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An attitude of defiance
An attitude of defiance
Henley Morgan
Thursday, June 28, 2007
The murder of Pastor Andrew Lawrence, who ministered mainly in Trench Town and the surrounding communities, has served to deepen my resolve not to relinquish control of Jamaica to the evil forces that are seeking to destroy it. And so should this and each heinous murder deepen the resolve of every anthem-singing, motto-reciting, and pledge-believing citizen of this island.
In this resolve, I unreservedly support the law-upholding members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. Daily I see Superintendent Delroy Hewitt and his brave men, weapons at the ready, attempting the almost impossible task of policing the criminally hardened communities within the West Kingston police division. And daily I pray that they will be successful in nabbing the perpetrators. Sometimes the prayer is answered with absolute and terminal results.
Yet, instinctively I know that poverty is the common enemy we face in these man-made zones of exclusion called garrisons. The war against poverty and the hopelessness it breeds will be finally won with jobs and not bullets.
The mindset of irresponsibility and non-commitment, which is at the root of the mayhem, is dangerous and extremely unproductive. This mindset is best counteracted by giving inner-city youth opportunities to contribute to the community and the economy. I know of no better means by which this can be achieved than through indigenous entrepreneurship.
Through entrepreneurship, the development of micro and small businesses is stimulated and through these businesses the jobs are created.
Long ignored, our nation's inner cities and the people who reside there are a source of untapped opportunity; a means of economic revitalisation of not just the affected communities but on a national scale. In this context, Jamaica is not unique. The phenomenon has been recognised worldwide and through progressive political, economic and social policies countries have been successful in displacing the blight with growth.
A survey conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (1998), estimated the inner-city retail market in the United States to be on the order of US$85 billion. According to the study, this represents a large underserved market with plenty of opportunity for growth.
By comparison, the grocery retail/wholesale trade in Jamaica is valued approximately $90 - 120 billion. I estimate that 15 per cent or $ 13.5 - 18 billion of this is spent by people residing in the inner cities and the almost 350 informal communities across the island. Hazarding a guess, no more than 5 per cent of the amount ($0.7 - J$0.9 billion) is spent within the communities where the spenders reside. Suppose we could increase this figure to 40 per cent or 60 per cent, think of the impact this would have on job creation where it's most needed. The important point is this, there is wealth in these communities, but like gold it has to be mined or like oil we have to drill to get to it.
There are several models that Jamaica could look at in developing its approach to bringing inner-city communities into the mainstream economy. Drawing on lessons learned from the British experiment with enterprise zones in the 1970s and Lyndon Johnson's Model Cities Programme, President Clinton enacted the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community legislation. Essentially, the legislation made provisions for depressed areas to be designated economic zones and enterprise communities. Areas so designated were given priority consideration in receiving federal programme support and in bypassing legislative hurdles that discourage entrepreneurial activity in the formal sector. Specifically, the legislation provided tax incentives for businesses participating in the programme, low-interest loans, grants for job training, substantial government expenditure (investment) in education and the like. To get a measure of the effort that is needed to create a turnaround, think of the Marshall Plan financed by the United States to rebuild much of Europe after the Second World War.
There is evidence at last that our government is ready to abandon the trickle-down economic theory of the last 40 years and adopt instead a model that seeks to empower people at the bottom of the economic pyramid, thereby giving the poor a chance to be producers and wealth creators and not just consumers. The prime minister's recent budget presentation contained the two elements that are characteristic of the best models. First, there is the announcement of a project to target 17 inner-city communities for social and infrastructural development. Over $2 billion will be invested in the human and social capital by this means over a two-year period. Second, there is the announcement of the establishment of business incubators to spawn micro-enterprises and entrepreneurial production centres to create the environment where they can flourish. An initial allocation of $120 million has been made from the budget to pilot the programme in four communities.
I am not suggesting that these developments are by themselves sufficient or of the magnitude to create the miracle. They are, nevertheless, steps in the right direction. In addition to hard policing, they possitively reflect an attitude of defiance in the face of a tidal wave of crime, violence and despair.
Henley Morgan
Thursday, June 28, 2007
The murder of Pastor Andrew Lawrence, who ministered mainly in Trench Town and the surrounding communities, has served to deepen my resolve not to relinquish control of Jamaica to the evil forces that are seeking to destroy it. And so should this and each heinous murder deepen the resolve of every anthem-singing, motto-reciting, and pledge-believing citizen of this island.
In this resolve, I unreservedly support the law-upholding members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. Daily I see Superintendent Delroy Hewitt and his brave men, weapons at the ready, attempting the almost impossible task of policing the criminally hardened communities within the West Kingston police division. And daily I pray that they will be successful in nabbing the perpetrators. Sometimes the prayer is answered with absolute and terminal results.
Yet, instinctively I know that poverty is the common enemy we face in these man-made zones of exclusion called garrisons. The war against poverty and the hopelessness it breeds will be finally won with jobs and not bullets.
The mindset of irresponsibility and non-commitment, which is at the root of the mayhem, is dangerous and extremely unproductive. This mindset is best counteracted by giving inner-city youth opportunities to contribute to the community and the economy. I know of no better means by which this can be achieved than through indigenous entrepreneurship.
Through entrepreneurship, the development of micro and small businesses is stimulated and through these businesses the jobs are created.
Long ignored, our nation's inner cities and the people who reside there are a source of untapped opportunity; a means of economic revitalisation of not just the affected communities but on a national scale. In this context, Jamaica is not unique. The phenomenon has been recognised worldwide and through progressive political, economic and social policies countries have been successful in displacing the blight with growth.
A survey conducted by the Boston Consulting Group (1998), estimated the inner-city retail market in the United States to be on the order of US$85 billion. According to the study, this represents a large underserved market with plenty of opportunity for growth.
By comparison, the grocery retail/wholesale trade in Jamaica is valued approximately $90 - 120 billion. I estimate that 15 per cent or $ 13.5 - 18 billion of this is spent by people residing in the inner cities and the almost 350 informal communities across the island. Hazarding a guess, no more than 5 per cent of the amount ($0.7 - J$0.9 billion) is spent within the communities where the spenders reside. Suppose we could increase this figure to 40 per cent or 60 per cent, think of the impact this would have on job creation where it's most needed. The important point is this, there is wealth in these communities, but like gold it has to be mined or like oil we have to drill to get to it.
There are several models that Jamaica could look at in developing its approach to bringing inner-city communities into the mainstream economy. Drawing on lessons learned from the British experiment with enterprise zones in the 1970s and Lyndon Johnson's Model Cities Programme, President Clinton enacted the Empowerment Zone and Enterprise Community legislation. Essentially, the legislation made provisions for depressed areas to be designated economic zones and enterprise communities. Areas so designated were given priority consideration in receiving federal programme support and in bypassing legislative hurdles that discourage entrepreneurial activity in the formal sector. Specifically, the legislation provided tax incentives for businesses participating in the programme, low-interest loans, grants for job training, substantial government expenditure (investment) in education and the like. To get a measure of the effort that is needed to create a turnaround, think of the Marshall Plan financed by the United States to rebuild much of Europe after the Second World War.
There is evidence at last that our government is ready to abandon the trickle-down economic theory of the last 40 years and adopt instead a model that seeks to empower people at the bottom of the economic pyramid, thereby giving the poor a chance to be producers and wealth creators and not just consumers. The prime minister's recent budget presentation contained the two elements that are characteristic of the best models. First, there is the announcement of a project to target 17 inner-city communities for social and infrastructural development. Over $2 billion will be invested in the human and social capital by this means over a two-year period. Second, there is the announcement of the establishment of business incubators to spawn micro-enterprises and entrepreneurial production centres to create the environment where they can flourish. An initial allocation of $120 million has been made from the budget to pilot the programme in four communities.
I am not suggesting that these developments are by themselves sufficient or of the magnitude to create the miracle. They are, nevertheless, steps in the right direction. In addition to hard policing, they possitively reflect an attitude of defiance in the face of a tidal wave of crime, violence and despair.
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