Edwards Seaga offer lessons to Portia Simpson Miller and the PNP administration.

Since leaving office Edward Seaga has consistently tried to provide answer and offer solutions to many of Jamaica problems. Eddie is not the only one, other past JLP politicians have offered similar help via speeches and written article in the local newspapers.

PJ Patterson has been called one of Jamaica’s most “successful” Prime Minister on record, given the length of time he was able to secure electoral victory and not  necessarily results  achieved in terms of economic development of the country, while he was Prime Minister.

PJ Patterson left representational politics back in 2006, but in the 7 years he has been away, he has not offered anything meaningful to the country as one would have expected from a elder statesman, that could help the country mover forward. When PJ Patterson speaks it’s to comrades and what the they need to do to satisfy comrades and keep Jamaica under comrade rule for as long as they can.

Now in today’s Gleaner, Sunday, Sept 15, 2013, Edward Seaga is once again offering something, NOT for JLP , but as usual  something for Jamaica, something that the present PNP administration must take note of and ensure that we gain maximum possible benefit from the transshipment port.

Noted sections from Eddie

But questions arise. How would the massive dredging for development affect the tide? Would it flood the Old Harbour beach where thousands of residents reside at sea level? How would the Old Harbour beach, which countless fishermen occupy, cope with an adverse change in the littoral drift? Would the sand from that beach end up elsewhere? If so, where? The turning basis for the ships would require a further enormous area with possible great consequences.

The ownership of the site may present a problem. While growing up, I can remember the announcement that the Goat Islands and nearby Vernamfield in south Clarendon had been leased for 100 years by Great Britain to the United States in exchange for Britain receiving 50 destroyers to bolster the British war effort. I do not know if any subsequent decisions have been taken to terminate the lease which is to run to 2040. If not, a balance of 27 years still exist

The recent publicity given to this lease did not bring an intelligent response from Attorney General Patrick Atkinson, who called it “rum bar talk”, an inappropriate response to a serious matter which has to be investigated. It cannot be assumed that if the lease is still in place, there would be no problem in it being surrendered by the United States, giving the Government of Jamaica the freedom to negotiate with any other party seeking to use the Goat Islands.

It is no secret that the United States is uncomfortable with the prospect of China establishing such a massive strategic beachhead in the Caribbean bearing in mind the sensitivities which still exist as policy positions concerning Cuba’s history and status. The matter has to be cleared up as a prior consideration for negotiations.

 

The negotiations will undoubtedly be looking intensely at the revenue and foreign exchange earnings. If the industrial park is to be declared a free zone, revenue would be available only from PAYE taxes. The actual tax relief available for such projects would be freedom from customs and excise duties and company profit tax, as is customary for free zones.

The new incentives act to be tabled in the House of Representatives this month will be rewriting the package of Jamaican incentives with a view to avoiding the lavish reliefs from various tax revenues. If the free zone arrangement is allowed to stand and this is applied to the proposed industrial park, the tax revenue that could be realised from the project would be comparatively disappointingly small.

The last  two paragraphs above will be critical to the negotiations, but I have zero confidence in the abilities of  the two persons who appears to be at the table for the  government side, Dr Omar Davis and Robert Pickersgill to conduct any negotiations that will give Jamaica MAXIMUM benefits. This is based on past experiences with both these gentlemen.

Mr Seaga continues

On this basis, there is great reliance on this proposed project to generate very substantial foreign exchange earnings if it is to be more than just another big project like the recent Spanish hotels, which would be of limited assistance. Bear in mind that if it is a free zone, only 15 per cent of its production value can be sold locally. The balance would have to be exported, to the benefit of our export earnings.

Another stream of foreign exchange will be earned from any funds brought into the country to pay workers, utilities and other local costs. If the industrial park is to employ the thousands of workers as suggested, the number of workers who will be paid by external earnings to benefit Jamaica’s foreign exchange earnings is crucial.

The percentage of the labour force which will be local will, therefore, assume major importance. To ensure that there is no disappointment, the negotiators should insist on determining an amount of foreign exchange earnings which could be imputed as salaries to workers and payable to Jamaica, for purposes of calculating foreign exchange receipts due from labour.

Portia Simpson Miller would not understand most of what is written above, as truth be told, she see US$1.5B as money that will come and remain in Jamaica and that will provide 10,000 jobs and as far as she is considered that is good enough for her and her administration, as this would have been the largest single project that has ever been undertaken in Jamaica and her administration would have been responsible for it.  That would now  have been a part of Portia Simpson’s Miller legacy and something she can use to “silence” her critics.

The above is dangerous as it could very well mean we could end up with a massive project that has little economic benefit to the country, since its a Chinese lead project, designed to meet China’s long-term plans.

What Mr Seaga has shown here, that despite his age and the length of time he has been absent from politics he still has grand ideas about moving Jamaica forward and continues to promote those ideas via the media.

Other JLP politicians have done the same, but I cannot recall a single PNP person doing so save and expect for something that promotes continued dominance of comrade rule.

Claude Clarke maybe…??

I would not be surprized if Dr Omar  Davis pens a response to Mr Seaga ‘s article to clear up and or clarify “errors” made by Mr Seaga, let’s watch and see, I give him until Wed , Sept 18, the latest to respond.

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130915/focus/focus3.html