By Michael Spence
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| Michael Spence |
Rescue the perishing; care for the dying. Jamaica, all hands and feet on board.
Where are the great and decent human beings to manage the bundle of rogues in our economics and politics?
Are there any plans to bring in persons from overseas and elsewhere to rescue the political parties and local politics from degeneration and further contamination and to drive Jamaica's global productive elevation?
The numbers tell a story. In 2025, Jamaica imported US$7.6 billion in goods and exported US$1.9 billion, a deficit of over US$5 billion. We have moved from approximately 193,000 registered motor vehicles in 2015 to over 750,000 in 2024, now heading to 800,000. We are importing vehicles, fuel, and parts on borrowed foreign exchange, collecting consumption taxes, and paving roads to accommodate more vehicles.
Where is Jamaica going productively? Or are we operating a marginally productive, entertaining, motorized pyramid scheme economic model?
There are partial answers on the table:
- The Prime Minister in May 2026 indicated we must import skilled workers to rebuild after Hurricane Melissa.
- The Opposition Leader in June 2026 at the Diaspora Conference in Montego Bay proposed integrating the diaspora into governance via service on over 100 public boards.
- The government is advancing an investor residency programme and a Global Jamaica Immigration Card for overseas Jamaicans.
Yet none of these is a formal plan to rescue the political parties themselves from degeneration.
That rescue must still come from within—from citizens' associations, civil society, and the ballot.
We need to shift from a consumption-import model to a production-export model, or the road will soon run out.
Michael Spence
Michael Spence is a graduate of Cornwall College and the University of the West Indies. He is a trained teacher, a sociologist, and a writer for Bark Di Trute.
Micspen2@hotmail.com
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It is interesting that the pictures wanted men are placed immediately below this article. This, to my mind, is a major part of our problem as a country. What are we doing to rescue our young people and our boys in particular? We fail to see that our poor family values as a serious concern. It is stifling our development cause we are failing our boys miserably. As a female, I tell you, sometimes it irks me when we get fixated on programmes to help our girls and little to nothing for our boys, as if we women don't need our men folk. Why not have equal focus on the sexes with our developmental programmes? And, let us be clear, the problem with our boys is everybody's problem, not just the politicians. We seem to think that all our problems reside at the feet of politicians and they alone should fix them. Where are the men who are willing to offer themselves as mentors for a wayward boy or two? Females need to decide to not have any children for irresponsible men and to place a high premium on herself so we don't continue to be the country with the highest rate of "Jackets" in the world. We all need to see it as our responsibility to save the Jamaican family.
ReplyDeleteWe know what the problems are but who will implement the solutions. I was in charge of a national youth programme working with the youths. There were many boys involved.. It has now closed down. There were approximately 10,000 young people and 1,000 adult volunteers involved. We need a programme like that again. Meny young people were helped by that programme.
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