Hartley Neita
AT HIS farewell public ceremony last week, former Governor-General Sir Howard Cooke was passionate in declaring his view that Jamaica is a great country. He did not say will be. He said it is.
It was not the first time Sir Howard expressed this belief, and there have been many who have scoffed at this thought. Despite numerous successes by Jamaica and Jamaicans, there are some persons in public life who enjoy denying this view.
These persons are trapped in a time warp of the past. I remember quite vividly the warnings in the late 1950s that Jamaica could not afford to be independent. There was a time when it was suggested we should become an offshore Province of Canada or a State of the U.S.A.
There were two trite statements I have never forgotten. One was that to be independent a country had to have an army, air force and a navy, and Jamaica did not. The other was we could not afford it as we did not have iron and coal and any other natural resources with which to industrialise.
Interestingly, the qualifications for industrialisation changed rapidly subsequently. By the 1970s the new resource was oil. Now it is technology.
GROWING DEVELOPMENT
I remember, too, how we measured our growing development with the opening of factories all over Jamaica to manufacture paint, soap, toothpaste, tyres, refrigerators, clothing and other products. All that, however, are things of the past. The new big earning sectors are tourism, mining, music and other art forms, and sports.
The problem, I think, is that many of us do not see these new sectors for what they are worth. All of them are in fact, industries. Hotels, for example, employ 1.5 persons per room. So that the 1,000-room properties now being constructed will each employ 1,500 workers ranging from gardeners, security guards, waiters, bell hops, room maids, accountants, secretaries, chefs, and other categories.
The music industry includes not only musicians and singers, but also composers and arrangers, fashion and stage designers, stage hands, and lighting technicians. Associated with these are still-photographers, film cameramen, sound engineers, and other ancillary workers. And it is the same with sports.
In mining there are still areas which have not been tapped. There is titanium here. We have mega tons of marble in currently inaccessible parts of Jamaica. There is lead in the Papine area of St. Andrew and traces of gold and copper. An area which has always fascinated me, too, is gem stones.
The fact is that in the future we will be seeing less and less investors erecting the factories of the 1960s. That was the way forward 40 years ago. We were stuck in that tradition for too long while other countries went into high technology. What we now need to do is to take advantage of the niche sectors we are best at.
BRAND NAME
In these areas we are doing quite well, thank you. Sir Howard is right. Jamaica is now a brand name. Every year now, over one million foreigners discover the beauty of Jamaica and spend money to enjoy it. And this number will increase each year. Every day, Jamaican musicians and singers perform all over the globe, and every day, there is a Jamaican athlete or Jamaican team showing spectator-filled stadia the greatness of our people and being paid to do so.
Forty years ago, the only Jamaican footballer earning money abroad was Lindy Delapenha. Today, our footballers are playing for clubs in England, Europe, the U.S.A. and Canada. And their names are as well known in those countries as you know your neighbours'.
It is a new world, and we must change with it.
