by Michael Phillips (available at Amazon.com)

  Chapter 2

Jamaica’s Downward Economic Spiral

Following that Jamaica-poor-forever plan, and despite well -meaning politicians, conditions in Jamaica have gotten worse over the years.  Politicians have gotten a lot of the blame, but it is that economic system that  is responsible. In that system Jamaica’s main source of income, on which she depends so much, exports, have been going downhill.

Sugar

I remember in Jamaica, many years ago when it seemed there were large cane fields  everywhere. I remember the burning of canefields to make cane-cutting easier. I remember slow-moving carts laden with cane, impeding the traffic as they transported the cane to sugar factories. Not anymore.

The Sugar Industry is the oldest continually operating industry in Jamaica and has been the largest employer of labour. But new international globalism rules have been very unkind to sugar in Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean. Both prices on the world market and production have fallen precipitously as depicted in the chart below: 

Bananas

( This article I wrote for Hot Calaloo, 2007)

Banana Wars, Banana Memories

What is the most popular fruit eaten here in America? Yes, it is the banana. Traditionally, throughout the West Indies, it has been an agriculture crop second only to sugar. However, banana wars with Latin America loom a threat to a tradition, a way of life.

I remember that first morning many years ago. I was just a boy of about ten spending my summer holidays in the countryside, the little Jamaican north coast port town of Oracabessa. On that memorable morning, I looked out the window of my uncle’s house which offered a spectacular panoramic view of the harbor. There “It” was, almost filling the entire harbor and horizon. “It” was the “banana boat”. To my young and tender eyes, it seemed massive, magnificent. It could have well been the luxury liner the Queen Mary, instead of the Jamaica Producer. It had come in overnight.

The sleepy little port had been transformed into a hum of activity. I was excited. It seemed to me that everyone in the town was somehow  involved. The mood was festive. The smell of money, no doubt. Trucks overladen with bunches of banana, wrapped in banana leaves, steadily streamed into port. Since Oracabessa was not a deep water harbor , the 'Banana boat" could not come up to the dock, but had to drop anchor outside. So the "six-hand seven-hand bunches' had to be loaded assembly-line style by vigorous perspiring men unto small boats which transported them out to the 'banana boat'! As the men worked they sang. Of course, it was not reggae, which was decades away in the future. It was not even calypso, but traditional Jamaican work songs. songs like Day-0, Hill and Gully, and Sammy Dead. This continued non-stop way into the night. I remember looking out from the veranda on that starlit  night with fascination as the flickering lights of the flotilla of tiny banana-laden boats made their way to the huge ship.
That summer I really came to know the banana. From the short stubby "Cbiney" banana to the slender but durable Lackatan to the robust Robusta and Gros Mitchell. Do you remember rips banana fritters, fnied and boiled green bananas? How about mackerel and banana rundown also known as 'DJp-n Fall Back'!? I even had "banana water" to which was attributed all sorts of nutritional  powers. But, I hated banana porridge.

Survivors
 Banana like the people of Jamaica and the rest of the West Indies are survivors. Threatened regularly and sometimes devastated by hurricane, but they survive. Threatened by disease, but with extensive help from our agricultural researchers, they adapt and survive. In the past, in order for the West Indies to survive, the banana had to survive. But will the banana trade in the West Indies survive? Sadly, USA prospects don't seem good. The fight is being waged primarily by the Windward Isles, who are especially dependent on this for employment and foreign exchange. They are up against powerful multinational corporations with banana plantations in Latin America.

The bottom line is that these Latin American countries are able to grow it cheaper and these Caribbean countries must depend on the protected market of the UK. But, the UK is not as independent as it used to be now that it is a member of the European Common Market (EC). So far, Britain has been barely able to beat back the attacks of other EC countries led by Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands as well as the Latin American and African producers against this protected market. I, myself, am surprised at the fight Britain has put up on behalf of the Caribbean countries even though it means more expensive bananas for the English consumer. Upcoming General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT), and LOME talks are expected to take dead aim on this protected market again.

Effects
Up till now, the West Indies has been moving closer to its Latin American neighbors. But, these banana wars are straining relations in some circles. The Windward Island governments of Grenada, St. Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica, have even threatened to pull out of the Organisation of American States (OAS) over this issue. Banana prices in Grenada have dropped to their lowest since 1985. There is no question a way of life for many is being threatened. Not one single banana we eat here in the US comes from the West Indies. The market belongs exclusively to the Latin American countries. The UK is virtually the only export market for West Indian bananas. Now that is imperiled.

I went back to Oracabessa. The "banana boat" has 1ong  abandoned it, lured away by a deep sea port elsewhere. Instead, on the distant horizon, occasionally a tourist laden luxury ocean liner can be barely discerned heading probability for nearby Ocho Rios. And, from  time to time, small boats can be seen dropping or retrieving their fish pots, but their  message is "Oh yes we have no bananas, we've got no bananas today. " Tourism has had some impact, but the town remains a sleepy fishing village. Unemployment seems high. Of course, traditional work songs no longer fill the air. That day, I could not help but notice a man clad in a flamboyant gold and black sequined dance-hall costume. In the background I could hear a sound system blaring with its deep thumping bass " ... gal yuh body good, it good Iike a gold. ..... “

Sadly, the banana republic days are no more. Like sugar, it also lost its protected status internationally. Its export market fell on hard times. Here are some lamentable statisticsabout banana production according to Actualitix World Atlas:

Bauxite

Bauxite has been an important  source of income for Jamaica. By 1957 Jamaica was the leading bauxite producer in the world. with a production capacity of nearly 5 million tons of bauxite per year, almost a quarter of all the bauxite mined in the world in that year. In 1961 there were four companies mining bauxite in Jamaica In 1974 Jamaica bauxite was the second largest producer of bauxite and the second largest exporter of alumina in the world behind Australia. Those were the good old days.

 Over the next ten years, the island that was once the number one exporter of bauxite had fallen to about sixth place and producing 14.6 million tons of bauxite, about a mere 7% of the world bauxite production. Things have gotten even worse. By 2017, with a levy of US$1.50 per metric ton plus a US$0.50 per metric ton royalty, bauxite brings in only about US$3.8 million. And, this pittance is probably one of the top sources of income for Jamaica, for which Jamaica is so grateful.

 
The Jamaican Dollar

Do you remember pounds, shillings and pence? Well the Jamaica dollar replaced that old English currency. At that time the Jamaican dollar was worth more than the American dollar.  Seventy seven cents in Jamaican currency was equal to one US dollar. But over the years, the Jamaican dollar has tumbled so low that a Jamaican dollar is worth less than a single US cent and it is still falling.

In 1972 one US dollar  was equal to 77 Jamaica cents. Yes the Jamaican dollar was actually worth more than the yankee dollar. How things have changed! By the year 1992 one US doller was equal to Ja$22.22, by 2012 Ja$100 and by  2018 US$1 is equal to Ja$125 and still falling. The once proud Jamaican dollar is now worth less than a US cent. Jamaica is not alone by any means but this precipitous decline is a nightmare.

Third World Debt

Many developing countries, desperate to come up with enough money to pay their civil servants, teachers, police, nurses, doctors, come on their knees to agencies like the the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and World Trade Organization (WTO)..Many of these countries and billions of people are devastated under the burden of debt and trade policies to which they must submit. The developing world now spends $1.3 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives in grants. For example, Nigeria borrowed around $5 billion and has paid about $16 billion, but still owes $28 billion. In 1999, $128 million was transferred from the poorest countries to the richest for debt repayments What a racket!

Unfortunately, Jamaica is stuck in this racket. The IMF lends Jamaica US$2 billion. To round off the figures, let’s say that is equal to J$200 billion. Then the Jamaican dollar declines as it has been doing. The loan becomes a noose around Jamaica’s neck for as the Jamaican dollar depreciates, this means the money owed increases instead of getting lower despite payments. Besides, the IMF money comes with strings. They make conditions which affect public financial spending. Some of these conditions can be very draconian such as firing civil servants, cutting salaries of nurses and so on. It is a remarkable feat that Jamaica has been able to survive these loans.

Jamaica for Jamaicans only

One of the dire consequences of this precipitous decline of the Jamaican currency is the effect on real estate sales. As the currency rate drops, Jamaican real estate becomes more expensive to Jamaicans and cheaper to foreigners with stable currency. At this rate,  foreigners can gobble up Jamaican real estate for peanuts, and rent it back to Jamaicans. The more those currency rich foreigners buy up Jamaican real estate, the more expensive it would become and thus the less Jamaicans could afford it with their weak currency. Big prosperous strong-currency countries like America  and EU countries would never face such a risk.  So, currency devaluation could dispossess Jamaicans of their own land. I see no way out of this potential dilemma other than making the buying and selling of real estate limited to Jamaican citizens only. This seems drastic, but I see no alternative.