KINGSTON: The closure of the work site at Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios exposes the extent to which Jamaica is not yet ready for foreign investment.
As we all know, Mexican investors have bought the Jamaica Grande property in Ocho Rios and are said to be investing some US$50 million in renovating, expanding and modernising the property.
Over 2,000 Jamaicans have obtained employment on the site. Concerns have been expressed about the number of Mexicans who are being employed on the site. There has also been a multiplicity of complaint by workers and subcontractors on the site regarding pay, terms of employment, and conditions of employment.
The situation deteriorated to the point where there was confrontation on the property, which saw Mexican workers running away from Jamaicans in fear of their lives. There are also scenes of Jamaican workers violently breaking down the fence to the property and damaging and destroying areas of the fence and other items belonging to the investors.
Politicians were not to be left out, and so we saw images of a politician who claimed to have intervened to resolve the disputes. This politician was shown on television assuring workers that “you will get your pay”.
A bone of contention by several peopel and entities is that the Mexicans are seeking work permits for 300 of their workers. The contention of the workers, trade unions and some politicians is that the Mexicans should not be allowed as many as 300 workers. The Mexican investors have made it clear that they have “special finishers” who are used on all their projects to finish them at a standard that is kept uniformly throughout all projects they do.
It is difficult to see how the unions and other workers can decide on the number of finishers required on a project for which they do not have the expertise to do. It is also ridiculous for us to invite foreign investors here and then carry out violent activities against them at the site of their investment projects. If we are inviting foreign investors here then we must respect their judgement and their right to arrange their investment and the implementation of their projects in accordance with their guidelines and their own principles, provided they are compliant with the laws of Jamaica.
We cannot just pull from a magical bag the number of finishers that an hotelier needs to complete the final touches to his hotel at the standard he wishes to keep his hotel. None of the people or entities complaining about the number of Mexicans workers being brought in has produced a finisher who they can recommend to replace one from Mexico. The demands and criticism of the unions are based on emotions and are not grounded in logics, empirical evidence nor proper information.
From the commencement of this project the Government should have become more involved in monitoring the situation and in stemming any emerging disputes, thereby avoiding escalation such as that which led to the closure of the site.
