diaspora
MULLINGS... says government’s expectations that the Jamaican diaspora will invest in the country without understanding the state of national security are unreasonable
MALAHOO-FORTE... letter written to her in March proposing a telephone conference with all diaspora boards to iron out difficulties
BROWN-METZGER... dialogue is still ongoing in an effort to incorporate the input and concerns of the Diaspora
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"The direct feedback from persons on the ground is that they are no longer interested in talks. They want to be engaged in a manner that produces value and results for the benefit of Jamaica," said Marlon Hill, who heads the movement in the southern United States.
Two members of the advisory board in Canada resigned last year and the National Conference of the UK Diaspora has just voted to reject guidelines from the Jamaican Government on how its members are to be chosen.
Some member organisations in the US are showing little interest in attending the meeting under its present structure.
The often contentious biennial convention brings together Jamaicans and the several organisations which represent Jamaican interests overseas, to discuss and decide on plans to help develop their island home.
David Mullings, the future leader representative on the Diaspora Advisory Board for the USA, complained that the structure of the Convention did not address some of the issues which were of longstanding importance to the Diaspora. He mentioned the absence of workshops on the critical areas of investments and security from the Convention's agenda.
Mullings believed that with the Government planning to divest a number of public entities, workshops covering investment opportunities and how to invest in companies in Jamaica would have been useful.
He described as "unreasonable expectations" the government wanting people in the Diaspora to return and invest in the country "without fully understanding what is happening on the security front".
These sentiments were supported by Patrick Beckford, head of the Advisory Board for the North East United States. He said that some member organisations under his jurisdiction had indicated an unwillingness to attend the Convention under its present structure, or to accept suggestions on how representatives to the advisory board should be named.
The National United Kingdom (UK) Jamaica Diaspora also frowned on the guidelines and voted against them as being "dismissive of the democratic process of elections".
Under the new guidelines, they said, the Jamaican Government through the minister with responsibility for Diaspora Affairs, would have the ultimate decision on who sits on the Diaspora boards in the three countries, as well as an alternate to each representative on the boards.
It calls for the nomination of two representatives from each region to be submitted to the minister, "for consideration and appointment by the minister of state".
Beckford and Mullings, sponsoring a similar amendment, are also calling for changes to the selection of future leader representatives to the various advisory boards.
Information to the Sunday Observer is that the Government guideline insisted that "a leader from each of the three countries will serve for one year" and that an alphabetical selection of the countries (Canada, the UK and the US) has been made.
The UK's Derek Douglas and his US counterparts said they want direct elections for all advisory boards and future leader representatives.
Beckford complained bitterly that a March letter to State Minister Marlene Malahoo-Forte proposing a conference call with the Diaspora boards and representatives of Jamaica's missions abroad to discuss Disapora concerns, had not yet received a response.
But responding to queries on the concerns raised by the Diaspora here, New York Consul General Genieve Brown-Metzger was adamant that the agenda for the Convention "does contain provisions for discussions on Investment and Security".
She also sought to refute claims that the Diaspora had not been engaged in the planning of the convention, arguing that "as far back as last year, a draft of the programme was developed at a meeting in Jamaica with members of the Diaspora."
"That dialogue is still ongoing in an effort to incorporate the input and concerns of the Diaspora into the structure of the Convention," Brown- Metzger told the Sunday Observer.
Some overseas Jamaicans upset with gov’t
BY HAROLD G BAILEY Observer writer gandhihgj2@aol.com
Sunday, May 08, 2011
NEW YORK — The biennial meeting of Jamaicans living overseas, scheduled for Ocho Rios next month, could be hit with a boycott by nationals disgruntled over the Government's handling of certain matters.
Jamaicans in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, the three largest communities in the Diaspora, are up in arms over how the advisory boards governing their operations are selected and their involvement in the decision-making process.
BROWN-METZGER... dialogue is still ongoing in an effort to incorporate the input and concerns of the Diaspora
MULLINGS... says government’s expectations that the Jamaican diaspora will invest in the country without understanding the state of national security are unreasonable
MALAHOO-FORTE... letter written to her in March proposing a telephone conference with all diaspora boards to iron out difficulties
BROWN-METZGER... dialogue is still ongoing in an effort to incorporate the input and concerns of the Diaspora#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img { filter: none ! important; }
1/3 "The direct feedback from persons on the ground is that they are no longer interested in talks. They want to be engaged in a manner that produces value and results for the benefit of Jamaica," said Marlon Hill, who heads the movement in the southern United States.
Two members of the advisory board in Canada resigned last year and the National Conference of the UK Diaspora has just voted to reject guidelines from the Jamaican Government on how its members are to be chosen.
Some member organisations in the US are showing little interest in attending the meeting under its present structure.
The often contentious biennial convention brings together Jamaicans and the several organisations which represent Jamaican interests overseas, to discuss and decide on plans to help develop their island home.
David Mullings, the future leader representative on the Diaspora Advisory Board for the USA, complained that the structure of the Convention did not address some of the issues which were of longstanding importance to the Diaspora. He mentioned the absence of workshops on the critical areas of investments and security from the Convention's agenda.
Mullings believed that with the Government planning to divest a number of public entities, workshops covering investment opportunities and how to invest in companies in Jamaica would have been useful.
He described as "unreasonable expectations" the government wanting people in the Diaspora to return and invest in the country "without fully understanding what is happening on the security front".
These sentiments were supported by Patrick Beckford, head of the Advisory Board for the North East United States. He said that some member organisations under his jurisdiction had indicated an unwillingness to attend the Convention under its present structure, or to accept suggestions on how representatives to the advisory board should be named.
The National United Kingdom (UK) Jamaica Diaspora also frowned on the guidelines and voted against them as being "dismissive of the democratic process of elections".
Under the new guidelines, they said, the Jamaican Government through the minister with responsibility for Diaspora Affairs, would have the ultimate decision on who sits on the Diaspora boards in the three countries, as well as an alternate to each representative on the boards.
It calls for the nomination of two representatives from each region to be submitted to the minister, "for consideration and appointment by the minister of state".
Beckford and Mullings, sponsoring a similar amendment, are also calling for changes to the selection of future leader representatives to the various advisory boards.
Information to the Sunday Observer is that the Government guideline insisted that "a leader from each of the three countries will serve for one year" and that an alphabetical selection of the countries (Canada, the UK and the US) has been made.
The UK's Derek Douglas and his US counterparts said they want direct elections for all advisory boards and future leader representatives.
Beckford complained bitterly that a March letter to State Minister Marlene Malahoo-Forte proposing a conference call with the Diaspora boards and representatives of Jamaica's missions abroad to discuss Disapora concerns, had not yet received a response.
But responding to queries on the concerns raised by the Diaspora here, New York Consul General Genieve Brown-Metzger was adamant that the agenda for the Convention "does contain provisions for discussions on Investment and Security".
She also sought to refute claims that the Diaspora had not been engaged in the planning of the convention, arguing that "as far back as last year, a draft of the programme was developed at a meeting in Jamaica with members of the Diaspora."
"That dialogue is still ongoing in an effort to incorporate the input and concerns of the Diaspora into the structure of the Convention," Brown- Metzger told the Sunday Observer.
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