Peter Espeut
Here we are again on San Andrés, the small 27-sq km island off the coast of Nicaragua - one of a group of three which used to be a British colony (they share a boundary with Jamaica) - but which are now part of Colombia. This time I am leading a small delegation of 16 Jamaicans - mostly fishers - on the second half of a cultural and environmental exchange which began three years ago when a team of 16 persons from San Andrés - mostly fishers - visited with us in Portland Bight.
We feel quite at home. As I wrote in a column last month, the long-time residents speak 'braaad' Jamaican creole, eat Jamaican food and play dominoes (in fact, they soundly beat us in a domino tournament on Monday). Again, as I wrote before, the only thing missing in the cuisine was ackee; but we came by ship, and brought about a dozen ackee trees to strengthen their Jamaican traditions - to add to the rundún (rundown), liver, fried breadfruit, yam, bammy, fried dumplin', stew peas and rice, Johnny cake and more.
The raizal people
The residents with the longest local ancestry call themselves the raizal people - the 'roots' people. They check their descent from Jamaica 100-200 years ago, and as they openly declare, they feel more Jamaican than Colombian. The islands have suffered an influx of mainland Colombian businessmen rushing to cash in on a burgeoning tourism industry based on the same 'esses' as our own (sun, sand, sea, etc.). The raizal people find themselves marginalised in their own country, and to compensate and to keep their identity, they strongly emphasise their Jamaicanness. I was warmly welcomed as I preached (in Jamaican English) in one of the local Roman Catholic churches last Sunday, and was happy that they were singing some of the folk hymns we use in Jamaica.
Our fishers from Hellshire and Old Harbour Bay and Rocky Point and Mitchell Town and Portland Cottage bonded quickly and well with the local fishers who are mostly of the raizal people. These waters are not as overfished as ours in Jamaica, and the abundance of huge fish so close to shore and visible from the docks shocked our fishers, who have recommitted themselves to sustainable fishing in Portland Bight. The mission is already a success!
We are the guests of Coralina, the Colombian government agency which manages the environment in these islands and waters (similar to our NRCA). We are sharing our experiences and have learned from each other. The U.N. has declared their islands and marine space to be a Biosphere Reserve, and we hope the Portland Bight Protected Area in Jamaica will one day receive that designation; we are observing carefully. They are about to designate part of their Biosphere Reserve as a Marine Protected Area, and we are able to give advice. This is true south-south cooperation, but at the grass-roots.
They are very concerned that their tourism is not sustainable, and have given no permits to build new hotels, and are withdrawing others. They have been sued by some business interests, but are standing firm. I wish that we were aware that the way we do our tourism is unsustainable. We boast about our coming Spanish hotels when we should be up in arms! Not every government environment agency is worth their salt!
Our tourism is unsustainable for another important reason. We toured around the whole coastline and observed locals and tourists on the beach together (there are no private beaches here). We (and other visitors) walked on the beach promenades in the cool of the night and we were not harassed even once, nor were we made to feel uncomfortable. Tourists are not segregated from locals, who are not poor in the same sense that we have impoverished our people. Their schools work, and there are jobs. And they are not overfished, so fishers can make a good living.
Unsustainable tourism
Our tourism which is based on segregating visitors from poor Jamaicans is unsustainable. Obviously, our tourism authorities do not yet appreciate this. In fact, Jamaican society founded on racism and based on a class-colour system is unsustainable, but most of our middle and upper classes have chosen not to appreciate this.
On this trip, we are deepening cultural links with our distant cousins on these islands, who are very interested to know more about Jamaica and their own history. And we will come back changed.
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and is executive director of an environment and development NGO.
