Can anyone tell me what is the main cause of poverty in Jamaica?

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jwizz5000

Many of the same reasons that resulted in poverty in the US and other Western countries, and yes we do have poverty in the US.

Chevloya_Sisters

We have the effect of bad leader, we squander our money and have a weak economy

maivas229

Corrupted leaders over the years.

Kaneka Majii

The politicians who care about themselves more than others and when they are in power, they abuse this power and misuse it, they use the money to do things that they are not suppose to, and they just sit back and become lazy, while others suffer. Plus! they get bribed easily by gunmen and druglords, drugs lords are a big problem in jamaica, and they even bribe people. Even some of the police follow this corruption by either being a druglord, and a police at the same time, and use the undercover as a excuse to get away with letting it look like they are doing undercover to solve a crime when in reality it was a mask of deceit. some gangs scare people by saying if they tell the police they will either rape them, but most of the time is killing is the choice amongst gunmen and criminals.

Sunshine Girl

Great answers - I live in Cayman and this is what I have seen about Jamaica from talking to Jamaicans.

The most obvious is politics and politicians making corrupt decisions.

Jamaicans have large families and kids are expensive.

There isnt a strong culture of education and not great education system.

Too many girls get pregnant young and too many boys impregnate them - young lives ruined.

Jamaica has a large population and people are cheap..employers dont have to pay them so much because there will be another person wanting that job.

To get away isnt easy...where do they go?The U.K?Cayman? - their life doesnt get fabulously better in these places - I've lived in London and seen this.

In the Caribbean region Jamaica is a hub for goods...i.e. many goods are first shipped there and then shipped to the rest of the Caribbean....this means a lot of money and goods is passing through some hands...and a lot of container ships to hide contraband in such as guns and drugs...put that with poor shipyard workers and corrupt officials...you have a problem.

webangelpb

Pebbles, you answer is very simplistic and it has all the characteristics of youth and naivete. There are many people who work hard all their lives and still struggle to find two pennies to drop in the piggy bank at the end of the day.

The answer to this question is quite complex, but I would put a lot of blame at the feet of our leaders. Over the decades since our Independence we've had very selfish and greedy leaders whose sole goal have been to ensure that they, their family and friends would never be poor again. To that end, they have not make decisions that were in the best interest of the country and, in fact, often the citizens end up paying for these self-serving decisions in a number of ways.

They have consistently refused to raise the salaries of teachers causing the best ones to jump at any opportunity they get to work overseas leaving only the "bottom-feeders" to educate the next generation.

They have consistently borrowed from the World Bank and (in the past) the IMF and agree to terms and conditions that enable subsidized farmers from the US and Europe to flood our markets with their cheap surplus goods with which our local farmers cannot compete.

They make deals with foreign entities that often end up being to the detriment of the people. The sale of our light and power company to the once-bankrupt Mirant is one such deal. Also the building of Highway 2000 which was contracted to a French company who borrowed the money for the project at a high interest rate and our "leaders" agreed to serve as guarantor for the loan!!

As Buju says...."Ah could go on and on the full has never been told."

gerdionne

To Pebbles and all of you other misinformed individuals. Jamaica is a developing country, not a first world country. Which means that we face many challenges. The images of Jamaica that have been portrayed in the media is not all of what Jamaica is or is about. While we may have our problems, I am yet to come across an individual who is on the verge of death because they are hungry. Pebbles, I am sure you are not as brilliant and productive as the many Jamaicans who have helped to build your country and other countries throughout the world. We are a people full of talent and accomplishments. If you look around the world, you will be sure to find many brilliant Jamaicans in top ranks in the most developed countries of the world. WE ARE NOT LAZY. DONT LET THE MISGUIDED AND MOST HIGHLIGHTED FEW FOOL YOU. The main cause of our problems are bi-products of years of corrupted leaders. Check the books and you will see.

stingjam

#1 POLITICAL HISTORY
#2 SLAVERY (with subsqeuent effects accentuated by corrupt leaders)
#3 A WEAK JUSTICE SYSTEM

Those who were handed the keys to this country 50 years ago were either unqualified or corrupt. The generations that have followed have been worst. When Jamaica became an 'independent' country in 1962, the years before and after saw britain investing heavily in this country, but those who were in charge decided to initiate political cultures that were inherently corrupt.

DEBT:
A small amount of corruption eventually became enough to put the country into DEBT, without having assets to pay off the debt (not even a sufficently educated workforce or decent roads). The following was true of our leaders then:

1. They dealt with 'poor citizens' in one way. Realizing that most were not educated enough to understand what a 'macro-economic con' was.
2. They dealt with thier friends families and cronies in a completly different way, amplifying the rift between the rich and the poor. Even TODAY there are polictians allowing friends and family to TRIPLE invoices for government contracts.
3. They sheltered drug traffickers (many of them were IN FACT at least indirectly involved in heavy drug trafficking),

4. Many businessmen, drug traffickers (and politicians) didnt even PAY TAXES on thier criminal incomes. Some traffickers/criminals/politicians paid little or no taxes on LEGITIMATE incomes. The sent MOST of thier riches to foreign banks. Jamaica's only 'profit' from being a transhipmment point was in the abundance of guns and 'dons' with a few big houses and big cars. The money didnt stay here and what stayed wasn't taxed.

SLAVE HISTORY AND ITS IMPLICATIONS:
Historically, a huge section of the countries habitants are the descendants of slaves. They are people whose parents, thier grandparents and great grand parents didnt even own a piece of land. Even those who DID have a land to live on had very little EDUCATION to develop it with.

People in these positions depend HEAVILY on the things that society puts in place to help them - free education, health or even cheap roads or transportation. If the political system doesn GIVE them, they have no other way of getting it.

It is true that Many families have defied these odds, but success has been like a LOTTERY because the leaders failed to put things in place so that more hardworking youths could become successful.

JUSTICE TODAY:

The justice system shoud theroetically be able to correct this all, and send corrupt people and politicians to jail but,

1. Juries are weak, since many of them can't even understand the significance of 'scientific evidence'. They education system is reflected in the jury pool. Jurors can also be bribed.
2. Judges are often willing to play towards social stereotypes unless faced with hard facts.
3. Police are also more into shooting than investigating. They dont gather evidence well enough (education system failing again) and basically they build very weak cases. They can convict an 'unimportant' poor man who the jury wouldnt like, but RARELY can they convict a man who can afford a good attourney and some good bribe money. Conviction is even less probable if the accused has social status as a 'upstanding citizen too wealthy to be involved with such things'.

Despite all of this, the way to FIX all of this is to fix the court system (one way or the other). Once people become accountable the nation will build capital quicker.

More justice=Less crime..more tourism..less corruption...more efficent public spending...more education...more health.

A Justice System is what holds societies together. It makes agreements valid, it makes robbery and murder unlawful.

Hank H

drugs and drug lords, mon

Pebbles

When people are lazy and don't want to work. If you try to work and save you won't have so much poverty.

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