Two exciting announcements

TOURISM HAS been Jamaica’s success story over several decades, and continuing its streak, it has coughed up what promises to be yet another winner. It might seem blasé to us because we have been talking forever about Port Royal’s development potential. In fact, give Urban Development Corporation’s (UDC) former Deputy General Manager Robert Stephens his due; he could be dubbed Mr Port Royal, having carried the town’s hoped-for-restoration on his back for years. But every time there was a glimmer of hope, it turned out to be a promise that deceived.

Port Royal seemed, for all those wishing and hoping, such a natural for redevelopment given its history, location, and rich heritage.

Situated at the mouth of Kingston Harbour, it was at one time the largest city in the Caribbean where shipping and commerce flourished. Pirates, outlaws, and buccaneers sauntered in and out with their plundered loot while many of them called Port Royal home. Debauchery and decadence assured the city’s pre-eminence and top billing as “the wickedest city in the west”. A massive earthquake and tsunami in 1692 placed much of the city, along with ships in the harbour, underwater, making it one of the richest repository of historic shipwrecks.

A few days ago, there was an announcement that something big, something meaningful, is in the offing with the Port Authority constructing a pier for cruise ships at Port Royal. The expectation is, if we build it, that the cruise ships will come. If this happens, it will be a boon for Port Royal, St Thomas, Kingston, and its environs. An encouraging sign was Carnival Cruise Line executives who were on hand for the announcement, and though they did not commit, the concept seemed to have tickled their fancy.

HERITAGE SITE EXPERIENCE

To capture a vibrant Port Royal and ensure a seamless linkage with the cruise pier, the UDC is undertaking the requisite planning and redesign of this historic place where Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson was once stationed. Just imagine experiencing the heritage site, including the sunken city and what’s above ground!

The next major announcement to me was Audley Shaw going to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries. In Jamaica, it is always easy to put down people rather than appreciate them for what they are worth, how well they serve their country, or what they bring to the table in terms of skill sets, experience, and achievements. Surprisingly, some members of the media and others who voiced their opinion relished the word demotion for Shaw in the recent Cabinet reshuffle.

If you were prime minister, you would take stock of some worrying statistics needing urgent attention, and realise the significant role that the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, and Fisheries must play in addressing these negatives. More important, you would have to look at your entire executive and ask yourself who is the best person to take charge and achieve results and Shaw has an advantage. Even using the principle of comparative advantage between the Ministry of Finance and Shaw’s new ministry, Shaw would be a standout.

WORRYING STATISTICS

1. Our visible trade deficit which has been worsening for years showed imports exceeding exports by more than US$4 billion, last year. With exports lagging far behind at a time when we are importing so much food that it could be argued that we are not optimising the land. This is disheartening when one considers how much land is idle while youth unemployment remains high.

2. With tourism recording impressive annual increases in arrivals to post a record four million visitors last year, both agriculture and industry should have had robust growth in recent years.

3. The agricultural sector with more than 200,000 farmers is the largest employer by sector locally, and when it underperforms, as is the case for several years, the economy follows suit.

4. Look at agriculture with its limited application of technology, with praedial larceny stalking the land, with limited or no insurance, with an absence of a centralised marketing system, including collection, storage, grading, processing, marketing and distribution, and decent markets, and you know the sector is in need of transformation.

5. Coconut production, still reeling from the effects of lethal yellowing, and milk production, which at one time was 30 million litres and is now 13 million litres because of large-scale importation of milk powder some years ago, require a major turnaround. And, yes, there are the ongoing problems with sugar and coffee.

Shaw has a fondness for his country, a sharp mind, an engaging personality, and a marketing and sales talent, which are unique and special. After a slow start at finance in the first go around in 2007, he eventually mastered his craft to the point where he could stand toe to toe with IMF and with other finance ministers, move fluidly in international money and capital markets, and renegotiate tough credit arrangements.

Shaw’s natural communication skills; his direct involvement in business which sensitised him to the hardship businesses face at times with cash flow, payroll, onerous loan rates, money on the road; his seven-year stint as minister of finance; his relentless marketing of Jamaica a few years after he graduated from Northern Illinois University and was responsible for JAMPRO’s (formerly JNIP) marketing and overseas office; create in many a hope. If anyone can pull off what the country is asking, it could be the affable, no-nonsense, extremely optimistic minister from the parish of Manchester.

Mark Ricketts is an economist, author and lecturer. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and rckttsmrk@yahoo.com