Is Jamaica a failing state?

Ronald Mason, Contributor

Doing the same thing the same way over and over and expecting a different outcome is a sign of lunacy. However, has this not become a national trait?

We build roads, roads and more roads - we now rival Japan for the highest road density in the world - yet most of these roads are poorly constructed, providing bone-jarring experiences as we travel across them. But all is not lost. The contractors, the same ones over and over, keep getting the contracts and keep getting away with shoddy, inferior work.

I wonder if, in this regard, we are well on our way to failing-state status.

Let's evaluate another aspect of national life in which we keep doing the same things with the same persons frequently and expect different outcomes. Having become politically independent for nearly 51 years, we have persons in both major parties elected for 20, 30 and even 40 years. Today our Parliament is less respected than it was 50 years ago. Recall the rabble-rousing 'unfish-like' behaviour, there being no body of water within the confines of Gordon House?

What has this legacy brought us? High inflation, a sliding dollar, low productivity, wasted proceeds from the diminishing bauxite assets, failed financial institutions, low GDP annual growth, and an even higher debt burden.

The parliamentarians in their respective governments have given us IMF 1, IMF 2, IMF 3, JDX, NDX 1 and NDX 2, yet Jamaica is not better off. I wonder if, in this regard, we are well on the way to failing-state status.

VARIOUS EXAMS

In education, we have had Jamaica Local Exams, first, second and third year, Junior Cambridge, Higher Schools' Certificate, Jamaica School Certificate, City & Guilds, JAMAL and Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning. To accommodate all these options, we have built primary schools, comprehensive schools, new secondary schools, technical and high schools. We have provided parish scholarships, Common Entrance, GSAT.

Still, approximately 70 per cent of the total high-school cohort, after five years of attendance, leave school and end up on the job market as unemployable or grossly underemployed. They present themselves seeking employment with a piece of paper titled 'School-leaving Certificate'. This document isn't even an adequate replacement for the dual use of newsprint.

In 1973, there was a worldwide oil crisis. From '73-74, gas prices rose in Jamaica by 172 per cent. This, rightly, was cause for deep concern, as we import all the oil we use. Oil is the fuel used to generate electricity in Jamaica, and despite all the talk, we have had minimal diversification in source.

In 1975, this country, in a blaze of intellectual energy, proposed a 'Petrojam' to aid in solving our energy crisis. In 1979, Petrojam was established. The Office of Utilities Regulation was created. A ministry charged with responsibility for energy came into being. Today, we have the same energy failings buffered only by the generosity of the now dearly departed Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. The electricity-generating plants are generally obsolete, and electricity now costs US$0.40 per kilowatt-hour. I wonder if, in this regard, we are well on our way to failing-state status.

In January 1944, a Mr A.J. Wakefield presented a lengthy report with recommendations for the rehabilitation of the Jamaican coffee industry. This report emanated from "a dire need to rehabilitate the sensitive Jamaican coffee industry and amalgamate the various grow and processing works involved in the manufacture of Jamaican coffee". (Stacyann Bennett, Coffee Industry Board, 2009.)

This report spoke to providing significant funds to put the industry on sound footing. The funds involved amounted to a grant of £63,500 interest free for the first five years. What is the state of coffee today? Coffee, indeed all agriculture, is not realising its potential. I wonder if, in this regard, we are well on our way to failing-state status.

The Constitution drafted to usher in our political Independence for 1962 prescribed for us the Westminster model. This model assumes strong public ethics, the understanding of societies' needs, and the role elected politicians play in all of governance.

Think long, think hard and tell me how frequently we have been able to take pride in the manner by which our elected representatives did themselves and us proud by their actions, where matters of impropriety arose or were alleged. To speak that we have no history of resignations from public office when these occasions present themselves is to take the path of least resistance.

constitutionally ineligible

We have not had much more than cursory homage paid to the Constitution by the politicians. It took 17 years to have significant constitutional reform, with the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms. Politicians in both parties sought election to Parliament, knowing they were constitutionally ineligible. We cannot conclude a significant constitutional debate on republican status, the Queen of England as head of state, and the ultimate highest court of our judiciary. This continues nearly 51 years after our Independence. I wonder if, in this regard, we are well on our way to failing-state status.

In nearly 51 years of Independence, we have yet to forge the bonds of nationalism. We, today, are more likely to give our national identity couched in the language of political party loyalty.

When will we make the quantum leap to claim the legacy of our national heroes and heroines? When will the hallmark of unity be second nature in all things, beyond patriotic displays in sporting triumph? Is this the best we have to offer, or are we a failing state?

Ronald Mason is an attorney-at-law and mediator. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and nationsagenda@gmail.com.