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Gov't pimping Jamaica to foreigners
Published: Wednesday | June 1, 2011
Robert Mitchell, contributor
I have a question for the people of Jamaica. Is the Jamaican Government anything but a pimp, prostituting Jamaica and its people out to foreigners? All this is done under the guise of divestment, but at the end of the day, where does the major portion of the profits end up?
One only has to look at the case where the FINSAC debts were given away in a fire sale to foreigners when the Jamaican debtors were not offered the option to buy back their debts first as a prime example. Trinidad has a firm foothold in the Jamaican financial sector, courtesy of Sagicor. They also play a dominant role in the manufacturing and housing sectors via the Caribbean Cement Company which was sold to them.
The Irish are here in the form of Digicel and the other two telecommunications providers in the country have their roots overseas as well. At least two of our major banks are domiciled abroad, and we now see where the Spanish are being given preferential treatment in so far as hotels and tourism is concerned. A segment of roadway that was built with funds from a grant was taken away from the Jamaican people and given to a company with origins in France. They now are free to collect a toll from users for 25 years. The Chinese are now major stakeholders in our coffee and sugar industries.
Foreign interests own the majority of our bauxite industry, with the Government currently in talks to offload the balance of its shares. It was only recently that we heard, via the news media, of outrageous demands being made as preconditions for the restarting of mining operations at Kirkvine. The most despicable and egregious deed to my mind, however, was the sale of The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to overseas interests. JPS's name ought to be changed, as Jamaica and its residents are no longer the majority shareholders.
What are they thinking?
Where does one begin? Leave out for now the shortcomings as highlighted by Mayor Milton Brown recently, and published in a letter to the editor in The Gleaner two Sundays ago, where the JPS basically tells us it is not responsible for consumer losses. Let's overlook as well the practice where the electricity provider is allowed to recover from its customers costs for any damage to its plant as a result of hurricanes.
Also, don't factor in just now that JPS is allowed to apply for an annual rate adjustment and it is alleged they have a guaranteed minimum rate of return. We will not even take into account here the fact that legitimate customers are made to foot the bill of the illegitimate users who steal electricity.
What really got my dander up was an item on the May 27 5 p.m. RJR newscast where it was reported that the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) turned down a request by the JPS to recover the costs incurred by an employee reclassification exercise to the tune of $4.2 billion from its customers. How could such a suggestion even have left the skull of an individual, let alone get to the stage where the OUR is called on to approve it?
Surely, the Government will at some point awake from its slumber and do something to protect the Jamaican people it has sworn to serve from the current ravishing being endured? Isn't there some way to buy back the JPS in the same way they can acquire people's land to build roads by compulsory acquisition? I suspect that one day in the not-too-distant future we will wake up to find the only thing Jamaicans have is the title Jamaican.
<span style="font-style: italic">Robert Mitchell is a freelance writer. Email feedback to [email protected] and [email protected].</span>
Published: Wednesday | June 1, 2011
Robert Mitchell, contributor
I have a question for the people of Jamaica. Is the Jamaican Government anything but a pimp, prostituting Jamaica and its people out to foreigners? All this is done under the guise of divestment, but at the end of the day, where does the major portion of the profits end up?
One only has to look at the case where the FINSAC debts were given away in a fire sale to foreigners when the Jamaican debtors were not offered the option to buy back their debts first as a prime example. Trinidad has a firm foothold in the Jamaican financial sector, courtesy of Sagicor. They also play a dominant role in the manufacturing and housing sectors via the Caribbean Cement Company which was sold to them.
The Irish are here in the form of Digicel and the other two telecommunications providers in the country have their roots overseas as well. At least two of our major banks are domiciled abroad, and we now see where the Spanish are being given preferential treatment in so far as hotels and tourism is concerned. A segment of roadway that was built with funds from a grant was taken away from the Jamaican people and given to a company with origins in France. They now are free to collect a toll from users for 25 years. The Chinese are now major stakeholders in our coffee and sugar industries.
Foreign interests own the majority of our bauxite industry, with the Government currently in talks to offload the balance of its shares. It was only recently that we heard, via the news media, of outrageous demands being made as preconditions for the restarting of mining operations at Kirkvine. The most despicable and egregious deed to my mind, however, was the sale of The Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) to overseas interests. JPS's name ought to be changed, as Jamaica and its residents are no longer the majority shareholders.
What are they thinking?
Where does one begin? Leave out for now the shortcomings as highlighted by Mayor Milton Brown recently, and published in a letter to the editor in The Gleaner two Sundays ago, where the JPS basically tells us it is not responsible for consumer losses. Let's overlook as well the practice where the electricity provider is allowed to recover from its customers costs for any damage to its plant as a result of hurricanes.
Also, don't factor in just now that JPS is allowed to apply for an annual rate adjustment and it is alleged they have a guaranteed minimum rate of return. We will not even take into account here the fact that legitimate customers are made to foot the bill of the illegitimate users who steal electricity.
What really got my dander up was an item on the May 27 5 p.m. RJR newscast where it was reported that the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) turned down a request by the JPS to recover the costs incurred by an employee reclassification exercise to the tune of $4.2 billion from its customers. How could such a suggestion even have left the skull of an individual, let alone get to the stage where the OUR is called on to approve it?
Surely, the Government will at some point awake from its slumber and do something to protect the Jamaican people it has sworn to serve from the current ravishing being endured? Isn't there some way to buy back the JPS in the same way they can acquire people's land to build roads by compulsory acquisition? I suspect that one day in the not-too-distant future we will wake up to find the only thing Jamaicans have is the title Jamaican.
<span style="font-style: italic">Robert Mitchell is a freelance writer. Email feedback to [email protected] and [email protected].</span>
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