Jamaica at 49. What’s to Celebrate?

When I lived in Jamaica, we’d go to the beach regularly. My older male cousins were all good swimmers

and on one occasion, I asked one of them to teach me to swim. He led me out to where my feet no longer touched the sand. Then he let go of my hand and yelled as he turned towards shore, that I should swim.

I think of that incident now as I reflect on Jamaica’s 49 years, and take a personal assessment of how it has handled its own navigation as an independent nation.

In August, 1962, Jamaicans were giddy with the prospect of self-government after 300 years of British

rule. (There was a semi-independence period from the mid- to late 1930s under universal adult suffrage. Political parties were formed and the first election took place in 1944. Full independence came later, in 1962.)

There were the requisite celebrations – I was very young then but I do remember that the flurry of activity in the days leading up to the big day was like Christmas and New Year (two of the biggest holidays in Jamaica) all rolled into one. I could’ve gotten into as much trouble as possible and none of my adult relatives would have noticed, wrapped up as they were in the excitement of the time.

I remember the little flag and gold metal cup with the new coat of arms that each child was given. A man, I don’t remember who or whether the memory is my own or one that I created after hearing adults talk over and over about him, walking up and down our street in the early morning of Independence Day, shouting, “Freedom! Freedom!”

We wanted our freedom and got it. But freedom has a price.

Jamaicans exercised their freedom and voted in several leaders. Fiercely independent, it rejected regional federation when it was first proposed in the 1950s but became a founding member of CARICOM (Caribbean Community and Common Market) in 1973. Jamaica has been a member of the Non-Aligned Movement since 1970s and, as a former British colony, is a member of the Commonwealth.

Its biggest exports after its people are coffee, rum, sugar and bauxite; tourism its highest earner. Back when Jamaica became independent, it was the largest producer of bauxite and alumina, products that are needed to create aluminum. Jamaica is now the third largest producer after Australia and Guinea. Reggae music and sports have made Jamaica a recognizable brand.  Its Blue Mountain coffee is one of the most expensive in the world, its rum legendary, its athletes world class.

But Jamaica is treading water, waiting for leaders with vision to chart a new course and lead it out of the deep part of the ocean. Without it, the achievements of the last 49 years will continue to be overshadowed by its high debt ratio, low growth levels, inability develop a more diversified economy, reduce unemployment, and control crime. Without this new course, it will never reach shore.