But wait , it seems dem ave a logistics hub plan ?

[Sir X]

Logistics hub vital to strengthening economic ties with Brazil, says Hylton
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
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INDUSTRY, Investment and Commerce Minister Anthony Hylton says Government's proposed logistics hub will be vital in the strengthening of Jamaica's economic ties with Brazil.
"Without the logistics hub, we will continue to struggle with a small market (Jamaica), looking at a huge market (Brazil), and not being able to compete effectively," said the minister.
Hide DescriptionMinister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Anthony Hylton (right) and State Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Arnaldo Brown (left), in discussion with (from 2nd left) President of the Jamaica-Brazil Chamber of Commerce Donovan McFarlane, and General Manager of the Jamaica National Building Society Earl Jarrett, at a special luncheon hosted by Jamaica National Small Business Loans Limited at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Monday.
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"With the logistics hub, we are talking about a deeper integration of Jamaica into the global economy, and with that, the movement of passengers globally, and the movement of goods globally... we'll have the links between Brazil and Jamaica enhanced by movement of goods, passengers, and data," the minister added.
Hylton was speaking at a special luncheon hosted by Jamaica National Small Business Loans Limited at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel on Monday, where he explained the opportunities for trade and investment with Brazil.
The minister announced that he would be making an official visit to Brazil to continue discussions on potential partnerships for the logistics hub, stressing that it was critical that these linkages be made, and that Jamaica intends to play its part.
Hylton, in the meantime, cited the critical role that the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector must play in the success of the logistics hub. He urged the gathering of stakeholders to "pay very keen attention" to the MSME policy, and the follow-up actions that will emerge.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Arnaldo Brown, who also addressed the luncheon, said the event reflected some of the important steps that Jamaica has taken in South-South co-operation, and the country's relationship with Brazil. "It was not by accident that Jamaica established a full mission in Brazil," he said.
Brown noted that although the Jamaica-Brazil Chamber of Commerce was established in 2008, it did not receive ratification until a mission was established in the South American country, and the first order of business was to give Government support to the chamber.
"There is much trade that can be derived between the two partners; we have worked very closely on agriculture where there is significant co-operation and best practice that can be derived," he said.
South-South Co-operation involves the exchange of resources, knowledge, and technology between developing countries, also termed countries of the global South.
Brown pointed out that both Brazil and Jamaica were exploring the matter of enhancing travel within the region.
— JIS


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[Muadib]

Yuh have plans and yuh have plans..

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...ncept_14958872

[Sir X]

The debate is on! our sole economic focus,which is good, now Shaw needs to get rid of Holness to voice and present Mike Henrys alternative.

Memba mi tell Yuh nuh sleep pan Shaw!.Yuh see why we need a viable opposition.

[Sir X]

NO STOPPING HUB PLAN

Published: Friday | August 30, 2013 4 Comments


HYLTON





Hylton says development of logistics project does not hinge on Goat Islands proposal

Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter
JAMAICA'S LOGISTICS-hub initiative will not be jeopardised if China Harbour Construction and Engineering Company (CHEC) decides against creating the port facility and logistics and industrial park, which it has proposed for Goat Islands, located off the coast of ]St Catherine.
According to ]Anthony Hylton, the industry, investment and commerce minister, the Goat Islands project has not been factored into projected investments, which have been measured at between US$10 billion and US$15 billion.
"Goat Island is not the logistics hub. It is a specific project proposal - a significant one - but it is an element of the logistics hub," the minister said.
The Government had earmarked Fort Augusta in St Catherine for the creation of a port facility and logistics and industrial park. However, the Chinese investors said based on the plans they have, that area was not big enough.
They have since suggested that the Goat Islands be the site for the project.
NO GOVERNMENT GUARANTEES
Yesterday, Hylton noted that as a private investor, CHEC enjoys no government guarantees or support.
"They have to take the risk of any project they decide to invest in and, therefore, in the final analysis, they have to determine if they have the risk appetite and whether they want to proceed with a particular project, subject, of course, to our normal environmental best practices, tests and regulations," Hylton said.
"While they don't have all of the cards, they have the final card to play, and it is they who decide whether to play or not play," Hylton said.
CHEC has said it is prepared to pump US$1.5 billion into the Goat Islands project, which would involve the construction of a container terminal and industrial park.
"If you have US$1.5 billion on the table and you take it off, it is US$1.5 billion gone. But it would not be fatal to the logistics-hub project," Hylton said.
The Government has estimated that the logistics-hub initiative, which involves the creation of seaports, airports and special economic zones, could yield an estimated US$10 billion in investment.
Hylton stressed that although the Goat Islands have been named in the proposal, "It will have to go though its normal vetting process and procedures and we will see what the end result is. In the meantime, the other parts of the logistics hub are proceeding apace."
STRATEGIC LOCATION
With its geostrategic location, Jamaica is seeking to take advantage of the expansion of the Panama Canal, which is due to be completed in 2015.
The expanded canal will be able to receive larger ships, and Hylton said Jamaica is poised to be the hub for trade, supplying markets in the eastern seaboard, South and Central America with goods brought primarily from southeast Asia.
"There are a number of other investors from all over the world, [who] I think a global hub should attract. It is not just Chinese. We have people from the Middle East, Canada, the United States, South America - all over," Hylton said.
He said, for example, that the response to the tender process for the Caymanas Enterprise Zone was overwhelming.
"We have something before Cabinet now to determine the preferred bidder," he said.
The minister told The Gleaner that the Government will be ready for the opening of the expanded Panama Canal in 2015.
He said the first phase of the project, which involves the dredging of the port of Kingston, the privatisation of the Kingston Container Terminal, and the build-out of phase one of the Caymanas Enterprise Zone, will be completed in time for the opening of the canal.
daraine.luton@gleanerjm.com

[Sir X]

PSOJ wants consultation before approval

Published: Friday | August 30, 2013 4 Comments


ZACCA





The Private Sector Organisation of ]Jamaica (PSOJ) has weighed in on the discussion surrounding the way the Government has, so far, handled the Goat Islands project, saying it has met neither the words nor the spirit of the Partnership for Jamaica agreement, signed in July by the Government, the private sector, the trade unions, and civil society."Such a possible major shift in planning our country's development, which would have major negative environmental and possibly even negative commercial consequences, cannot be handed to us almost as a fait accompli," PSOJ President Christopher Zacca said at the Hugh Shearer Trade Union Education Institute public forum yesterday.
He urges the Government and social partners to have frank and fulsome fact-based discussions about this proposed development on an ongoing basis, and for sincere meaningful consultation between the partners before any decision is made.

[Sir X]

Goat Islands could become Chinese state, warns Henry

Published: Friday | August 30, 2013 4 Comments


Henry





Daraine Luton, Senior Staff ReporterCREATOR OF the logistics-hub initiative, Mike Henry, has warned of the Goat Islands becoming a Chinese state should China ]Communications and Construction Company (CCCC) be given the opportunity to develop a port facility and logistics and industrial park there.
"If you are not going to build a bridge, you can develop it that your ships come in and you trans-ship and you have an enclave investment that is abstract to Jamaica ," Henry told The Gleaner.
He argued that if the plan materialises and the Goat Islands are used by the Chinese, there would be a "non-natural link [which] would not benefit us as much as Jamaica wants".
The Goat Islands are located about three miles from Old Harbour, St Catherine.
Dr Lloyd Cole, who has been leading the fight for the establishment of a dry dock at Jackson Bay, Clarendon, said the Government should point CCCC to this area for the establishment of the logistics hub.
"The Chinese are taking over in a way that will make us a Chinese colony. The Goat Islands things is an absolute no-no. It will become a gated community for China and you will not be able to pass through the land bridge without permission," Cole said.
Environment Minister Robert Pickersgill, while addressing the head of CCCC in Beijing, China, last week, noted that there are concerns about the proposal for the use of the lands.
"The preferred selection by your company as to where the logistics hub should be located is now under very serious consideration," Pickersgill told CCCC President Liu Qitao in China last week.
AWARE OF CONCERNS
Pickersgill said meetings have been held with the National Environment and Planning Agency, and said "we are very aware" of the environmental concerns.
He later told The Gleaner that spatial planning is a critical approach in determining the extent to which development is accommodated in greenfield areas.
"In some instances, something will have to give," Pickersgill said,while noting that millions were spent to relocate endangered and protected species from Falmouth in Trelawny and the Palisadoes in Kingston.
But for Henry, "Once you enter the Portland Bight [Protected] Area, you are entering the most environmentally sensitive area like the Cockpit Country", and that should be avoided.

[Sir X]

'Go To Hell!'

Warmington blasts environmentalists, says 'says' to Goat Islands plan
BY BALFORD HENRY Senior staff reporter balfordh@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, August 30, 2013

THE Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is yet to take a decision on the proposal for a trans-shipment port on Goat Islands, but its independent thinking member of Parliament for South West St Catherine, Everald Warmington, has given it his full approval.

“I am in full support of it, and I am not going to sit by and allow any environmentalist to block any progress in the area,” Warmington told the Jamaica Observer yesterday, when asked for his comment on the controversial issue.


“When they are eating their grilled steak and lobster and drinking chardonnay wine, our people are without a job and can’t buy food. I would urge them to leave their ivory tower and come down and see the condition of the people,” Warmington said.
“I am prepared to go to Parliament tomorrow to have any restriction on the development lifted; so they can all go to hell,” he added. However, JLP General Secretary Dr Horace Chang said that the party welcomed investments of the nature, but could not take a position on the issue without more information.
“We want to see the study which formed the basis on which they decided that this was the best location for the trans-shipment port. Then, we want to know how it would proceed and what protections would be included for the people of Jamaica,” Dr Chang told the Observer.
He said that, personally, he felt that a trans-shipment port utilising Kingston Harbour and extending into St Catherine would be more appropriate, as it would facilitate the development of the eastern coastal parishes, and could be extended into the Caymanas area and as far as Old Harbour.
Dr Chang said that there was also the danger of the Chinese developing Goat Islands “as an enclave”, over which the Jamaican Government would have little control. However, he said that the information made available by the Government’s spokesmen so far was not enough for the JLP to take an informed decision.
Minister of Land, Water, Environment, and climate change Robert Pickersgill revealed, during a visit to China last week, said that the Goat Islands were “now under very serious consideration” to facilitate a trans shipment port financed by the Chinese.
This followed meetings in Beijing, involving Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Jamaican Cabinet ministers, public servants, senior Chinese leaders, and representatives of China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC).
China Harbour is the main contractor on the Chinafinanced Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme and is expected to also be the main contractor on the successor Major Infrastructure Development Programme, as well as the trans-shipment port.
Simpson Miller and her team ended a five-day visit to China on Saturday.
The announcement of plans to erect the trans-shipment port on Goat Islands has triggered widespread rejection of the idea, led by the country’s main environmental NGOs. The NGOs point out that the area is part of the Portland Bight Protected Area, which is the subject of United Nations wetlands protection conventions.
Yesterday, Warmington told the Observer that the entire Goat Islands were useless and served no purpose at the moment.
“There are no indigenous species on Goat Islands. The dogs and the cats have made use of the conies and the iguanas that used to be there. It is bare land, rock stone and trees,” Warmington said.
“Two individuals were raising goats there up to recently, and one gave up and left, recently. There is nothing there to protect,” Warmington argued.



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[Sir X]

You really have to wander why Goat Islands when you have other
alternatives ?

I hope the Government is looking elsewhere for investment capital , Nigeria is another nation skilled in Air and Seaport development.Brazil , S .Africa and India along with middle eastern investors should be on the shopping list.

We need something on our terms.We caaan f....dis up.

[Muadib]

Ask Nostrildamus !!

lol ! woiee !

[Sir X]

Goat Islands Leased By US
Published: Saturday | August 31, 2013 0 Comments
THE EDITOR, Sir:

The recent discussions about Goat Islands make for some very interesting reading. One aspect which has not been raised, at least not publicly, is the fact that the agreement of September 2, 1940 between the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) contains within it a 99-year lease for the entire area of approximately 150 acres.

A quick check with the US State Department List of Treaties and Other International Agreements in Force as of January 1, 2012 shows a bilateral agreement with the UK, relating to naval and air bases.

Students of WWII history know this to be the famous 'Destroyers for Bases' agreement between Churchill and Roosevelt which gave Britain 50 ships in exchange for land on which to build military bases in Antigua, The Bahamas, Bermuda, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. In Jamaica, these became the Goat Island Naval Air Station and Army Airbase at Vernamfield.

Despite the disestablishment of the seaplane base at Goat Island on December 1, 1946, it appears, at least as far as the US is concerned, that they have a valid treaty in force that gives them a lease on Goat Island until September 2, 2039. The final agreement signed on March 27, 1941 is publicly available from parliamentary papers of the House of Commons 1940-41 [Cmd. 6259] Treaty Series No. 2 (1941).

That the US acted on this agreement, there is no doubt. Besides the activity of the bases, Article XVI granted the US the right to establish postal facilities in the leased areas. They did. Stamp collectors are familiar with US postmarks for Portland Bight and Sandy Gully, Clarendon.

Significantly, Article XXI, which speaks to abandonment of the leased area, states that abandonment will not be deemed to have occurred in the absence of notice. Again, the US State Department List would seem to indicate that, as of now, the US has not given any such notice.

I am not an attorney-at-law. Constitutional lawyers can advise what effect Jamaica's independence would have had on the agreement. Research shows, however, that every other Caribbean country on which the US had bases, either negotiated the termination of the agreement or made specific statements with regard to bilateral treaties upon independence from the UK.

For us, there does not seem to be anything similar with the Goat Islands agreement in mind. Is it possible that the early abandonment of bases in Jamaica simply means that they have slipped under the radar in our negotiations with the US? We would all hope not, but that is what the research shows.

LEGAL RESEARCHER

Kingston 6

[Sir X]

Private sector lashes Gov’t on Goat Islands
Zacca says Simpson Miller Administration breaching spirit of partnership agreement
Friday, August 30, 2013
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PRIVATE Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) head Christopher Zacca yesterday lashed out at Government over its handling of a Chinese firm's proposal to construct a trans-shipment hub at Goat Islands, an environmental protected area off the south coast of St Catherine.
Government admitted last week, during a state visit to China, that the site was "now under very serious consideration" to facilitate the project that would be led by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC). The announcement was met by outrage from environmentalists who argue that a large-scale port development there will have a devastating impact on the coastal environment adjacent to and including the Goat Islands.
Hide DescriptionZACCA... Government’s handling has met neither the words nor the spirit of the partnership agreement
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The president of Jamaica's premier private sector lobby group, in adding his voice to the discussions yesterday, suggested that Government's actions on the matter so far have been in violation of the Partnership for Jamaica (PFJ) agreement signed only weeks ago.
"The way the Government has so far handled the potential major logistics project by a Chinese firm on Goat Islands in a much-protected environmental area in my view, has met neither the words nor the spirit of the partnership agreement," Zacca said at the Hugh Lawson Shearer Trade Institute Public Forum held at the University of the West Indies.
He argued: "Such a possible major shift in planning our country's development, which would have major negative environmental and possibly even negative commercial consequences, cannot be handed to us almost as a fait accompli."
The PFJ agreement seeks to reaffirm and recommit all signatories — the Government, private sector, unions, and civil society— to the "principles of social dialogue and partnership, specifically to further the process of deepening democracy and participatory decision-making and to engender meaningful participation of all partners in national development".
The brouhaha around the possible development comes four months after CHEC — which last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Port Authority to explore the feasibility of establishing a new trans-shipment port at Fort Augusta — rejected that location as it was not big enough to provide the space they needed.
CHEC wants some 3,000 acres of land to build the port. It had showed interest in Goat Islands before, but looked elsewhere when met with environment restrictions.
At a meeting last week in Beijing, CHEC assured Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller that it is committed to environmental protection and social responsibility as it looks to expand its footprint in Jamaica.
"Jamaica is a major target market for CHEC and we hope Jamaica can provide us with a platform to continue and expand our collaboration to larger levels," said Liu Quitaio, president of CHEC parent company China Communications Construction.
Meanwhile, Minister of Land, Water, Environment and Climate Change Robert Pickersgill told journalists in China that time is of the essence for the development.
"There are competing interests and they are not waiting on us," Pickersgill said, reiterating that the Government is aiming for the hub to become operational in 2015, to coincide with the reopening of the Panama Canal.
"I expect that the environmentalists will be defending what now exists and the development ministry and the Government will have to say to the country what it is we will be foregoing and why, because the employment opportunities are very much there," he added.
But Zacca yesterday argued, "It is difficult at this point for any informed comment about this proposed development, because we don't have any facts, and therefore, I urge the Government and all the social partners to have frank and fulsome factually based discussions about this proposed development on an ongoing basis, and for sincere meaningful consultation between the partners before any decision is made."


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[Jawge]

Checkmate! See "why children should not meddle in the game of adults"? Landlord to rhatid This is why mi haffi learn strategy from Landlord (US). I know Landlord have the original treaty stored some place in D.C. Reading the constitution I saw vision. How the hell these guys knew it was going to come to this one day? What if goat island has oil under it? This make the environment argument look silly

At this point you cannot make deals on other people's property. China now has to talk to the landlord. Lesson here; is that Ja is locked up in all sort of treaty with the US and things are not what they are appear to be.

[Jawge]

Oh stop; enough. You have an agenda. The truth is that your entity will be eclipsed and cease to exist (if it takes off). If Landlord (US) is down with the whole thing; it's over. I saw this a long time coming (because of the global village). For too long the people of Ja have been taken for granted. Everyone does business make profit and does nothing by giving back to the island. Even in the service industry the Jamaicans are told what time to enter the property and what time to leave plus other indignities (yes this is the talk on white plains Rd to Brooklyn). The real Diaspora that goes to Western Union knows what's going on. Setting up schemes ( I don't call them business) to skim of the people's remittance money has no place in the info age.

Here in the states I would have to sit my kids down and tell them Sony is a Japanese company. Sony gives back; they provide scholarships for college, jobs for Americans. My kids have been to the Sony tech center Lab for free. They played with robots; made movie etc. When all is said and done Sony still has money to take back home. Now that is business.

If the hub takes off it would be a major engineering effort. Instead of asking for money for education Ja should make concessions for engineering students and professors to learn from the exploit. Matter of fact I would ask for a new school of engineering from these guys (built on the south coast) to ease travel and benefit students interested in science from other parts of ja not close to KGN.

[Don1]

It seems to me that if this was a legit issue it would have long been on the table.

Plans for Vernamfield for example have been yapped about by politicians for years... with nary a whimper of protest about "their property" from Babylon

But Babylon sycophants can live in hope

[Don1]

You make some good points here

However that Sony plaything at their corporate center on Madison Ave is not a big deal as "giving back" goes... nothing to write home about really.
But it's good PR

Perhaps they get out of their cushy Manhattan comfort zone into communities where they provide appropriate tech equipment, tech exposure programs and real engineering expertise to children.... now that's a good start