Delroy ChuckWHENEVER I hear the government boast about the Net International Reserve, presently at its highest level, and inflation of six or seven per cent, I want to laugh. I know they were not achieved by sustainable investment and production, as these have declined, but by short-term paper investors taking advantage of government's misguided and prolonged high interest rate policy. In effect, these positive economic indicators are nullified by the negative effects of government's economic model or "Omar's recession model", which have destroyed the productive sector and the whole economy.
The doubling of our national debt from under US$5 billion to over US$10 billion (inclusive of FINSAC), five years of painful recession, devastation of the export sector, downsizing and capsizing of virtually the whole business, farming and manufacturing sectors, continuing loss of jobs and opportunities, decline in standards, erosion of decency and civility, chaos and corruption in high places, and the negatives could go on.
I do not take any pleasure in highlighting and harping on the negatives but I think any responsible person who remains blind and daft to the disintegration of the Jamaican society does the nation and his/her integrity and credibility a gross disservice. In truth, critics and commentators who identify the wrongs, errors and failings are probably more patriotic and dedicated to nation-building than those who gloss over the negatives and seek to highlight only the few positives.
Jamaica is not on the right track. We cannot be on the right track when so much is going wrong and, most importantly, when we fail to produce sufficiently to earn our living and to maintain our quality of life. That is the message that the so-called negative commentators try to convey.
To highlight the positives and ignore the negatives means we should continue on this same reckless and blind path into even further difficulties and disintegration. We are collapsing economically and saved only from total collapse as, periodically, we go with our begging bowls on the world market in search of more debts, grants, remittances, aid and debt forgiveness. Soon, our ability to raise loans and grants will diminish, our creditors will have difficulty recouping their loans and our credit rating on the world market will suffer.
Increasing the debt burden is not the answer.
When will we accept that loans and remittances, especially for housekeeping purposes, cannot, in the long run, be beneficial or advantageous? When will we stop seeking loans and grants to maintain our standard of living and start seriously hunting investment and production to ease the hardship, poverty and joblessness? To be sure, we can turn Jamaica around and enjoy a first world quality of life, but we need the leadership and vision to produce for the world market. It is only through increased production that a nation can grow and make life better for its citizens. When, then, will we make production of goods and service be our top priority and have visionary leadership to convince our people that Jamaica's survival and progress depend on it? To be sure, it is difficult for the present leaders to carry that mantle, as they passionately believe the rest of the world owes us something and our problem can be solved by new economic and political arrangements to redress the imbalance in the distribution of the world's wealth. Yet, they need to rethink their political philosophy and convince themselves that production is the way forward.
Why is Jamaica's productive sector in such shambles? In truth, it cannot take off with the high interest rate policy and the enormous cost of producing virtually anything efficiently. Immediately, we need to bite the bullet and get interest rate to single digit, even though a sharp adjustment in the rate of exchange will follow, which is inevitable anyway.
The immediate impact is that foreign goods will become more expensive and force consumers to seek cheaper choices. That would open a window of opportunity for local producers. This window of opportunity would have to be managed carefully to avoid large wage increases and massive printing of money that would only make matters worse.
Then, the productive sector seems to encounter unnecessary local constraints competing with the rest of the world due to security costs, transportation difficulties, poor marketing strategies, burdensome regulations and a host of other impediments and expenses. It seems to me that our economic model, however conceived, must tilt beneficially towards the export sector, as only then can we compete on the world market.
Our tourism can compete with the best and with the comparative advantage our ideal location possesses we should easily attract 3-5 million visitors annually. But, that will not happen with the dilapidating infrastructure and failure to keep our beaches, streets, gullies and communities clean.
Then, we need to go beyond being a country of samples. We have good products but it can rarely reach to the far corners of the globe. We are unable to maintain and service even the small markets that want and use our products. Nowadays, it is a crying shame to see Jamaican products, marketed with Jamaican name brands, produced elsewhere. Jamaican pepper sauce is sold in North America, but produced in Costa Rica; Jamaican Kola Champagne is produced in the USA and many other Jamaican products are produced and marketed abroad. Even the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, reputed as the world's best coffee, is being bastardised and the integrity of the name brand will soon be lost.
Jamaica needs a big vision to create and service big markets for the many products we can produce and sell to the world. We have been kept poor, miserable and frustrated through bankrupt leadership and no vision. It is time our people demand uncorrupted, righteous and visionary leaders who can put Jamaica above narrow and self-serving interests and onto the path of growth and production.
Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by e-mail at delchuck@hotmail.com
