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The View from Jamaica
Visiting New Haven, a Jamaican senator reflects on her home — and ours
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Business New Haven
11/27/2000
By: BNH
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Aloun Ndombet-Assammba is a senator in the Jamaican parliament. She addressed the Jamaican American Movement at the Marcus Garvey dinner November 18 at the Omni New Haven Hotel in New Haven. The group asserts that there are more than 80,000 people of Caribbean origin living in greater Hartford and New Haven. Like the U.S. Congress, the Jamaican Parliament consists of two houses: a Senate and House of Representatives. Members of the House of are elected by universal adult suffrage. The Senate comprises 21 members appointed by the Governor General - 13 recommended by the prime minister and eight by the leader of the opposition party. Ndombet-Assammba was appointed in1998 by Prime Minister P.J. Patterson. A lawyer, Ndombet-Assannba was educated at the University of the West Indies, Barbados campus. She is general manager of the Kingston Cooperative Credit Union.
To what party does the Prime Minister belong, and were you appointed because you were a party regular?
No. I was a supporter of the [Peoples National Party]. The prime minister said it was time for me to declare.
How large is Jamaica, and what are some of the other islands in the region?
We have about 2.5 million [population]. [We are near] Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada and St. Kitts.
Through the eyes of the credit union, how healthy is the current economy in Jamaica?
In the wider economy, things are slow and difficult. It is a challenge to get people to repay their loans. We've had in Jamaica a downturn in the economy and many businesses are laying off people. We've had problem in financial sector, the banking sector; the government has had to intervene to prevent a collapse. It has had to pump millions of dollars into the sector to prevent ordinary people from losing their savings. This has caused pressure on the government's ability to fund other programs.
What was the cause of the collapse?
In the Senate we have a committee looking at the reasons for the collapse. There are lots of reasons, but a full study hasn't taken place. Some people say it's been the high interest-rate regime. Some say mismanagement of the organizations, the banks themselves. Some say the leaders of the banks took more than their fair share of the profits. There is no consensus yet, [but] lots of explanations. Many of the banks began to dabble in investments that weren't their core functions. The government now has a lot of property that it has to sell and it has caused fallout in the entire economic climate.
How is tourism holding up?
That is our largest source of foreign exchange. We have a product that satisfies a wide range of needs, from a person looking for a little cottage in Negril, to the tourist that would come to the Half Moon resort, which recently was given a major tourism award as the most luxurious hotel in the world.
How is the economy doing in terms of diversifying beyond tourism?
In Jamaica, we're moving into technology: We're training people to take advantage of our close proximity to the U.S. for doing supporting jobs in technology. We're developing skills that can be used in call centers, for example, and we do already have several call centers. We're also building an informatics park. People there will write software programs and give support to high-tech industries.
We have three universities in Jamaica. In my own company, for example, 75 percent of my staff [of managers] will work for the whole day and then go to the school in the evening. This is a fairly new phenomenon. People are going to back to school. We also have a number of U.S. and British programs providing master's degrees.
I have ten managers, and six have just completed master's degrees. There is a real focus on improving educational capabilities and the government is supporting this. There is a program to upgrade schools. In Jamaica we have free public education up to the primary-school level. Education at the high-school level is highly subsidized. There is a consensus that primary education has to be free. We do have skills training for those in the post-secondary level who aren't going on to college.
What is the unemployment rate?
Unemployment is at about 18 percent.
What is the economy like in rural areas?
Farming, working in the tourism sector and some manufacturing. It is improving; the government is working with foreign investors to increase investment in tourism and services.
What about economic initiatives?
We're also trying to develop a film industry; this weekend we'll have our first Jamaican Film Festival. There is increasing investment in the technology sector, and some joint venture have recently been signed. We also recently sold cellular licenses.
Why is there so much travel by Jamaicans back to the Island?
There is a mystique about being a Jamaican; for a small country we have quite an effect on the world. There is a really strong connection between Jamaicans back to the country from wherever they are. They come back home to get themselves renewed - to hear the reggae music at the source, to hear the language spoken at its rawest sense.
What is the impact of the cocaine trade on the country?
It's widely accepted that that is a problem. And it has caused the level of corruption to increase. It is money that is so easily available. It has caused deaths and killings to increase. My own personal view is that the country is at serious risk. We are smack in the middle of the route between the producers and the consumers. We don't have the resources or the skills to fight that kind of threat on our own.
We hear about the impact of the drug trade on Columbia and the controversial programs designed to deal with it. Is there similar awareness about Jamaica?
Is it not understood in the public that this is going on? We are so small that the effect on us is multiplied; whereas in the U.S., you're so large - it might be a problem on the Eastern Seaboard, but it doesn't necessarily filter across the country.
What's happening to improve the country's infrastructure?
The road network is being improved substantially; we have some major road building activity. We have Highway 2000, connecting the two major cities - Montego Bay and Kingston - and we are building a highway around the perimeter of the island. Communications, in terms of telephone networks, are improving and we just signed an agreement with Cable & Wireless to provide additional 270,000 land lines. When [that is] completed we will have one telephone for every three persons. What's next is to build on the base. If we could just deal with the crime problem…
How can that happen?
Assisting with detection and being able to better prosecute cases. When you catch a dealer or trafficker, it's usually very hard to prove the case. I'm not so sure that I have the answers. [The drug trade] brings with it a level of corruption; even ordinary people can get pulled into the web. There are communities where you see a lot of money and you can't explain where it came from, so you just believe that drugs have been found and there's peddling. The irony is that you see a lot of money around, but it doesn't get into the government's coffers. Because of poor tax collection [practices], people evade paying taxes. [Businesses] collect, but don't pay it over to the government.
How active is the government in maintaining ties with Jamaican communities abroad?
Representatives from the government are always visiting the U.S. and other communities where there are Jamaicans. With the Internet and our newspaper and radio stations being on the Internet, it is even more possible to maintain those links.
Hamden Mayor Carl Amento said he would like to see a sister city in Jamaica. Any suggestions?
Yes: Saint Anne's Bay and Ocho Rios. The parish is one of historical significance, Saint Anne's Bay is where Marcus Garvey was born - and I live in that parish. We're trying to build a Marcus Garvey museum.
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