IssaHere is the full text of the Hon. John Issa, OJ, in an address to the Rotary Club of Kingston held yesterday at the Jamaica Pegasus, Kingston.
Mr. Master of ceremonies, Guest of the head table, Rotarians, Members of the Media, ladies and Gentlemen.
Just over 20 years ago, when Robbie MacMillan was still a youth, your very prestigious service club asked me to be your luncheon speaker.
When Robbie called me and asked me to be your luncheon speaker today, I could not remember the subject of my talk. It probably did not impress your club that much because it took over 20 years for you to ask me back.
However, on that day to decades ago, after my speech was completed, during the question and answer period, I was asked my opinion on casino gambling for Jamaica. It was my answer that made the headlines. The casino debate is what really spurred Robbie to call and ask me back today.
Although I had made it clear at the time that I was speaking on my own behalf and not giving the views of the government to test the wind of public opinion.
When government senator Assamba spoke out in favour of introducing casino gambling recently, a similar motive was suggested for her comments.
I have always been of the opinion that, correctly introduced, casino gambling could be of benefit to Jamaica.
It is not a panacea; it will not cure all ills.
It will be one other attraction which will make our tourism industry more appealing and productive.
Besides, gambling in Jamaica is more widespread than in countries like the Bahamas, which allows casinos.
We have three lottery companies, hundreds of betting shops, slot machines in most hotels and many bars, and betting on horse racing.
The Bahamas has two casinos in Nassau and one in Freeport, no betting shops, no lotteries, and no slot machines in hotels and bars.
Yet we think that we have banished the evils of gambling by banishing casinos.
So more than twenty years after my last speech here, Jamaica is still having the debate. Will it ever end?
20 years ago, I also said that it was difficult to speak on tourism because just about everything had been said about the industry. The same seems to be the case today. So I am not going to confine my talk to the tourism industry.
There are questions that are more far reaching. The answers to them could have a significant effect on the quality of life of the Jamaican people, as well as the tourism industry.
The questions we need to answer include:
Why have we had almost no economic growth in the last five years?
Why have stop-over tourist arrivals grown by only 10 percent in the last five years?
Why do most of our people still want to live elsewhere?
Why do the majority of our people hold the view that we would have been better off as a colony?
I will limit our review to these four questions, and I repeat:
Why have we had almost no economic growth in the last five years?
Why have stop-over tourist arrivals grown by only 10 percent in the last five years?
Why do most of our people still want to live elsewhere, and
Why do the majority of our people hold the view that we would have been better off had we remained attached to Britain?
There are no simple answers to these questions. There have been many contributing factors over many years.
There is, however, one underlying cause which, I believe, has contributed more than anything else to the unsatisfactory conditions with which my questions deal. That underlying factor is the level of crime and insecurity which surrounds us all.
We have been forced to grow accustomed to daily multiple deaths, violently caused; and these seem to be on the increase as we approach the general elections. This is unacceptable, yet we tolerate it. There seems to be no end in sight.
If these conditions persist, even if we do achieve some level of economic growth, it will be anaemic at best.
If these conditions persist, we will only achieve growth in tourism arrivals by heavy discounting.
By the way, to put the 10 percent growth in stop-over tourist arrivals during the past 5 years in perspective, I should mention that, in the 5 years during which I was chairman of the tourist board, stop-over tourist arrivals grew by the 45 percent.
If these conditions persist, the majority of our people will continue to find ways both legal and illegal - to leave and live elsewhere.
Already the Jamaican population overseas is probably as large, if not larger than the Jamaican population on our island, and there is no question that by the measures of quality of life, income and education, they are better off than their brothers and sisters who remained at home.
It is obvious that the reporting of living conditions by the relatives on the island causes the majority of those who remain on the island to desire to join their relatives overseas.
The recent survey which concluded that 53 percent of our people though we would have been better off had we remained connected to Britain, should not be so surprising. Our people are well aware of what happens around us. We also travel a great deal.
They are aware of economic conditions being better in Puerto Rico - which has been able to develop its national identity and culture while still maintaining a political and economic relationship with the U.S.A.
They are aware of the economic prosperity of the Cayman Islands and the Turks & Caicos islands, both of which have developed their own national cultures and identities while maintaining a relationship with the U.K. They are aware of the standard of living in Curacao which, very much, has its own culture and identity despite its relationship with Holland.
But, to return to what I consider to be the underlying cause of many of the unsatisfactory conditions, we find in our island today, I have to state that if we do not deal with reducing the level of violent crime in our island, we will be condemning our wonderful island to a very bleak future.
The increased killing of policemen this year shows us that our crime culture has risen to a new, higher level.
The killing of our people over political flags shows that we have sunk to a new, lower level.
Ladies and gentlemen, how long can we go?
Thank you
