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When foreigners speak...
HEART TO HEART
With Betty Ann Blaine
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Dear Reader, I'm convinced that the psychological legacy of slavery is alive and well. One of the manifestations is the manner in which we respond to foreign voices, and the way we genuflect at the altar of foreign powers and foreign advisers. It's interesting that when Jamaicans speak about our problems no one seems to listen, but when foreigners express the very same sentiments, not only do they get everybody's attention, but it seems as if it's only when they speak that there is an inclination to do something about the issues they enunciate.
So every Jamaican knows that "unattached" youth (those out of school and out of work), is one of the most serious and pressing problems facing the country, but somehow it sounded different when articulated by the World Bank special representative Badrul Haque when he addressed our Parliament two weeks ago. Mr Haque was quoted as saying, "Besides the one-third of potential workers who remain outside of the labour force and are not even looking for jobs, a little over two-thirds of those who are in the labour force are functionally illiterate in the sense that they have never taken a test in their lives, not even at the Grade 9 level."
He continued, "So you begin to see a reason why countries like Lebanon, despite very high debt, can grow very rapidly and Jamaica has difficulty. The labour force is an issue to be addressed."
Haque's colleague, World Bank's country director Yvonne Tsikata added her voice to the socio-economic discourse when she stated, "Investment has been 30 per cent of GDP, that's sizeable. The question is, what is the composition of that investment and how much is private versus public? For the public, has it gone into the areas that would generate the greatest rates of return? That's an issue collectively we need to look at. It's very odd to have a situation where you have high investment and low growth. It doesn't add up, there is something strange there."
Sounds familiar, Jamaica? The question is, why did the World Bank have to come here to tell us what we already know,
but even more important, what can we expect the government's response to be, now that the World Bank has spoken and has obviously got their attention?
No sooner than the World Bank issued its critique, in fact just days later, the US-based organisation, Fund for Peace (FfP) announced that Jamaica had progressed up the ladder of the failed state index with the issue of corruption being at the core of the 2009 rating.
Jamaica is now ranked the 96th most corrupt country out of 180 countries.
Founded in 1957 by investment banker, Randolph Compton, the FfP is an educational research and advocacy organisation based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to prevent war and alleviate the conditions that cause war. Since 1996, it has specialised primarily on reducing conflict stemming from weak and failing states.
Fund for Peace uses 12 indicators in assessing a failed state (1) Demographic pressures (2) Refugees/IDPs (3) Group grievance (4) Human flight (5) Uneven development (6) Economic decline (7) Delegitimisation of the state (8) Public services (9) Human rights (10) Security apparatus (11) Factionalised elites, and (12) External intervention.
Like the World Bank, the FfP didn't tell us anything we don't already know. A few years ago, then head of Scotiabank, Bill Clarke, described Jamaica as a failed state. He was taken to task by the government of the day and was castigated by the then prime minister, PJ Patterson, who questioned how he could describe the country as a failed state when Scotiabank had been making billions of dollars in profit year after year.
While Bill Clarke might have been effectively silenced, the issue sparked a national debate as to whether Jamaica was in fact a failed state.
Since that time, other Jamaicans have expressed their concerns about the steady downward social and economic trajectory. More and more "failed state" indicators were emerging - for example, the growing "delegitimisation" of the state and the country's deepening economic crisis. Not only was the Jamaican state losing its legitimacy within certain geographic enclaves, but the country was beginning to exhibit signs of a refugee state as increasing numbers of people were being forced to flee their homes as a result of internecine violence. Failed state indicators developed by FfP of "public service", "human rights", "security apparatus" and "factionalised elites" are all problems identified and articulated by Jamaicans daily. The point is that none of the issues and concerns articulated by foreigners over the last few months are either new or unfamiliar to Jamaicans.
Then there is the IMF at whose feet we now genuflect. As the country awaits the verdict as to exactly what the IMF conditionalties will be, it is very clear who is in charge, and whose voice we will have to pay atttention to.
Let's face it. Despite all the talk and all the excuses, we are an independent country with a dependent state of mind, so that we shouldn't be surprised that it is only when foreigners speak that we listen, and more often than not, fall right in line. Slavery and colonialism were abolished a long time ago, but it is clear to me that some of the legacies persist.
With love,
[email protected]
HEART TO HEART
With Betty Ann Blaine
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Dear Reader, I'm convinced that the psychological legacy of slavery is alive and well. One of the manifestations is the manner in which we respond to foreign voices, and the way we genuflect at the altar of foreign powers and foreign advisers. It's interesting that when Jamaicans speak about our problems no one seems to listen, but when foreigners express the very same sentiments, not only do they get everybody's attention, but it seems as if it's only when they speak that there is an inclination to do something about the issues they enunciate.
So every Jamaican knows that "unattached" youth (those out of school and out of work), is one of the most serious and pressing problems facing the country, but somehow it sounded different when articulated by the World Bank special representative Badrul Haque when he addressed our Parliament two weeks ago. Mr Haque was quoted as saying, "Besides the one-third of potential workers who remain outside of the labour force and are not even looking for jobs, a little over two-thirds of those who are in the labour force are functionally illiterate in the sense that they have never taken a test in their lives, not even at the Grade 9 level."
He continued, "So you begin to see a reason why countries like Lebanon, despite very high debt, can grow very rapidly and Jamaica has difficulty. The labour force is an issue to be addressed."
Haque's colleague, World Bank's country director Yvonne Tsikata added her voice to the socio-economic discourse when she stated, "Investment has been 30 per cent of GDP, that's sizeable. The question is, what is the composition of that investment and how much is private versus public? For the public, has it gone into the areas that would generate the greatest rates of return? That's an issue collectively we need to look at. It's very odd to have a situation where you have high investment and low growth. It doesn't add up, there is something strange there."
Sounds familiar, Jamaica? The question is, why did the World Bank have to come here to tell us what we already know,
but even more important, what can we expect the government's response to be, now that the World Bank has spoken and has obviously got their attention? No sooner than the World Bank issued its critique, in fact just days later, the US-based organisation, Fund for Peace (FfP) announced that Jamaica had progressed up the ladder of the failed state index with the issue of corruption being at the core of the 2009 rating.
Jamaica is now ranked the 96th most corrupt country out of 180 countries.
Founded in 1957 by investment banker, Randolph Compton, the FfP is an educational research and advocacy organisation based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to prevent war and alleviate the conditions that cause war. Since 1996, it has specialised primarily on reducing conflict stemming from weak and failing states.Fund for Peace uses 12 indicators in assessing a failed state (1) Demographic pressures (2) Refugees/IDPs (3) Group grievance (4) Human flight (5) Uneven development (6) Economic decline (7) Delegitimisation of the state (8) Public services (9) Human rights (10) Security apparatus (11) Factionalised elites, and (12) External intervention.
Like the World Bank, the FfP didn't tell us anything we don't already know. A few years ago, then head of Scotiabank, Bill Clarke, described Jamaica as a failed state. He was taken to task by the government of the day and was castigated by the then prime minister, PJ Patterson, who questioned how he could describe the country as a failed state when Scotiabank had been making billions of dollars in profit year after year.
While Bill Clarke might have been effectively silenced, the issue sparked a national debate as to whether Jamaica was in fact a failed state.Since that time, other Jamaicans have expressed their concerns about the steady downward social and economic trajectory. More and more "failed state" indicators were emerging - for example, the growing "delegitimisation" of the state and the country's deepening economic crisis. Not only was the Jamaican state losing its legitimacy within certain geographic enclaves, but the country was beginning to exhibit signs of a refugee state as increasing numbers of people were being forced to flee their homes as a result of internecine violence. Failed state indicators developed by FfP of "public service", "human rights", "security apparatus" and "factionalised elites" are all problems identified and articulated by Jamaicans daily. The point is that none of the issues and concerns articulated by foreigners over the last few months are either new or unfamiliar to Jamaicans.
Then there is the IMF at whose feet we now genuflect. As the country awaits the verdict as to exactly what the IMF conditionalties will be, it is very clear who is in charge, and whose voice we will have to pay atttention to.
Let's face it. Despite all the talk and all the excuses, we are an independent country with a dependent state of mind, so that we shouldn't be surprised that it is only when foreigners speak that we listen, and more often than not, fall right in line. Slavery and colonialism were abolished a long time ago, but it is clear to me that some of the legacies persist.
With love,
[email protected]
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