The JLP (Jamaica
Labour Party) is now in a very peculiar pickle.
This as evident
from the recent public broadcasts by the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce
Golding, in an attempt to allay the fears of the people of Jamaica with regards
to the raft of recently announced taxation packages.
It can also be
seen in the now concluded deal with the Banks and Securities Traders to swap
higher interest rate short term Government Bonds for lower interest rate longer
term Government Bonds, said to save the Government of Jamaica some US$40.1
billion in this financial year, as stated in the article “'No more
skylarking' - PM outlines economic programme and debt exchange”, published
Thursday, January 14, 2010 by Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter, The Daily
Gleaner.
The Prime
Minister of Jamaica exhorted Jamaican bondholders to “share the burden that
must be borne at this critical juncture in our journey through this
unprecedented period of crisis” a not so attractive offer.
But in light of
the fact that they had been making handsome profits from Government of Jamaica
Bonds over the years, it must have seemed poetic justice to know that they
would be “taxed” in a manner that would enshrine their acceptance of the Prime
Minister’s terms of the bond swap as patriots, country first and whatnot.
But not only is
the Jamaican Economy in a financial rut, the JLP itself is also in a political
dilemma, for although the Prime Minister has stated in Parliament that “bold
leadership, not leadership that strives for popularity is what is now
required”, he must still drink of the poison chalice that his decidedly
unpopular taxation policies will yield: the possibility that the JLP may not be
re-elected come General Elections, slated to occur in the next two and a half
(2 ½) years from now.
However, all may
not be as it seems, as the level of alacrity which the Prime Minister Bruce
Golding is showing in drinking this deadly potion, the eagle-eyed John Public,
whether he has a penchant for the JLP’s brand of political bravado or not, must
obviously see that the good Prime Minister has an ace up his sleeve.
He has some plan
to redeem himself and resurrect, as it were, the fortunes of his Party between
now and the next General Elections, some unseen hidden potion or antidote he
will administer to his Party to change the fortunes of the JLP in the run-up to
the General Elections in a cruel twist of fate just at the right opportune
moment.
For those with a
gumption for reading long winded documents, not only is this letter of a similar
ilk, but the document from which I and John Public perceive the Prime
Minister’s salvation for the JLP, no matter what the political fallout is
equally and wholly so: The Jamaica Labour Party’s Election Campaign Promises
In the Jamaica
Labour Party’s Campaign Promises, lies the answer, the magic elixir, the Holy
Grail that can save the JLP from sure death and bring about a comeback from the
brink of a political isolation and wilderness that his “arrogant” stance, to
quote the words of Senator Omar Davies, Opposition Spokesman on Finance, as
uttered in Parliament, has created.
This comeback
will be like never before seen, no matter how unpopular Prime Minister Bruce
Golding financial policies, which are in truth, to be fair to the Prime
Minister, are authored by Senator Audley Shaw, Finance Minister. Many will no
doubt admire Prime Minister Bruce Golding’s strong show of leadership swagger,
so characteristic of a much younger and charismatic elder statesman Michael
Manley, may God his Soul Keep.
Portia Simpson
Miller, leader of the Opposition PNP (Peoples National Party), previously
however, was willing to take potshots and gain political mileage at the expense
of his eminence, rousting the people of Jamaica with much gusto by haughtily
declaring that he only acted to repeal the initial taxation packages after
initially ignoring the “people’s cries” and twisting the political knife to the
hilt by adding, rather mischievously that he “made the people cry”.
However, putting
political theatre performances worthy only of a Pantomime aside, I am
specifically referring to his campaign promises to broker a Social Partnership
between the Private Sector and the Government of Jamaica with regards to the
restoration of key pieces of Infrastructural Development in Jamaica.
Specifically the
completion and restoration of Spring Plains/St. Jago Farms and rebuilding,
refurbishing VernamField and other Aerodrome Facilities, completion of the
Highway 2000 Project and the liberalization of the Electrical Power Generation
Sector.
These major
projects are not only key to the fortunes of the JLP, but would mark the foray
of the present day political powers-that-be into a direction never before
attempted, which is the rebuilding of Infrastructural with the assistance of
the Private Sector.
This is for
profit for the Private Sector and the benefits to the Government of Jamaica of
increased Tax Revenue and increased employment for the people of Jamaica with
the eventual aim of allowing Jamaica to do something that which it has not done
under the stewardship of the PNP: grow.
Spring Plains/St.
Jago Farms properties are currently under the stewardship of the NIBJ (National
Investment Bank of Jamaica), which has been charged with their divestment of
the currently idle lands to potential investors, among who it is rumored to be
several local and foreign interests.
In the area where
I live in Rest, Milk River, Spring Plains/St. Jago Farms was a source of
massive employment in the 80’s and a technological marvel to many, as equipment
and tractors, never before seen by any of the people in the area, as some
recalled, were brought into the Development and farming of this fertile valley
by Mr. Eli Tisona, an Israeli investor who had ploughed millions of investors
money into developing the hundred of acres of fertile land during the 1980’s.
But Spring
Plains/St. Jago Farms was not just the dream of a foreign investor. At the
time, it was an agricultural showpiece of the then Prime Minister Edward Seaga.
A model of what
the Jamaica farm of the 21st century would look like, growing sweet potatoes,
sweet pepper, mangoes and other fruits and vegetables, built with the financial
blessing of the then Government of Jamaica as a part of a “winter vegetable”
project in order to produce crops of all varieties both for the export, the
surplus being sold on the local market. However despite the good intentions,
bumper crops and the employment that this utopian vision of farming may have
engendered among the people working in the area, it was not economically
feasable.
From the very day
that it began operation during period from 1982 to 1986 within which the farm
was said to be productive, it incurred losses of nearly JA$135 million as
stated in the article “Spring Plains
divestment awaits Cabinet approval, published publishes Saturday 7th
April 2002 by Petulia Clarke, The Daily
Gleaner.
According to the
article, Eli Tisona was himself later banned from entering Jamaica in 1998 by
the ruling PNP as he had been convicted of narcotics trafficking and money
laundering charges in the United States of America, though the JLP has pointed
out that his convictions occurred after the failure of Spring Plains/St. Jago
Farms.
Since then there
have been numerous attempts to divest the lands by the PNP, but to no avail, as
each investor who approached the then Government of Jamaica had ideas but could
not provide financial funding to support their ambitions and neither could they
demonstrate that they could make the farm profitable.
A difficult task,
as most large scale farms are rarely profitable due to praedial larceny, water
wastage, high interest rates of local and foreign borrowing, the high cost of
input material, the unstable commodities market and competition from farming
powerhouses such as China and North and South America who heavily subsidize
farming in their countries.
Today the Spring
Plains/St. Jago Farms properties are being utilized by Grace Kennedy in their
Agro Grace Aquaculture Facility which raises Fresh Water Tilapia for local and
export markets. Jamalco also mines the hills for bauxite and the remaining
Spring Plains lands have been graded and the overgrowth removed, ostensibly by
the JLP, as the activity on the land began as recently as 2009. Is this a sign
of a return to farming on these still fertile yet idle lands?
Even more
interesting is the projects currently ongoing island wide to resuscitate the
various Aerodromes across the island, namely, Boscobel in St. Mary, Ken Jones
Aerodrome in Portland, Tinson Pen Aerodrome in Kingston and Vernamfield
Aerodrome in Clarendon. The champion for all these projects appears to be Mr.
Earl Richards, the president of the AAJ (Aircraft Association of Jamaica.
Mr. Earl Richards
has been successful thus far in getting the Cabinet to approve a US$100 million
refurbishing and expansion of the Boscobel Aerodrome as stated in the article “100m upgrade for
Boscobel aerodrome”, published: Friday March 20, 2009 by Mark Titus,
Business Reporter, The Daily
Gleaner.
Feasibility
studies for the Ken Jones Aerodrome have indicated that the region is too
mountainous to be even considered as an aerodrome, news that must surely make
business interest in St. Thomas and Portland think that the Government of
Jamaica has betrayed them
The Aerodrome is
less than four (4) hours drive from the Norman Manley International Airport and
Kingston and the Aerodrome would have resulted in much needed Development in
terms of road, bridges and bring increased patronage which would improve the
lot of those who call St. Thomas home.
Already, they may
even possibly argue, millions of dollars have been lavished by the previous PNP
led administration, despite the waning importance of Air Jamaica to Tourism.
Possibly, one wonders, the JLP may be keeping the Development of this key piece
of infrastructure up its sleeve until another more opportune time?
Whatever the
reasoning of the Government of Jamaica, it is at least comforting to note that
Tinson Pen Aerodrome relocation to Caymanas Park in St. Catherine and the
refurbishing of the Vernamfield Aerodrome is still on the cards, despite the
arguments of the critics, who state that the cargo business may be affected by
a revitalized Vernamfield Aerodrome.
These critics it
seems have overlooked the fact that the Vernamfield Aerodrome is in Senator
Mike Henry’s Constituency, and as such will inevitably be of great interest to
Senator Mike Henry, Minister of Transport and Works, to have it up and running
again, both as a means of attracting foreign investors, guaranteeing support
for the JLP in the soon-to-come General Elections
It is also a
means of securing tenure of term in his Constituency, irregardless of the
fortunes of the JLP. Currently the Tinson Pen Aerodrome is the property of the
Port Authority of Jamaica and is being used to store cargo and the Vernamfield Aerodrome
is dumped up with soil and gravel to prevent its usage by drug smugglers as a
landing strip for small craft.
Vernamfield
Aerodrome is said to be soon used as a base and barracks of the Jamaica Defense
Force in the interim in 2010, though this information cannot be substantiated,
as no activity has been observed by residents living in Gimme-Me-Bit, who are
closest to the Vernamfield Aerodrome.
There is also
word of the extension of the Highway 2000 by Bouygues Travaux Public, which at
one point in 2008 was cleared by the OCG (Office of the Contractor General) of
any wrongdoing as it relates to their contract and their thirty-five (35) year
concession.
Which, under the
Contractor General Act was seen as “fair, transparent and meritorious” and allowed
Bouygues Travaux Public to build the Highway in two phases, Phase 1 and Phase
2, according to the article “All's air in
award of Highway 2000 Project - OCG”, published Tuesday January 15,
2008, The Daily Gleaner!
Phase 1 consists
of Phase 1A (Kingston to Sandy Bay); Phase 1B (Sandy Bay to Williamsfield) and
Phase 2 consists of Phase 2A (Bushy Park to Ocho Rios) and Phase 2B (Williamsfield
to Montego Bay).
The Mount Rosser
Leg, also known as Phase 2A (Bushy Park to Ocho Rios) was temporarily halted in
July 2009 due to problems related to financing the venture, as stated by
Senator Mike Henry, Minister of Transport and Works, according to the article “Highway 2000
work to resume shortly - Henry”, published Saturday July 11, 2009 by
Gareth Manning, Gleaner Writer, The Daily
Gleaner.
Since then, work
has been halted on all Phases of the Highway 2000, which is slated to pick up
in 2010.Even less has been heard about the intended divestment of the Jamaica
Railway Corporation, as many attempts to divest the Jamaica Railway Corporation
to China and India have since failed.
This is mainly
due to contractual obligations to Bouygues Travaux Public, with whom the
previous PNP had signed the contract for the construction of the Highway 2000,
obligations which forbid the Government of Jamaica to honor any contracts
signed after the signing and commencement of works by Buoygues Traveaux Publix
on the Highway 2000 Project which would compete with the Highway for Revenues
for the next thirty-five (35) years.
The Electrical
Power Generation Sector has also been slated to be soon Liberalized between the
years 2010 and 2012, in several speeches made by Senator Paul Robertson,
Minister of Energy and Mining in Parliament in 2009. This is necessary, as
currently the Power and Utilities Act, guiding piece of legislation that
governs the Electrical Power Generation Sector of economy, allows only for the
JPS Co (Jamaica Power Service Company) to be the sole producer and distributor
of Electrical Power in Jamaica.
Currently, there
are other Electrical Power producer, such as JEP (Jamaica Energy Partners) in
Old Harbour, which has two (2) floating Power Barges, Doctor Bird 1 and Doctor
Bird 2 as well as JEPP (Jamaica Energy Power Partners) which resell their
Electrical Power to JPS Co at a slightly higher price, which is reflected in
the consumers IPP (Independent Power Producers) charge that appears on your
Utility Bill. Part of what may be driving this push is the possibility of
supplies of LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) from the Peoples Republic of Trinidad and
Tobago.
According
to the article “LNG for Jamaica
a national priority - Manning”, Published Friday June 26, 2009 by
Linda Hutchinson-Jafar, Business Writer, The Sunday Gleaner, Prime Minister of Republic of
Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning, has stated that LNG for Jamaica is a
“national priority” with Republic of Trinidad and Tobago supplying Jamaica with
LNG (Liquid Natural Gas) to Jamalco so as to lower the cost of the production
of alumina
This would then
be shipped to the Alutrint Facility in Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to be
smelted and converted to Aluminum.
According to
another article “No Trinidad LNG
for Jamaica anytime soon”, published Friday December 15, 2006 by
Linda Hutchinson-Jafar, Business Writer, The Sunday Gleaner the Republic of
Trinidad and Tobago had drilled a Test Well at a cost of US$80 million and had
found no oil or LNG, hence they decided they were unable to supply Jamaica with
LNG due to unavailability of supply.
The fact that
there is now a supply of LNG coming to Jamaica, possibly by 2010 - 2011, with a
possibility of more due to increased competition from LNG suppliers in China,
the Middle East and Far East countries.
According to the
article “Rivalry sends
Trinidad in search of New LNG Markets”, published Saturday July 4,
2009 by Linda Hutchinson-Jafar, Business Writer, The Sunday Gleaner the market for
LNG has since changed for Republic of Trinidad and Tobago LNG since 2006, as
stated by Robert Riley, Chairman and CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of BP
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
Currently there
is no central body or cartel that controls the price of LNG worldwide, much in
the same way that OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) controls
the price of oil worldwide. These producers, for who LNG is merely a by-product
as they produce more valuable chemicals such as methanol and ammonia, can flood
the LNG Market with large and cheaper volumes of LNG.
The United States
of America is Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’s largest buyer of LNG and thus
the possibility exists that these cheaper suppliers of LNG can effectively
compete with Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for supply to the United States of
America, presently the largest current and future user of LNG, as the United
States of America, under an initiative spearheaded by President George W. Bush,
is looking to Renewable Energy as a means of reducing the United States of
America’s dependence on Foreign Oil.
As such, LNG is
part of the Renewable Energy for the United States of America for its Domestic
Supply of Fuels along with Biodiesel and E80 to be used for Electrical Power
Generation and Motor Vehicle Fuels respectively. I am hoping that the Republic
of Trinidad and Tobago has into account the current Recession worldwide and the
fact that Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has decided to supply us with at
least one (1) train of LNG.
There is the
possibility of getting additional three (3) trains of LNG from Republic of
Trinidad and Tobago by 2011-2012 as the market for LNG from Republic of
Trinidad and Tobago begins to contract due to the availability of cheaper
LNG from LNG suppliers in China, the Middle East and Far East countries.
As such, for
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’s survival in an Unregulated LNG Market, it is
most likely the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago would consider the option of
selling the additional three (3) trains of LNG to us.
The fact is that
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago cannot and will not be able to find any market
for it, as it will be too expensive in the future. Trinidad and Tobago’s
current markets Chile and Brazil are being courted by LNG suppliers in China,
the Middle East and Far East countries, suppliers, who, because of
economy-of-scale can effectively compete with Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
in terms of Pricing and Volume of Supply.
It would thus be
in the Government of Jamaica’s and the Government of Republic of Trinidad and
Tobago’s best interest with respect to fixing the Trade Deficit that exists
between the two (2) countries as well as Republic of Trinidad and Tobago’s
Trade Deficit with CARICOM to display a strong interest in the recovery of the
entire CARICOM Trading Bloc by selling the additional three (3) trains of LNG
as suggested above to Jamaica and CARICOM with benefits to Jamaica in:
1. Electrical Power Generation
2. Public Transportation
(Jamaica Urban Transport Association, Jamaica Railway Corporation, etc)
3. Private Passenger and Carrier
Vehicles modified with flex fuel engines to use LNG, E80, Bio-Diesel, etc.
All of which
would be a massive multibillion dollar boost to Electrical Power and Energy
Sector in a liberalized framework, guaranteeing the Energy Security of Jamaica
both now and in the foreseeable future and securing tenure of term of Senator
Paul Robertson, Minister of Energy and Mining in his Constituency, irregardless
of the fortunes of the JLP
This is very
relevant, especially with reports of Global Oil Prices possibly set to increase
due to peak in oil production in the next five (5) years ) as stated in the
article “IEA official
warns of shrinking oil supplies: Report”, Sunday August 2nd, 9:04 pm
ET, AFP, Yahoo News.
These
scientific findings are backed up by the dire warning in statements attributed
to Sir Richard Branson of Virgin as stated in the article “World faces Oil
Crunch by 2015”, published Sunday 14 February 2010, AFP, The Jamaica Herald hearken the coming
of higher Oil Prices by 2015AD.
So with all this
hurried Development being undertaken by the Government of Jamaica, how has the
Private Sector being involved? So far, few Private Sector companies have made
any major forays into the infrastructure and construction side of the Public
Sector.
Possibly with the
exception of the Telecommunications Provider Merit Communications, which
through its company Merit Development, has since 2008 gone into developing and
selling upper and middle income housing Developments, according to the article “Telecoms firm
enters housing market”, published Wednesday December 30, 2009 by
Dionne Rose, Business Reporter, The Sunday
Gleaner.
One would
therefore hope that the other Telecoms Providers may also have such Development
partnerships in the works as opposed to their usual charitable giveaways via
their various Foundations i.e. Digicel Foundation and the Cable and Wireless
Foundation, which are merely a means by which Telecoms Providers, who are
really FDI’s (Foreign Direct Investors), satisfy the conditionality of their
Bilateral Trade Agreements with the Government of Jamaica by way of charitable
donations, visible to all, and thereby garner tax exemptions.
The current
deployment of their high speed 3G HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) and
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) and 3.5G WiMaX 4G Mobile
(IEEE 802.16d,e) network across the island of Jamaica can in a sense be said to
be an investment in infrastructure that will be of great benefit to Jamaica.
This is
especially for the younger generation in education and in jumpstarting the
service sector and e-commerce, provided that the Government of Jamaica can move
quickly enough to enact CyberCrime Legislation, especially as the number of
attempts to breach secured systems is expected to increase.
Evidence of this
can be seen from the recent scam involving ScotiaBank (Bank of Nova Scotia) in
which persons are reportedly sending around emails requesting PIN numbers from
clients to access their accounts, albeit this will prove to be a major threat
in the future
With the growing
access by the general public to wireless internet and computer systems as
evident from the case involving the theft of nearly JA$10 million in call
credit from Digicel by 26 year old Martin Philpots as stated in the article “Accused cyber
scammer alledgedly rips off Digicel $10M in Call Credit”, published
Friday, August 28, 2009, Paul Henry, Observer Staff Reporter, The Jamaica Observer.
There are similar
ongoing cases of computer hacking involving illegitimate bank transfers via ACH
(Automate Clearing Houses) used in online banking in the United States of
America as stated in the article “Cyber Attackers
Empty Business Accounts in Minutes” published Thursday August 6,
2009 3:10PM EDT by Robert McMillan, IDG News Service.
Of even greater
concern is the fact that it is now possible to intercept and listen in on
conversations on GSM mobile networks that still use the older A5/1 codebook
(and later on mobile networks that still use the A5/3 codebook) using equipment
that can be easily found here in Jamaica
Information on
how it can be done which is now freely available on the internet, made
available to the world thanks to the research of Dr. Karsten Kohl and the Open
Source community, as stated in the article “Q&A:
Researchers Karsten Nohl on Mobile eavesdropping”, published January
1, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Elinor Mills, InSecurity Complex – CNET News.
Once these
problems, which may or may not exist in the Telecoms Providers Networks here in
Jamaica, are addressed via the appropriate CyberCrime Legislation and
tightening of Network Security, then it can be truly said that the efforts of
the Telecoms Providers can be seen as Infrastructural Development for Jamaica –
in the Voice and Data Telecoms Sector.
However, this is
as it relates to the business of these Telecoms Providers and not to physical
Infrastructural Development, such as Farming, Aerodrome Facilities Development,
Freight Transportation Services i.e. Railways, Electrical Power Generation and
Distribution and most notably Housing Development which Merit Communications
has pioneered and shown can be a profitable venture.
Perhaps, I often
opine, one of the Telecoms Providers could develop the Milk River Bath Spa in
conjunction with Spanish Tourist interests, who are all too eager to get their
hands on more Jamaica real estate, especially as with the current economic
climate, there is a desire to acquire assets dirt cheap, build on the bare
slate that such an investment presents itself and make profits when the boom
times return.
Thus the obvious
is made clear.
As the Government
of Jamaica is now moving forward after the completion of the negotiations with
the Banks and other Securities Traders that has resulted in a historic “New
Deal” for Jamaica, burgeoning with promise of growth for our stagnant Economy
choked off by the seaweeds of an over inflated and excessive high interest rate
regime whose original intent and purpose has been achieved.
The JLP must also
engender and encourage a similar partnership with the Private Sector,
particularly with those companies who have the most foreign capital and
expertise, to invest in Jamaica in terms of physical infrastructure i.e.
Farming, Aerodrome Facilities Development, Freight Transportation Services i.e.
Railways, Electrical Power Generation and Distribution, Housing Developments
The aim: for
these companies not only to gain tax exemptions but also to achieve Profit
Maximization, Diversification in the long term while assisting the Government
of Jamaica and the people as a whole to “step up inna life” and move our
country forward towards 2030 – and whatever perils we may encounter on the way
towards the dream of prosperity.
Is this a
foreshadowing of things to come? Is this a part of the Jamaica Labour Party
swan song to victory at the polls come 2012-2013? Only time will tell……