No. 64 Wednesday, March 10, 2010
[POSTED BY::: anonymous]
The impending sale of Air Jamaica is but the tip of the iceberg. In recent years, the government appears hell-bent on selling out some if not all of the country's major assets. Granted that some of these assets have become liabilities to the State and hence the taxpayer, but is enough being done to accommodate home-grown entrepreneurs or potential overseas investors from the Jamaican Oiaspora?
[POSTED BY::: anonymous]
The impending sale of Air Jamaica is but the tip of the iceberg. In recent years, the government appears hell-bent on selling out some if not all of the country's major assets. Granted that some of these assets have become liabilities to the State and hence the taxpayer, but is enough being done to accommodate home-grown entrepreneurs or potential overseas investors from the Jamaican Oiaspora?
Very little of the Jamaican coastline remains in local hands and if the trend continues, Jamaicans will soon find it most difficult to access a beach for recreational purposes. In the meantime, what with the major financial fallout that took place in the 90's, prior to the current world-wide recession(or is it depression?) that has adversely affected us, many. Jamaican blue chip companies have been bought out by foreign interests, including insurance companies and banks. Interestingly, one of the major purchasers of Jamaican businesses has been Trinidad, that oil rich Caribbean island that once kowtowed to Jamaican but is now treating us as a second cousin!
Indeed, it is most ironic that Jamaica, which used to be .the leading Caribbean island, in more ways than one, has now fallen to the lower rungs of the economic ladder, having dropped just a little above Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world. What a shame and disgrace! And it is not only in the area of economics that we have descended into penury. Our crime statistics strongly suggest that we among the leading murder capital of the world. And while Rome burns, Nero fiddles. Our leaders, both in the public and private sector, have allowed narrow sectoral and partisan interests to influence their thoughts and actions, hence we are now being designated as a narcodemocracy. This, of course, means that the criminal underworld which relies heavily on drug trafficking to finance their operations and lavish lifestyle will one day control Parliament.
In this vein, the Christopher 'Dudus' Coke's extradition matter and the subsequent impasse that has developed between Jamaica and its chief ally, the United States of America, has put us into a quandary which could further erode our socio-political status so much so that Jamaica may end up being a rogue state. With "fire sale" that is now going on with respect to the country's major assets, this scenario 'has most certainly put us in the doghouse. The potent question that must be asked is, when all has been sold and very little if left of our patrimony, what next?
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