Dear Editor,
I am always fascinated by Omar Davies' belief in his own smartness. To some it could come across as arrogance, but he is so amiable.
He tells us that the biggest threat to the environment is abject poverty; for example, cutting woodland for coal (charcoal). His implication is that Portland Bight will be more damaged by woodcutting, overfishing, etc, than by the proposed development which would destroy not only the fishing grounds, but also the endemically rich Goat Islands.
Hundreds of jobs flow directly and indirectly from the fishing industry there, and given Jamaica's effort and potential in herbal medicines, destroying the Goat Islands also makes no sense. The number of jobs in the proposed logistics hub would, in any case, be limited, and likely to be filled by Chinese nationals — as we have seen repeatedly — rather than displaced local fisherfolk.
Perhaps most amazing is how our so-called representatives can ignore the environmental efforts of decades when enticed with sugar-coated offers. Heaven knows what the international funders of those environmental efforts must think of the casual casting off of environmental concerns by the Jamaican Government.
Of course there is also a need for jobs, as Omar Davies and others rightly remind us — as if we need reminding — and in some communities there have been tensions between those who benefit from new developments and those who are not blind to the bigger picture because they are not beneficiaries. In these terms, it is the (abject) poverty that is leading to environmental degradation by wanting to bring on, without due process, the damaging development.
As for the lack of local consultation, it is also amazing. The public, civil society and even the Opposition know much less than the foreigners dangling the baubles, all in the name of delicate commercial confidentiality. If new developments are really beneficial to both sides, what is the harm in discussing them openly? From Highway 2000, to Pear Tree Bottom, to JDIP, to the north-south leg of the highway, to Ian Fleming Airport, to the Air Jamaica slots, and so many other examples, we see utter contempt for the people, in the arrogant belief the 'ordinary' Jamaican cannot handle the issues.
Of course people want jobs and development, but not at any cost. Those less naive than me would immediately say that the driving force behind all the secrecy is bribery and corruption.
I am at the least encouraged by the backing-off from destroying the Cockpit Country a year or two ago, which was being sold in exactly the same terms as the Goat Islands. Good luck to the environmental lobby — which should be all of us — and the people of Portland Bight in their efforts.
Paul Ward
Kingston 7
pgward@cwjamaica.com
It can't be jobs at any cost
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I am always fascinated by Omar Davies' belief in his own smartness. To some it could come across as arrogance, but he is so amiable.
He tells us that the biggest threat to the environment is abject poverty; for example, cutting woodland for coal (charcoal). His implication is that Portland Bight will be more damaged by woodcutting, overfishing, etc, than by the proposed development which would destroy not only the fishing grounds, but also the endemically rich Goat Islands.
Hundreds of jobs flow directly and indirectly from the fishing industry there, and given Jamaica's effort and potential in herbal medicines, destroying the Goat Islands also makes no sense. The number of jobs in the proposed logistics hub would, in any case, be limited, and likely to be filled by Chinese nationals — as we have seen repeatedly — rather than displaced local fisherfolk.
Perhaps most amazing is how our so-called representatives can ignore the environmental efforts of decades when enticed with sugar-coated offers. Heaven knows what the international funders of those environmental efforts must think of the casual casting off of environmental concerns by the Jamaican Government.
Of course there is also a need for jobs, as Omar Davies and others rightly remind us — as if we need reminding — and in some communities there have been tensions between those who benefit from new developments and those who are not blind to the bigger picture because they are not beneficiaries. In these terms, it is the (abject) poverty that is leading to environmental degradation by wanting to bring on, without due process, the damaging development.
As for the lack of local consultation, it is also amazing. The public, civil society and even the Opposition know much less than the foreigners dangling the baubles, all in the name of delicate commercial confidentiality. If new developments are really beneficial to both sides, what is the harm in discussing them openly? From Highway 2000, to Pear Tree Bottom, to JDIP, to the north-south leg of the highway, to Ian Fleming Airport, to the Air Jamaica slots, and so many other examples, we see utter contempt for the people, in the arrogant belief the 'ordinary' Jamaican cannot handle the issues.
Of course people want jobs and development, but not at any cost. Those less naive than me would immediately say that the driving force behind all the secrecy is bribery and corruption.
I am at the least encouraged by the backing-off from destroying the Cockpit Country a year or two ago, which was being sold in exactly the same terms as the Goat Islands. Good luck to the environmental lobby — which should be all of us — and the people of Portland Bight in their efforts.
Paul Ward
Kingston 7
pgward@cwjamaica.com
It can't be jobs at any cost
-->