Dear Editor,
Recently, a few more Jamaicans were returned to Jamaica on the next flight shortly after arriving in Trinidad and Tobago. According to their reports, they were treated inhumanely and kicked out of the country.
This has been a reoccurring situation for some Jamaicans, although of note is that during carnival season in Trinidad I have never heard of a Jamaican being sent back home whose only purpose of visiting was to gyrate in the carnival celebrations. So the question is why are Jamaicans being hustled back to our shores?
Some sections of the private sector have publicly asked that we start boycotting products on our shelves manufactured by the twin-island republic. I personally do not agree with this stance as it does not address the root of the problem.
Jamaicans are going to Trinidad and Tobago to seek out job opportunities, so as a country what is it that we are going to do to provide much-needed jobs?
Across Jamaica, over the years, several factories have being closed. In St Mary alone you can find around four factories that in my day provided jobs for many people in and around the communities. They no longer do so.
Instead of campaigning for a boycott of goods and services, I would strongly suggest that we start to focus on the manufacturing sector by lessening the products we import from such countries and producing same for our own market.
Investments being sought for our country cannot be limited to the hospitality industry; we have yet to fully capitalise on our manufacturing industry. We have managed to become a “baby China” country, importing a significant amount of products from their region for resale.It is time to use our own resources — we have people willing to work but no jobs available for the areas they would be most suitable to contribute to nation-building.
Dee Hunt
bedeeinspired@gmail.com
Recently, a few more Jamaicans were returned to Jamaica on the next flight shortly after arriving in Trinidad and Tobago. According to their reports, they were treated inhumanely and kicked out of the country.
This has been a reoccurring situation for some Jamaicans, although of note is that during carnival season in Trinidad I have never heard of a Jamaican being sent back home whose only purpose of visiting was to gyrate in the carnival celebrations. So the question is why are Jamaicans being hustled back to our shores?
Some sections of the private sector have publicly asked that we start boycotting products on our shelves manufactured by the twin-island republic. I personally do not agree with this stance as it does not address the root of the problem.
Jamaicans are going to Trinidad and Tobago to seek out job opportunities, so as a country what is it that we are going to do to provide much-needed jobs?
Across Jamaica, over the years, several factories have being closed. In St Mary alone you can find around four factories that in my day provided jobs for many people in and around the communities. They no longer do so.
Instead of campaigning for a boycott of goods and services, I would strongly suggest that we start to focus on the manufacturing sector by lessening the products we import from such countries and producing same for our own market.
Investments being sought for our country cannot be limited to the hospitality industry; we have yet to fully capitalise on our manufacturing industry. We have managed to become a “baby China” country, importing a significant amount of products from their region for resale.It is time to use our own resources — we have people willing to work but no jobs available for the areas they would be most suitable to contribute to nation-building.
Dee Hunt
bedeeinspired@gmail.com