Sections of Negril have been complaining about the unavailability of water and the Hotel sector in particular are bemoaning the fact that they have to spend so much money to truck water to their hotels to satisfy the needs of their guest.
Mr McNeil saw it fit to go on record to address the issue, but I thought his comments in part exhibited poor judgement or maybe just poor choice of words and makes a very strong case for Members of Parliament not being Government Minister.
The member of parliament wanted to remind business operators that he must think about the welfare of his constituents in this crises and while he understands the concerns of the tourism business operators as Tourism Minister he wants them to be more understanding . ( Not sure how you communicate this to your guest who forked out US$1000’s for a vacation in paradise and expect a basic commodity such as water. I guess the MP believes somehow that the hotel operators can spin that to his/her guest. If he thought he was such a good spinner, why not go and address the guest at the airport as they arrive on those AA airlines that we are paying top dollars to taking guest in.)
He lamented the fact that water truck operators were “raiding” the NWC water supply system to satisfy the need of hotel operators, but this action was resulting in low water pressure in the water supply system for everyone else.
This statement serves or could serve to “setup” the hotel operators against the residents, since it could be inferred that the hotels are the ones responsible for the low water pressure as a result of their actions in paying trucks to delivery water to their properties.
The fact is ( for those who are unaware , is that Negril has been having this water supply problem from as far back as in 2000 ( and possibly before that time). I recall many hotels such as Grand Lido Negril, Hedonism II, Point Village resorts, would have been spending thousands of dollars to purchase water from truck operators. ( Sandals Beaches was fortunate to have a desalination plant on site and so suffered less than the other properties)
Thirteen years late, Bloody Bay has developed even further, more rooms have been added, a new sewage system was put in place, but it does not appear that much work has been done on the water supply system.
The NWC increased its revenue as a result of the sewage supply system because hotel operators not only had to pay for each gallon of water it received, they also had to pay sewage cost for the equivalent gallon of water..
Eg Water Received = 10,000 Gal ,
Water Charges = 10,000 x $ water rate per gallon
Sewage charges = 10,000 Gal x $ rate per gallon
The question is what was this increase revenue used to do and why it was not pumped back into improving the water supply system at Logwood and at the Great River Pumping station.
So Mr McNeil, what is the long-term plan to address the Negril water supply system or is that awaiting the conclusion of an IMF deal. 🙂
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Warren's Blog 
I think McNeil’s comment is spot on. For too long successive govts have sought to develop Jamaica around the needs of tourists and a few Jamaicans who benefit tremendously. I have been advocating for years that the development of Jamaica should be structured around the needs of the general population and as a result issues like negril’s would not arise. The high crime rate, unemployment and underemployment and Anancyism have been a direct result of the myopic view of the leadership that continues to facilitate what slavery and colonialism successfully did. The continued extraction of wealth from our Country.
I happen to agree with everything you said above. The whole All-Inclusive Hotel concept spelt doom for the average Jamaican to derive any direct benefits from the tourist that visit our shores. These All-Inclusive Hotels now control the entire chain from the point of entry/exit all the way to the excursion tours. Tourists spends very little (if anything) outside of these hotels, when compare to days gone by (1960 -1980s). Even when they visit attractions outside of the hotels, which only a small percentage participate in), they spend only a minute amount of funds at these venues. These All-Inclusive Hotels arrange all the tours, paid only a faction of the normal cost to the Operators, making a number of these Operators teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. They tell their guest that tipping is not required, even outside of the Hotels!
Within their own Hotels, their Gift Shop (or shops run by other non-Jamaican lessees) pretty much offer the same merchandise that are sold at the local crafts market, albeit, at higher prices. Small properties find it hard to compete with the bigger chains, making it a day-to-day struggle for smaller operators to erk out a profit due to low occupany levels.
Then we have the Environmental impacts of these Hotels which line our very fagile coastal zones. We hear of the horror stories of raw (untreated) sewerage being piped/dumped off shore. So we are building these mega hotels, who any plans in place to meet the water/sewerage demands. Why are we surprised that there are water problems in these resort areas? NWC cannot even provide new Water Meters Islandwide, apparently since they cannot afford to import them. New Housing developments are being hooked to the water supply system without Meters (same for replacement broken Water Meters) and Owners given estimate bills.
Guys,
We, invite these people to invest in Jamaica and as a result there are some basic amenities that must be provided as a part of this process.
We sell Jamaica as a tourism paradise, so how can anyone think its ok for us not to provide for them when they arrive at our shores.
The tourist and the tourism operators are not the problem, instead its our lazy Jamaican people who choose not to look after their own interest.
Have you seen people demanding to be part of the development process so that they can ensure that their concerns are taken on board.
What they have done instead is to allow the political parties do as they please as long as they the people support that the political party in power. When the next party wins they then demand all those amenities that were never provided before as afterall they cannot demonstrate against their own.
We have a huge problem of dis-interest in Jamaica until or unless the issue directly affects “me”.
Representatives are elected to address our concerns and it cannot be that yah so a PNP or JLP area, so we must vote this way or that even if it means nothing gets done.
We must change that approach.
We can address the issue of $US spending in Ja by tying the 10yr incentive to things like 60% of food must be local etc etc.
As for local participation, look at the Jamaican concept of a “market” . Ever heard unno stop behave so like unno deh market?
Who would want to go into the Jamaica Craft “market” , very few of us would had we been tourist and travelling to Jamaica.
All inclusive is contrary to what many think is the saving grace of Jamaica today. Given our bad crime rate very few would want to go to a hotel that does not provide with everything vs risking having your laptop or ipad stolen at some “villa”
Security is a major issue for any traveller.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from LIME.
While i do understand the concerns raised, we need to understand that the same behavioral patterns we criticize are directly related to the serious lack of opportunities that exist for our people. Tremendous amount of resources have been spent on addressing the symptoms of our problems and little on the actual problems.
Since the hotels have been having water problems for 13 years now, how many have INVESTED in methods that would alleviate their problems??? I wouldn’t spend a red penny on helping them unless they came up with viable plans that ensure that going forward & until the infrastructure is improved; they spend some money to help themselves! This folks is what passes for capitalism in Jamaica. MY taxes should be spent on helping them, while they do nothing to help themselves while getting a tax break from the government that me or you don’t get. But no, its easy to blame the politician because that means MR. Businessman can continue to be irresponsible and not properly plan for his business, yet reap all the sweet profits. If the business fails because they obviously don’t re-invest despite all the laws available to them to discount investments- its the politician’s FAULT for that too. Jay- you have no idea what responsibility & accountability are about. Here’s a tip, we are all in it, so more than one sector of the country needs to be held accountable.
KJ, you are absolutely correct!!
KJ you are spot on. Even the foreign hotel investors have concluded that the local hotel sector’s tax breaks and concessions go on for way too long.
You are spot here KJ.
McNeill is right.
Jay talks about this as if it is merely a problem of supply. But that is NOT the problem. Otherwise there would be no low water pressure in the pipes for local residents or periodic unavailability of water for local residents when the NWC delivers water to the hotels.
The low pressure means that there simply isn’t enough water to supply the 2.8 million people on the island PLUS the approximately 3 million visitors who come to the island each year (stop over visitors and cruise ship passengers).
In the case of Negril this is made worse by the fact that Negril has approximately 6,000+ locals but hosted over 350,000 tourists in 2008 alone: http://www.mona.uwi.edu/geoggeol/JamGeolSoc/CJES%20Web%20page/CJESpdf/CJES%2043-04-RhineyNegril.pdf
The 350,000 don’t all come at once though because Negril (at least in 1999) has over 5,000 hotel rooms (see same source; it would seem by 2008 Negril had 6,700 hotel rooms). Thus in essence Negril has 6,000 locals and probably just as many tourists on a good day (and about 4,000 tourists on an average day). So NWC has to cater to the needs of 10-12,000 people while only being supplied with the money necessary to provide expansion of the water supply by the fraction of the 6,000 locals who earn enough to pay income tax. That is not long-term sustainable.
If the hotels get tax breaks and tourists do not pay income tax or property tax (only paying GCT and airline taxes and perhaps a few hotel taxes), where is the money going to come from to increase the water supply in order to sustain the 2.8 million locals, 24,000 stop-over tourists (who can stay in any of the 24,007 rooms available on the island NOT including visitors who stay with relatives) and the thousands of cruise ship passengers who will visit at any given time? Sure the hotels pay for each gallon of water (which by the way would only really cover the cost of the gallon of water delivered) and has to pay for the equivalent gallon of sewage. But all that really does is ensure there is enough money for the delivery of water and the flushing of sewage (if I am not mistaken it is the NWC’s mission to deal with sewage as well, so I would HOPE hotels pay them for that service too).
Jay refers to increased revenue, but doesn’t tell us if this comes against increased expenditure for the need to deliver water to and handle sewage from 350,000 tourists in Negril.
At the end of the day the hotels are being parasitic. Jay is right that they have come here to invest and need to be provided with certain basic amenities. But even basic amenities are NOT free (otherwise they would be “free amenities”) and we can’t seriously call what they are doing “investing” if their business model is to put just enough money in to build a hotel and then derive tax breaks for what seems like an eternity while receiving benefits derived from the tax contributions of others (such as the expansion of power generating capacity or the expansion of the water supply through the digging of new wells or building desalination plants) and taking the profits offshore while ensuring visitors never leave their properties and use up all their spending money in the hotel. All the while bawling about how they aren’t getting more tax breaks or support from the institutions and duly elected representatives of the people in the country they claim to be investing in. That is NOT investment.
Investment would mean using even a fraction of their huge profits (and utilizing all those tax breaks and discounts they would get via law for further (REAL) investment) to build desalination and wastewater recycling/treatment systems for their hotels or for hotel chains in the area. Heck even competing hotels could pool together investments for such systems as the savings would benefit them all as well as benefiting the host country (which is what investment is supposed to do). This way it decreases pressure on the water supply and allows the NWC to provide better service to all of its remaining customers. Such investments would also SAVE the hotels money over the long term (and if they aren’t thinking about the long term then why are they here and what kind of “investment” is that?). More money saved = higher profits in the future.
What KJ suggests is a win-win for everyone: hotels need to re-invest some of what they have reaped in order to gain more. It’s a simple as that. Blaming others, including McNeill for acknowledging the uncomfortable truth is pointless and short-sighted.
So its, blame the investor for investing in Jamaica. Sounds great.
We have a huge water supply problem in Kingston, so why not blame the residents and businesses in Kingston for the water supply problem we have having.
The issue is one of lack of planning for development and we as a country have done a very poor job over the last 40 yrs or so.
I am on record of saying these tax breaks are not tied to anything and as such it needs to be changed, but we cannot blame the investor for that, its our political directorate which must shoulder the blame.
If we are going to continue to seek FDI into Jamaica then our conditions for such investment must be different and those incentives must be tied to something vs the existing approach.
You cannot tell an investor (as is being suggested here), that having come and invested under the condition that the country will provide amenities at a cost of course, that you now have to plough your earnings into development of water supply system for your properties.
That process instead should be on the front ie you say, well as part of the condition of your investment, you over the ten yr period must develop a water supply system to provide 80% of your needs within x amount of years.
These are long term investments and it takes years for investors to regain their initial investment, so to after the fact tell them well, we can no longer provide you water and you have to go find it on your own, is not the kind of message we would want to be sending.
Jamaica is losing much needed FDI because as a country we lack foresight and tend to do what is political expedient at the time vs what is right.
5 years from now when McNeil is in opposition, he will be speaking about the GOJ dereliction of duty in not improving the Negril water supply system and how that will prevent more investors from coming in and driving those already in away.
The problem with water supply is a national issue and must be addressed as such .
You are missing the point jay.
I’m not blaming the “investor” for “investing” in Jamaica, because what they are doing is clearly not “investment” but “carpet-bagging” (you would do well to learn the difference).
And we CAN blame the residents and the businesses for the water supply problem in Kingston because Kingston has MANY unplanned communities, many immigrants from the countryside and many illicit connections as well as many people and businesses who do NOT pay taxes (you know, the money which would be used to increase the water supply through new sources of water?). I can and will blame them for the current situation because if they paid taxes and went along with the various attempts at regularization over the years (and if there were no illegal connections) there wouldn’t BE a water supply or delivery problem as NWC would probably long ago have been allocated enough money to build some proper desalination and water recycling plants. Full stop.
You can try to twist it all you want, but the fact is in both Kingston and Negril there is NOT enough water for all the people there (whether they be locals, tourists, squatters or tax evaders) and based off the money derived from the people there. It’s not an issue of putting in enough pipes to pump from the current supply.
You are basically arguing that naturally dry areas (Kingston is in the rain-shadow of the blue mountains and will NEVER be as wet and lush as Portland; Negril is a coastal area with no large rivers and the only large body of water (the Morass) cannot be utilized without forever rendering the area unsuitable for man or beast in the long term) only need to have proper planning in order to sustain a population which is too high and which does not pay its fair share towards said planning. That’s ludicrous.
Jon,
Regulation and proper planning is the problem plain and simple.
All within the ambit of those government and its agencies for which we are paying taxes to support.
If they do there job then we have less of the very issues which have been highlighted here and until they do their jobs, we will continue to have the problems we are having.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from LIME.
And you must be joking if you think we cannot tell the investor that they shouldn’t re-invest their money into projects which will SAVE them MORE money in the long term.
Well actually you are right, we can’t tell them to be smart.
But we CAN tell them that the current supply is insufficient and that if they want to continue receiving said amenities in the manner they are accustomed to then they would do well to take advantage of the MANY tax breaks they were granted to invest in equipment to make their operations more efficient. It’s just as when I would do well to take advantage of a tax break to install solar electricity in order to ensure uninterrupted power supply for my own business as JPS eventually finds they have to charge more due to increased population pressures and fuel prices. I can either sit here like a dunce and expect JPS to provide me as a business owner (and thus an “investor” in my own country) with the same supply at the same cost regardless of external circumstance, OR I can take advantage of the benefits given to me in the form of tax breaks to make my business more competitive. The choice is mine and the choice is theirs.
If they don’t want to do that and eventually find there just isn’t enough water and that tourists take their business elsewhere (like say Thailand) then that is their loss AND the country’s loss.
The fact is that ALL businesses in ANY capitalist system need to re-invest SOME (not ALL) of their profits in order to increase efficiency and gain more in the long term through savings.
Heck, a proper investment could eventually see them SELLING water to NWC. But apparently one shouldn’t tell them that according to you lest we scare them off with brilliant ideas.
Investors or Exploiters Jay? Huge gap between the two?
The discussion about capital investment in infrastructural development MUST be at the discussion stage and NOT after the investor has invested based on certain assurances given by the Government of Jamaica.
We have this uncanning ability to renege on promises made and or assurances given and hence we have become a very untrustworthy country.
The only blame I would lay on the investors was there failure to do proper research on the area before they invest least they be given a 6 for a 9 by politicians who want to boast about how much FDI they brought into the country.
The tourism product in Jamaica is in trouble and is about to fall into more problems until we change our though process.
Jamaica the land of wood and water, really ?
We have over the last few years have spent no less than US$1B on road works and all this time no consideration was given to the development of the water supply system.
Our regulatory agencies have allowed houses to be developed on the water shed areas like long mountain, ops its not the agencies fault, its the fault of the people who choose to live their.
You are spot on when you suggest we blame the people , surely if they they our leaders more accountable, then maybe just maybe we would not be here discussing what is symptomatic of a Jamaican culture where nothing gets done and we blame everyone else.
Name one service that is provided by government that satisfies the need of ordinary Jamaicans ( forget the tourist for the time being).
Therein lies the problem !
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Jamaica-open-for-business
We had better tell them come prepared to also invest in water and electricity supply system, garbage disposal facilities, road works and housing for their workers.
“Regulation and proper planning is the problem plain and simple”
“The discussion about capital investment in infrastructural development MUST be at the discussion stage and NOT after the investor has invested based on certain assurances given by the Government of Jamaica.”
Jay, you cannot be serious. You support the idea that local businesses should move to solar power where possible and that the government should give tax incentives for the same. So why should the local investor have to face reality and re-invest his profits accordingly but the foreign investor be protected for eternity in bubble wrap?
If you support the move of PRIVATE businesses into solar there is no logical reason you should oppose these same companies into water recycling, desalination and rainwater capture. It only makes economic sense and will benefit everyone.
The idea that must be done at the discussion stage and never afterwards is rubbish as taken to the logical extreme it would mean that ANY hotel built before 1990 should still have light, water and telephone services provided entirely by the government and that NO hotel built before the 1990s should have access to the internet, or at least access to the internet based on modern technology….because of course when those investors were invited into Jamaica it was in an environment of government controlled utilities for light, water and telephones and with no internet or the most basic form of the internet.
Clearly that is not what happens and would be considered absurd if proposed seriously to these hotels. The fact is that we don’t live in a museum but in an ever changing world. And successful companies in the REAL world understand that it is quite normal, even expected to reinvest profits in solving problems that affect said business in order to save money in the future or to make more money in the future.
People (foreign) investment taken place in certain sectors as in tourism as a result of incentive provided to that sector.
Cut out the incentive given to tourism and watch investment in that sector dry up and so will foreign exchange.
The big investment in tourism in terms of room added is not by accident as you would want to have bloggers believe .
If a company wants to invest in solar technology to reduce energy cost, that is fine and should be encouraged. Btw many hotels in negril are equipped with solar water systems to reduce energy cost.
Many hotels also invest in water harvesting activities as well as water reclamation projects. In addition many hotels have invested in low flow shower heads , faucets, low flush toilet and urinals to save water consumption cost.
Many hotels have also added power factor correction capacitors to reduce demand on the power supply system and to lower demand charges.
Many have looked to adding smart controls which for example turn off your ac once you open the balcony door, to those that turns off everything in the room once you leave
.
Hotels like Sandals Nergil provides its own water source via a desalination plant located on the property.
So for persons to suggest that thE hotels are parasitic is not totally true.
Can we get more for the incentives given, sure, and that should be part of the discussion up front.
We don’t invite people in to invest in Jamaica and then we change the goal post once they get here.
At the same time government needs to plan for the residents of the country, that is sadly lacking hence our multiplicity of problems.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from LIME.
“The big investment in tourism in terms of room added is not by accident as you would want to have bloggers believe .”
Point out where I even VAGUELY indicated that. I did no such thing and I know you can’t point that out.
So now Jay, if so many of these hotels are engaged in water harvesting and water saving technologies, what exactly is the problem if they were encouraged to pool some money for desalination facilities? Do you believe the foreign investors must be fed a fantasy of limitless supplies of easily accessible and distributed water? Why should we lie to these investors?
Heck, even you point out that Sandals Negril has a desalination plant located on its property, thereby buttressing my suggestion that the other hotels CAN invest in desalination to ensure their own water supply and reduce pressure on the limited supply from the aquifers (NWC’s main source). By the way, I’m pretty certain Sandals Negril and a lot of those other hotels you mentioned did not ALL start out utilizing water saving technology or desalination technology. So if they have no problem with re-investing profits in these measures, then why is it is a problem if the government were to encourage more of them to do the same? Is it that doing so would result in many of them becoming permanent loss making enterprises? If so can you provide proof of the same? Or is it that these hotels should simply be allowed to become lazy and not keep up with the times and also help protect the environment?
And it’s not changing the goal posts. It’s called a reality check. And so far it seems that Sandals Negril at least has got it but you still haven’t —-> you cannot supply 12,000 people yearly with the same amount of water per person as you could supply 8,000 people (Negril’s combined local and tourist population years ago) using the same source of water no matter how much regulation and planning you do around this same source of water. Simple mathematics dictates that it is impossible (unless you happen to be Jesus Christ and can do things like feeding (or in this case providing water) to the multitude from a limited source). You can talk about regulation this and proper planning that all you want. But that’s beside the point – the point is an increased population of both locals and tourists will require NEW sources of water and the exploitation of those new sources will require REAL investment on the part of ALL the stakeholders (locals/local investors and foreign investors). That’s the whole point of public-private partnership and enterprise. The public side (NWC) will need funds (taxes) to invest in new technology and the maintenance and improvement of existing infrastructure in order to exploit and distribute new sources of water and the private side (locals, local investors, foreign investors) will be well advised to take advantage of any public incentives (such as tax breaks and waivers which the government frequently gives to the foreign investor in preference to the local investor and the local resident although the latter two will sometimes get such incentives) to invest in the technology which will provide them with personal water security and possibly the opportunity to derive revenue by selling water to NWC.
How does Jamaica compare to selected destinations, are we providing more, less of the same type on incentives?
http://www.stkittsipa.org/investors_guide_incentives.asp
http://barbadostourisminvestment.com/legislation_and_incentives.cfm
I suppose the government here is changing the goalposts by attempting to get small and medium sized hotels to use renewable energy: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130411/news/news6.html
After all when these hotels were built this plan was certainly not in existence, so the government is changing the goalposts by not simply providing them with government-supplied electricity at the same rates as when they were built or being built.
I don’t see it as changing the goal post, but a recognition of the government that we as a country must reduce our overall appetite for crude oil and taking steps necessary to keep the Jamaica tourism sector (as in the case) competitive.
Its a recognition that energy cost in Jamaica is very high and that renewable energy offers us a long term solution to lower our energy cost as well as carbon foot print.
Its also a recognition that many operators(small and medium) are not in a position to fund these projects and so is offering the kind of help required to have them get off or reduce their pull from the grid.
I have done a number of energy management and conservation projects in the hotel sector, but I must say those efforts in may cases were negatively impacted by theft .
Eg hotels tried installing E27 base (edison base or the same one we use in our homes) and they would not last a long time.
No they did now go bad, they went missing. The next step was to install the PL compact fluorescent bulbs. These fixtures had a fixed base and the bulbs has two pins which would then by “plug” into the base.
This significantly reduced the theft of these energy saving devices.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from LIME.
Sure jay, sure.
So it’s not changing the goal posts if reality is acknowledged with regards to electricity, but it’s changing the goal posts if reality is acknowledged with regards to water? How does that work? Are electricity and water not both utilities? Or is that solar power is somehow special?
You are a bright guy so I am sure you can figure out the differences .
Uhuh, as I suspected. No real answer. Just as how you suddenly went really silent when I challenged you to point out where I stated (except in your wild imagination) that the “big investment in tourism in terms of room added is [] by accident”.
Next thing we will hear how water is “different” because people supposedly have some kind of right to water but not electricity despite such a right not being enshrined anywhere.
The plain and simple fact is that water and electricity are utilities and both are currently derived from essentially finite sources (aquifers for the water supply, imported oil for the electricity supply) and that mere “regulation and planning” will not turn finite sources into infinite sources. Renewable sources (solar power) or new, much larger and essentially renewable sources (desalination, recycling of water, etc) need to be exploited and there is nothing wrong with encouraging individuals and businesses (foreign and local) to begin exploiting those renewable or essentially renewable sources, because we live in a capitalist system where the government ideally should not even be involved except insofar as to ensure fairness and adherence to the law. However it seems in Jamaica many people have the odd view that we should have capitalism where it suits some needs and persons/entities and straight out communism (not even socialism) where it suits other needs and persons/entities. So the government should give as many tax breaks as they can to woo investment (capitalism for the foreign investor and local large businesses) and somehow pamper these same investors to the point where they abandon basic business principles such as re-investment of a mere portion of their profits (socialism for the same foreign investor and local large businesses). Talk about “changing goal posts” essentially subscribes to this theory, which is not sustainable in the long run as it essentially ignores the reality that those with significant sums of money should be utilizing said money to generate more money instead of having those with no money or who have to borrow money utilizing non-existent or borrowed money to generate more money. And this doesn’t just apply to Jamaica, it applies to America and Europe too where government is expected to bail-out (at taxpayer expense!) massive (and private!) financial institutions which get into trouble even while said institutions were mismanaging money and giving their execs really big paychecks.
At least Iceland woke up and smelled the coffee.
Jon you have said a lot without saying much at all. Firstly one has to examine why Jamaica has a water problem.
There are at least three main issues with Jamaica’s water supply system, one is effective utilization of existing system , another is preservation of the watershed areas and the other is distribution of the commodity.
There is not so much a shortage of water in Jamaica as a whole, but more so the water is not where most of the population chooses to live or where significant levels of development has taken place.
So for example Portland has a tremendous amount of water, but the population of Portland is significantly less that Kingston, which needs a lot of water but very little sources of water.
The water must be therefore harvested from where it is plenty and transported to where its required for use. This requires a distribution network of pipes and well as an source of energy to pump the water ie electricity which can be derived from multiple sources, be it solar, oil, wind etc,
From the standpoint of preservation, it requires the government to put in place systems to ensure we never cut down the trees in these water shed areas to build house etc.
Finally the distribution network has to be upgraded to take the volume of water from the available sources to provided the growing population in the towns and cities.
Planning is a big part of why we have the problem we have. We are a people that like to live on the hill side and as such it requires energy to get the water from lower elevation to these areas, which adds cost to the distribution process.
We also have the issue of massive “leaks” from the system as what existed in Negril for what I am told was nearly 20 years. In that case ( and i am repeating info here), there was a pond in a area for many years , at least that is what the people thought. That changed when a team from NWC came in and fixed the “leak” and the pond was no more.
I would not even get into massive theft which impact NWC ability to do what is required.
We can beat up our gum as much as we want, but it all goes back to two things I have already mentioned and comes out in what I said above. Proper planning and regulation.
Actually the Human Charter of rights suggest that people have a right to water,it does not form part of my argument but since you brought it up this is what the UN had to say about that.
On 28 July 2010, through Resolution 64/292, the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognized the human right to water and sanitation and acknowledged that clean drinking water and sanitation are essential to the realisation of all human rights. The Resolution calls upon States and international organisations to provide financial resources, help capacity-building and technology transfer to help countries, in particular developing countries, to provide safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all.
http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/human_right_to_water.shtml
http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/a5458d1d1bbd713fc1256cc400389e94/$FILE/G0340229.pdf.
Jay you can cut the crap. You still dodge how it is that a reality check with power is different from a reality check with water.
We can build all the new pipelines we want and not cut down another tree and have leak free pipes – that is only going to put a bandage on the problem and not solve the problem of supplying more people over time with the same sources of water.
In any case, desalination would eliminate the second problem you identified of mismanagement of the watershed (though for other reasons I don’t support the cutting down of trees in the watershed) – taking water from the sea and desalinating it means you don’t take water from the watershed area.
And yes, Portland has a lot of water. However you seem to be ignoring geography here, because Portland only just happens to be located on the northern side of the largest mountain range on the island. Hence any distribution of water collected in Portland (and the collection is going to have be from very disparate sources as the fresh water there is found in the numerous rivers and springs) is either going to have to have a large network of pipes that run across the central range of mountains (not necessarily across the Blue Mountains and John Crow Mountains themselves but definitely across the Port Royal Mountains which are a subset of the Blue Mountains) or run right along the coast around to the Kingston. Additionally building said infrastructure to harvest and supply the amount of water that Kingston would really need would necessitate cutting down trees in the watershed, which we both agree is a no-no.
Meanwhile Kingston happens to sit on one of the largest natural harbours in the world and has PLENTY of water in it’s vicinity. However the water needs to be treated in order to be fit for human consumption (either desalinated and/or treated to remove waste/dirt/bacteria etc). A couple of recycling/desalination facilities located along the shore or near to the shore would provide water and utilize a shorter distribution network.
And to use an example from another country which similarly has areas of plentiful water (the Indus and the Ganges) has a city (Chennai) of over 4 million people which will have two desalination plants capable of treating 100 million litres of seawater per day: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/nemmeli-plant-brings-hope-to-parched-city/article4442998.ece
This despite the fact that Chennai is located India with areas of plentiful water (like the Ganges) and that two rivers (the Cooum and Adyar) flow through the city and 3 even larger rivers (the Palar, Ponnaiyar and Kaveri) are located relatively nearby. So why is it that in Chennai with a population almost 1.5 times the size of Jamaica they can go into desalination (and provide probably enough water for a third of Jamaica’s population alone), but here we must somehow insist on trying to extract more from the same source despite a growing population?
Could it be that cost-wise it made more sense to build a desalination plant to take advantage of the large source of water sitting offshore than it would be to build and maintain harvesting facilities and distribution networks for sources of water located some distance away and which are spread out over a fairly large area? Given that Kingston and Negril are both located at the shore while the nearest main sources of water are either too delicate to be tapped (the Great Morass) or located on the wrong side of the mountains (Portland), why is it wrong if this is acknowledged and alternative solutions pursued? Up to now you haven’t shown why it is wrong if the government were to admit this truth and you have dodged the fact you have provided examples of some hotels already doing what myself, KJ, Acar and Sam Sharpe would suggest that more hotels do: re-invest profits to solve the problem (rather than wait for the government to simply delay the problem which is what you have been advocating).
So Jon who are you advocating developing building these desalination plants in Kingston for example ?
Onto the hotels since that is where we start.
Hotels have been re-investing profits in improving the hotels infrastructure with a view of improving the product offering and making themselves more competitive with other destination.
The discussion started based on the premise that the hotel sector was parasitic and did not contribute enough to their own survival, least we forget.
I have said many are re-investing but you and others are advocating what appears to be a view that the GOJ should not spend a cent more( that was the point made) and the hotel should take on that responsibility and I have a fundamental disagreement with that and not about re investing its profits
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from LIME.
Anybody can build these desalination plants.
In India it can be the government because India has money (it has the 10th highest foreign exchange reserves in the world, even more then Singapore; and it’s net investment position when one takes into account Indian government debt is not that bad – it can afford to take on more debt and the prospects of paying off that debt are good). Maybe you think that India (with a Net International Investment Position per capita of -US$177 as of 2010) is in the same hole as Jamaica (with a NIIP per capita of -US$6,390 as of 2010), but I can assure you it is not.
However you have already provided for us proof that a forward looking private company can build it’s own desalination plant in the example of Sandals Negril. Thus given the Jamaican’s government unenviable debt position, with regards to Kingston I would advocate that the government facilitate the construction of private companies building desalination plants through tax breaks for the construction and operation of said plants. Plus, ensuring that said companies could then sell water on to the NWC could also act as an incentive. We have a number of private companies sited on the harbour, including Carib Cement. What if one of them decided to go ahead with a project like that? Carib Cement uses water no? Does it carry out desalination? If not, this represents an opportunity for business expansion as with one new desalination plant they can obtain a steady supply of water for use at their offices and factory AND sell excess water to NWC, thereby even earning money and providing the NWC with water it otherwise would not have been able to tap into. They could even begin selling water to private consumers directly if they wanted, opening a whole new line of business for them. You know….the kinda thing that you advocate on this blog, no?
“a view that the GOJ should not spend a cent more”
First off Jay, you know that’s not true. Where has anyone said the GOJ should not spend money on desalination? Or improving the pipelines? Did I say that? Or did I say that you are not getting it because you are focused on only distribution and not supply? Does my saying that you are focused on the wrong thing imply that I said the GOJ should not spend money on fixing leaky pipes? Can you please point out where I said the GOJ should not spend money fixing leaky pipes? I do recall quite clearly saying that fixing pipes and so on will only be a bandage on the wound and not a cure. But it seems that has escaped you and you think that I am advocating giving the patient medical advice on a healthy lifestyle without putting on a bandage on the wound. The fact is you should do both.
Secondly, if you think (and you think wrongly) that we are advocating that the GOJ not spend a cent more and disagree with this and therefore think the GOJ should spend more, can you please tell us where this money to spend by the GOJ is going to come from? Last I checked the GOJ was burdened with high debt. And we all know hotels get tax breaks. So if you don’t think the conditions offered at the time of the “investment” must change (even though tax breaks are often extended when their original time frame runs out; but according to your logic that is just what is supposed to be done anyway) and if the government shouldn’t really be borrowing more money it may not be able to repay….then where do you propose the money come from? From an increase in taxes per chance? But no, you couldn’t possibly be advocating that the non-tax dodgers in Jamaican society get taxed even more to facilitate companies that reap thousands and sometimes millions (of US dollars to boot!) in profit (even after some of them make some re-investment) can you?
Surely Jay is not advocating socialism for the benefit of rich and capitalism for the rest (including the poor middle class who end up getting shafted by taxes)?
Thirdly, if the GOJ is giving tax breaks, is that not in effect spending already? After all they are agreeing to forego money that would under normal circumstances be owed to them in exchange for something else. Except the money waived only sometimes goes towards re-investment. And supposedly the GOJ has no right whatsoever to even suggest that the private companies it is essentially giving this money to use said money in a way that is mutually beneficial to the private companies and Jamaican society as a whole. Nope. Apparently the GOJ should just shut it’s trap and pretend that everything is alright for the tourists while the locals bear the brunt of any water supply (not water distribution) problems. Merely acknowledging that there is a problem (which is the first step towards arriving at a solution by the way; and said solution can be mutually beneficial to the hotels and locals and provide the hotels with more savings and revenue but apparently the thought of that will scare them off) is a no-no it seems.
Sure sounds like planning to me by the Government of that country unlike ours who just does nothing and expect the problem to fix itself.
Ah yes, now that I have answered those points, jay dodges again (much like he did with his spurious claim that I would want other bloogers to believe the growth in rooms for tourism is by accident (because of course jay is making assumptions based on what I have NOT said as opposed to what I have actually said; but given that jay is a grown up it should be expected that others don’t have to spell out every little thing for him…..)
So jay, if the government plans tax breaks but only a few PRIVATE companies utilize those tax breaks in the best possible way that ensures maximum benefit for themselves and society is that the fault of the government? Since when does the government control private companies? Because it sounds like you are confusing Jamaica with Cuba or Vietnam. (I guess this just goes back to what I said before, right KJ? No matter what happens “it’s the government’s fault”. A lot of Jamaicans have warped perceptions indeed. Never ever criticize the rich (and usually foreign, but sometimes local) investor, nor say anything to him/her which is anything short of “anything you want” and “you are always right”.
In other countries which do not operate under communism or heavy state socialism (note India has a tradition of the latter; and nothing that happened in Jamaica can compare to what used to happen in India), the government usually prepares the environment for private enterprise to do it’s own work; the government doesn’t do the work FOR the private enterprise. But here private enterprise (both local and foreign) typically seems to expect the government to do most of the hard work for it and then expect to reap all of the profits and get tax breaks! There is no denying that private enterprise on the island (both local and foreign) typically do NOT take advantage of the opportunities provided by the government (whether under JLP or PNP). After all we now have an Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union and as Mr. Gomes said in this piece (where he commends Sir Ronald Sanders for stating plainly that the MAIN reason companies operating in the region have not increased exports to Europe since the EPA “is the private sector’s failure to gear itself to take advantage of opportunities that exist”): http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/The-EPA—Better-late-than-never_14078549
“This agreement has been somewhat of a non-starter since its provisional acceptance on 15th October 2008, and has not yet been ratified. The reasons for this inertia must be shared between the region’s governments and private sectors, particularly in Jamaica, where the business community paid scant regard to the EPA negotiations, and are now in a quandary as to how to unlock the benefits that the agreement purports to provide”
According to your logic then Jay it must surely be Bruce and Company’s fault for not holding the hands of all the private sector companies in 2008 and negotiating deals and contracts with private European companies on behalf of companies operating in Jamaica (whether entirely local or locally run subsidiaries/locally owned partners of foreign based companies) so these companies could benefit from the agreement without having to bother themselves with the work of paying attention to it.
So this is obviously a habit and it is fed by the weird idea many Jamaicans have in common with what jay has been demonstrating here that investors (especially foreign ones) must be not be told the cold hard truth but must instead continue to be pampered and waited on with the provision of benefits and services no matter what happens.
One other issue which I should have mentioned and which you alluded to,is water is a finite resource and so the conservation of water via various methodologies, water harvesting etc are essential in moving forward.
The new building code which is being developed must ( if it does has not so) must address issues in relation to energy use. The idea is to do construction that are sustainable and are net zero energy users. These “green” ( Test I am sorry but that is what they are called) are being developed with sustainability in mind and for Jamaica to ensure we have adequate resources available, we must incorporate in the new building codes these measures that not only makes the building self sustainable, but also reduce or carbon foot print and lower our energy utilization index in many buildings.
Retrofitting a building with many of these new features are extremely expensive to the point of prohibitive, so we must therefore ensure that going forward these ideas forms a integral part of the landscape.
Now when an investor is coming to Jamaica, it is known that he must adhere to these green building practices or take his investment elsewhere should he decide that the cost of doing so, would not allow him to make a decent return on his investments.
Those investors however will soon come to the realization, that many countries are heading in this direction and as such that would not be the good reason not to invest.
Jon you may want to read up on LEED – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
This is a good read for all those following the discussion thus far:
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20121223/news/news5.html
” However it seems in Jamaica many people have the odd view that we should have capitalism where it suits some needs and persons/entities and straight out communism (not even socialism) where it suits other needs and persons/entities”. Jon, I couldn’t have said it better. This contradiction, it seems, eludes a lot of us?
Yup, it does. Somehow government must provide everything but private individuals must keep all the profits and have tax breaks. People want to have the best of both worlds/have their cake and eat it.
Just for the records a Sandals Beaches hotel which is over 200 hundred rooms pay somewhere in the region of $2 – $2.5m per mth for water a far cry from the ” But even basic amenities are NOT free (otherwise they would be “free amenities”).
@Jon, @Sam Sharpe- There in a nutshell is the crux of the matter. Jamaicans expectations of government are warped. Of course they were influenced by politicians to become dependent but It is my belief that influence is minor. The reality is that most people find independence H-A-R-D and would rather have someone else do what they are unwilling or incapable of doing. As a child I laughed when I heard rum bar Jamaicans talking about no communism but a minute later tracing the local politician for not letting off a ting or giving no work. They just don’t get the paradox! Believe you me, it’s not a lack of education, though that certainly helps, but it’s the culture. Thus, when they go into another culture that forces them to get off their baxside and work, they tend to do well. Man and man all turn entrepaneur, because some how its easier to start a business in the West than it is back home- Really? Its not, because they still can’t get a bank loan & the competition is stiffer. So why foreign and not Jamaica? Well for one, in Jamaica the culture too red eye- all we tend to do is sit and watch what other peopel have, instead of doing what we do in foreign- rely on families and friends as well as pardner draw to invest in ourselves. Red tape. bureacracy? Well, I have come up against a lot of that in the US but in Jamaica its very easy to get around the various barriers. Now, I have been deliberately simplistic in what I have written, this is a blog afterall- but I am sure you get the gist; our expectations are way out of line with our collective pockets, therefore it is we the people who have driven ourselves into the ground. The politicians are mere “drug dealers”, given us our particular brand of opiate so that we can go to la la land. Politicians are the gal who lie down easy; doing their best to please all. ITs the nature of the beast-worldwide, so do you stick your head into the mouth of the lion convincing yourself that it will go against its own nature? Or do you help you, do you?
Sometimes a lot of shiite passes for conventional wisdom. This only goes to point out that wisdom is neither conventional nor common. To the famous question; what is the growth plan of this government or in fact any government? Is that Capitalism? For the government to grow the economy. Well here come Dr. Gene Leon, the IMF’s point man in Jamaica shouting out near & far; Dr. Jay et al; you have misdiagnosed the patient! Dr. Leon said, “Jamaica’s economic challenges have resulted mainly from consumption exceeding earnings, Dr Leon underscored the need for a collective approach by stakeholders at all levels of the society.” Who is doing the consuming? The PNP? The JLP? Or is it the WE!