Dear Editor,
If Jamaica is to move away from the socio-economic quagmire it is in, the thinking, particularly that of its leadership, must be beyond the pale.
Unfortunately, though efforts are being made to take some progressive actions, there are still self-imposed constrictions, as evidenced by the recent call by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment for proposals for grant funding for "community-based tourism projects". A similar call was also made by JSIF and the Ministry of Agriculture for "agricultural projects".
The restrictions applied in both calls are that they are governed under the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI), and as such eliminate city Kingston. In 2010 — when the first such call was put out supported by international funding agencies, namely the World Bank — Sounds & Pressure, an organisation committed to the redevelopment of downtown Kingston as a cultural, heritage tourism destination, applied and created quite some interest within JSIF. However, we were eliminated due to us not being a rural-based entity. We would have hoped that another call, three years later, would try to address developmental initiatives for Kingston and all inner-city communities.
A lot of the socio-economic problems in Kingston and other inner-cities are due to the rural-urban drift, which unloads thousands of the rural poor into the urban areas in search of a better life, but end up mainly with more impoverishment in inner-city communities. It was during a visit to New Orleans several years ago, that i saw first hand how an urban space, quite comparable to Kingston in size, population, and as culturally driven, was able to build a major tourism industry that attracted millions of visitors annually to its music, food and cultural offerings. And this is despite having a crime and violence problem.
According to a recent article in the Huffington Post Internet news service: "Just over nine million tourists and business travellers spent a record US$6 billion in New Orleans last year, and the big draw was the variety of attractions including museums, festivals and parades." In the '50s and '60s Kingston was considered a tourism destination with enormous potential. And not only culturally driven tourism can enhance economic conditions in the urban space of Kingston, but also agriculture, focusing in areas such as aquaculture, horticulture, and vegetable farming.
Growth potential exists all over Jamaica, and the decision-makers should not impose unnecessary restrictions, but promote growth everywhere.
Julian "Jingles" Reynolds
Orange Street
Kingston
sounds_pressure@yahoo.com
JSIF call should include Kingston
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If Jamaica is to move away from the socio-economic quagmire it is in, the thinking, particularly that of its leadership, must be beyond the pale.
Unfortunately, though efforts are being made to take some progressive actions, there are still self-imposed constrictions, as evidenced by the recent call by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) and the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment for proposals for grant funding for "community-based tourism projects". A similar call was also made by JSIF and the Ministry of Agriculture for "agricultural projects".
The restrictions applied in both calls are that they are governed under the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI), and as such eliminate city Kingston. In 2010 — when the first such call was put out supported by international funding agencies, namely the World Bank — Sounds & Pressure, an organisation committed to the redevelopment of downtown Kingston as a cultural, heritage tourism destination, applied and created quite some interest within JSIF. However, we were eliminated due to us not being a rural-based entity. We would have hoped that another call, three years later, would try to address developmental initiatives for Kingston and all inner-city communities.
A lot of the socio-economic problems in Kingston and other inner-cities are due to the rural-urban drift, which unloads thousands of the rural poor into the urban areas in search of a better life, but end up mainly with more impoverishment in inner-city communities. It was during a visit to New Orleans several years ago, that i saw first hand how an urban space, quite comparable to Kingston in size, population, and as culturally driven, was able to build a major tourism industry that attracted millions of visitors annually to its music, food and cultural offerings. And this is despite having a crime and violence problem.
According to a recent article in the Huffington Post Internet news service: "Just over nine million tourists and business travellers spent a record US$6 billion in New Orleans last year, and the big draw was the variety of attractions including museums, festivals and parades." In the '50s and '60s Kingston was considered a tourism destination with enormous potential. And not only culturally driven tourism can enhance economic conditions in the urban space of Kingston, but also agriculture, focusing in areas such as aquaculture, horticulture, and vegetable farming.
Growth potential exists all over Jamaica, and the decision-makers should not impose unnecessary restrictions, but promote growth everywhere.
Julian "Jingles" Reynolds
Orange Street
Kingston
sounds_pressure@yahoo.com
JSIF call should include Kingston
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