Another Caricom cass cass
The regional press has been humming with quotations and liberal interpretations of the T&T prime minister’s remarks concerning the provision of emergency aid to Caricom states severely damaged by hurricane Tomas.
At home, the traditional Jamaican maxim, “Cock mout kill cock”, could be heard widely in the public domain. The uproar was intensified by the Jamaican press reporting thus: “At a press conference last week Monday, Persad-Bissessar said that the twin-island nation would have to get something in return for helping Caribbean neighbours affected by tropical storm Tomas.” The PM was quoted as saying, “We will have to look at ways which we would be able to assist. But you would recall my comments earlier this year when I said there must be some way in which T&T would also benefit. So if it is that we are giving assistance, for example, for housing, then we may be able to use T&T builders and companies so that whatever money/assistance is given will redound in some measure to the people of T&T.”
The first groundswell of disapproval occurred with a regional call to boycott T&T products. This was followed with a sharp rebuke by the former president of the Jamaica Manufacturers Association, Doreen Frankson: “I am disgusted and appalled by the recent comments made by Trinidad Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar regarding regional aid, as well as the spineless and cowardly response by the Jamaican Government and the Opposition. We have allowed Trinidad’s rude, arrogant and condescending attitude and actions to go unchecked, and I have come to the conclusion that the Government of Jamaica is more committed to the region than to the citizens of Jamaica.”
Frankson’s acute frustration mirrors the serious damage inflicted on the JMA by T&T’s super competitive prices for goods imported into Jamaica with which domestic manufacturers cannot compete. The grim reality of JMA’s disadvantage is reflected in their declining contribution to GDP. In 2002 the Jamaican manufacturing sector contributed 15.4 per cent to GDP. At present the sector contributes a mere 8.5 per cent to GDP! It is accepted that other domestic economic factors also had a bearing on the sector’s precipitate decline. Frankson stated: “Jamaican consumers have helped to build the manufacturing sector of Trinidad, and we are borrowing money to sustain the importation of goods from Trinidad when similar products are made in Jamaica. Jamaicans need to buy Jamaican to build Jamaica.” Finally, lamenting Jamaica’s US$526.2 million trade imbalance with T&T in 2009, she believes it is high time the Jamaican government utilise the clout it possesses to teach the twin-island republic a lesson. The matter is now in the hands of the Jamaican Government and the Jamaican private sector.
Amid the maelstrom of controversy, Sunday Observer columnist Ron Sanders pointed out on November 7 that the T&T PM’s statement had been almost universally misinterpreted. The trigger of the widespread condemnation of her comments seems to have been the Trinidad Express newspaper on November 1 that headlined, “No free help”, for St Vincent and St Lucia the most seriously affected OECS group. The PM’s remarks were correctly reported verbatim in other Trinidad media as follows: “We will have to look at ways in which we would be able to assist. But you would recall my comments earlier this year, when I said there must be some way in which Trinidad and Tobago would also benefit. So if we are giving assistance with housing, for example, and that is one of the areas that we (prime minister of St Vincent and myself) spoke about… then we may be able to use Trinidad and Tobago builders and companies, so that whatever money or assistance is given redounds back in some measure to the people of Trinidad and Tobago.”
At no time was assistance denied. In fact, she reported that her government had already mobilised two containers of foodstuff for the affected territories. Sanders again indicates that tied aid is globally practised, as experienced in Jamaica where Chinese-funded projects, philanthropic or otherwise, are implemented by their nationals. Sanders concluded that Persad-Bissessar should not be lynched for what she did not say, or for linking her government’s assistance to the use of her country’s materials and workforce. “At no time did she say no help would be forthcoming.”
Vindication and what might be interpreted as reparation is reported in the Gleaner of November 12, and occasioned by Persad-Bissessar’s speech to the Organisation of American States in Washington, viz: “The Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has called on the countries of the region to extend a helping hand to the nations that suffered damage from hurricane Tomas. She said: ‘I invite all of us, as colleagues, as neighbours, as members of the OAS family, where possible, to support our brothers and sisters, who are in dire need.'”
It would be both chivalrous and courteous, and last but not least, it would demonstrate a high degree of maturity, for those who rushed in where “angels fear to tread” and concede to the T&T prime minister that she was misunderstood.
The affair is indicative of Caricom’s volatile attitude towards ambiguous statements that are frequently uttered and then misreported in the media. The guiding rule should always be, “Mean what you say, and say what you mean.” However, blatant sensationalism would always play a significant role in reporting, judged by the number of apologies seen recently in the local press.