The protest at the UN by our Diaspora
Dear Editor,Recently, the shocking revelation hit me that protests over the defence of Cockpit Country from miners have escalated to the point that it reaches the world’s doorstep at the United Nations (UN).
As an avid learner of tourism matters, I can see deeper than the patriotic cause what this might mean for us.
It may be all for protecting a possible ecotourism site and for the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, so kudos to them. But, on the other hand, I simply do not agree with placing our domestic affairs on a billboard outside the UN. This could lead to several repercussions. One of them is that we would lose our Green Globe certification and decades of sweat and tears to get that certification would be down the drain instantly.
Due to sustainable tourism going mainstream, a large handful of ecotourists would not visit here if they hear about this, and the expected growth of tourism — by 8.7 per cent, according to the Jamaica Tourist Board and Ministry of Tourism presentations last week at the Tourism Day Expo at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel — would be reduced.
Marcus Whitewhitemarc918@gmail.com
And, to make it worse, the prime minister and Jamaica’s name will definitely be dragged through the mud and the next UN General Assembly meeting would have us being looked down upon because we cannot protect our own natural reserve and ecotourism sites from unsustainable practices such as conventional open cast mining and we cannot handle our own issues without external help for a nation that has been pursuing the optimistic goals of 2030.
I may want the Cockpit Country to be preserved, but our Diaspora should not have crossed that red line. They could have gone to the Caricom or European Union heads, but they should not have carried our internal affairs overseas at a major multilateral, geopolitical entity such as the UN, which can result in our name being tarnished like that, silently and unknowingly digging our graves.
God help our prime minister and our fair country that will have mud thrown at it soon.