Even with years and years of steady tourism, why is Jamaica so poor?

Show all answers

vybes_souljah

Too much mis-managment. The governments of the Caribbean were all structured by the British to grow in the global economy. The majority were structured into a single Federation and were to be spun off from the U.K. The U.K. had a vestred interest in seeing success of this because the U.K. wanted to be rid of the territory so that the Brits. could focus on their own reconstruction following WW II. Anyway all islands had an Industry. Jamaica had the Alumina/Bauxite industry. Trinidad and Tobago had oil and pitch. Guyana which didn't join was none-the-less the "Breadbasket" for the region. The smaller islands were mainly into Tourism and acted as a market for the larger states to obtain more personell for their future growth. Anyway the Federation collapsed and each isle determined their own terms for internal independence from the U.K. Jamaica has been plauged by politicians praying on the poor. While Jamaica did have a booming Bauxite industry the politicians have turned Jamaicans against one another. They have formed gangs which do their dirty work. Also politicians in Jamaica ONLY tend to look out for their own supporters allowing the rest of society not to benefit. So this turned into corruption and other negative things. Gangs brought other negative elements to Jamaica like the drugs trade from South America etc.

It is true about what someone else said when the Caribbean currencies were pegged to the Pound or Gold the currencies in the Caribbean used to be worth more than the US$... But they've all left that standard and pegged their currencies to the US$ and all the IMF and other agencies keep telling Caribbean nations to do is "Devalue your dollar so you can compete." But whenever you devalue that spreads lack of confidence in the local currency which leads to another devaulation usually years later. Jamaica's currency is now something like Jamaican$70 to a single US$. Sad!

Bob D

There are 3 main reasons for this:

One is that the government is corrupt. Most of the tourist dollars to not help with infrastructure and education, etc., as most countries would do with "windfalls" ....instead they waste the money on stuff that does nothing for the country as a whole. Even when things happen to HELP the country like "Road 2000" where the major road from Negril to Port Antonio was to be built new, 3 different companies were used because company A & B did not do a proper job and took lots of money for shotty work....plus who knows how many payoffs were made. Now its 2009 and the road STILL is not complete ! Things like that contribute to the ineptness of how things are done in JA.

And secondly, your right, Jamaica has a huge foreign debt, which collects interest everyday and most likely will never be satisfied. The mismanagement of financial obligations in addition to the corruption described above, insures that Jamaica remains a third world country ( developing nation, LOL ! )....how can you develope for 500 years & get nowhere, and the US has developed barely 230 years and is on top ?

The third & most crucial to the problem is this : The Jamaican ppl do not want to prosper. It shows in their actions. Everything can wait, theres no hurry to get anything done, theres the lack of customer service, no one complains or boycots companies or stores that don't do right. The ppl who run the stores don't act as though they're happy your there, you can't reach the owner to complain, and the people continue to use their services as if THEY are doing them a favor. Jamaicans live for the moment, and getting an extra dollar NOW means more than the possibilty of getting MORE dollars in the future by doing right by their customer, therefore eliminating the customer base and running themselves out of business !

Jamaica will only prosper when Jamaicans take business ventures seriously and do whats right. Moving fast & coming up with better ideas and ways of doing things to make life easier is just NOT in the cultural mindset & is doomed to failure from the start.

Kacy

every1 knows y jamaica is poor but some dont want 2 admit it. years ago jamaica was in a state where jamaicans didnt care about $us bcuz it was equivalent 2 jamaican dollars. but what happened? the GOVERNMENT! ye thats when jamaican went downhill and thats the PNP of 18 yrs. its really sad 2 know and say jamaican is beyond repair, jus look at the value of or currency now, and it keeps devaluing. nevertheless its a beautiful island which i will forever love : ). ha.

cutty

jamaica dont have much resource it main resource is tourisim. other countries have more resource. they have some places in jamaica that very nice. that guy who answer you question what about america what going to happen to america since it run by a black man. he doing good so far

gusto71

The Queen of England started it along time ago. Money goes to the rich people that own the resorts and their cohorts. For the most part they do not care about the jamaicans. Most rich people had slaves and and love free labor!

mommydst5

Even though Bob D is the top contributor, i would have to agree with VYBES_SO...

Jamaica's natural resource which is Bauxite which is one of the islands riches resources is being controlled by the government. The ore is found in the central part of the island. There is literally a whole there. And the work is contracted out no islanders work that mine.

As far as tourism... outsiders own the resorts and tour companies. The islanders are hoping to make a buck off of us by souvenirs and t-shirts.

That my take on the matter.

Patrick O

The wealth is in the hands of a very select few.

Tanya

Yes they do have extensive debts and while tourism is one of the leading industries it really does not compare to the tourism industry in many other countries. Unfortunately lack of education contributes enormously because for a very long time Jamaicans living in Jamaica was hooked to the idiotic ideology that Foreign goods and produces were better than their local ones. Many still share this belief, for no other reason than simply because of the simple minded thinking that everything from foreign is better.

Another reason would be bad governing which got us in these debts in the first place.

Headin South

Their previous government used to be pretty corrupt.

Bob D

It started from the 70's with Michael Manley and his socialism idea. This ruin Jamaica. He wanted to knock head with Castro and turn Jamaica into communism.

Brown eyes

Jamaica was born poor and it will die poor. do u want to become jamaica accountant.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: