Jamaica
February 12, 2008
Blue waters, colossal mountains, and all inclusive hotel chains grace the shore as you exit Sangster’s international airport. Montego Bay is a vacation hotspot for visitors all around the globe. Warmed by year round sunshine, cool Caribbean breezes and swaying palm trees, Montego Bay welcomes the most distressed of souls and heals them from the chaotic North American/European lifestyle. But my intention is not to bestow accolade on the municipality of Montego Bay but to decipher the economic constitution and quality of life for populace of Montego Bay and Jamaica as a whole and make some comparison to that of living for middle class American in the United States.
It is fair to say that $1 U.S is equivalent to $67 Jamaican dollar. If you are a vacationer, cost is somewhat a secondary matter because vacationers know that they are on vacation and are willing to pay to have a decent time, albeit with limitations of course. If you don’t pay the prices, your excursions will more than likely be limited to your hotel room and reoccurring trips to the beach which can become monotonous at times.. But what if you reside in Jamaica, you would have to bear the cost of everyday living and here is where the economics are more relevant and meaningful.
In comparison to everyday living to that of the United States, it is quite more expensive to live in Jamaica. Food for one is very costly; there is no cheap supermarket in Jamaica. Thirty U.S dollars will give you a decent meal at Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) for two people, but that’s all you are getting. In the U.S it costs about $15 dollars for the very same meal. It appears that KFC like many other things is a luxury and thus treated as a commodity to be had. Moreover, the U.S dollar seems to bear little value to Jamaicans when you pay them because they know that it does not go a very far way. Moreover the cost of consumer goods is uttered in U.S currency by vendors rather than the Jamaican currency. When I first started to travel around the Caribbean a few years back the ideal of being told prices in a foreign currency took some while for me to comprehend. But to note, it is just the same on every island. Right now the Canadian dollar seems to bear more value due to the inflation ratio and the current economic down trends that is plaguing the U.S financial markets. A ride from the airport to a hotel no more than 15 minutes away is $25 U.S excluding tips but this is beside the point. This reference was just made to shed some understanding of the declining value of the dollar. In my world $25 U.S bears significant value. If I am in Manhattan, I rather hop the turnstile than pay a taxi to navigate the city. That option does not exist in Jamaica. If you do not own a car or have access to private traveling, public transportation is very limited, thus your only option is a taxi.
Much of what I observed about the economic trend is prorogated by the multitude of vacationers that grace the island every year. The natural economical underpinning is that if demand were greater than supply, cost would increase. But this is not exactly the case in Jamaica. What sells in Jamaica are the beaches yet you must be reminded that I am not plugging one for Jamaica. North Americans and Europeans flock the island every year for winter getaways and Jazz Fest to bask in the glorious sunshine, but this economic surge is trickling down on the residents of Jamaica who for the most part do not have the financial means to comfortably live in a middle class environment because of the foreign influx and the increase of prices because the thought is if you are on vacation you would be less that hesitant to make a purchase. Most purveyors know that vacationers will not haggle with prices as much. They are willing to pay a little bit more to have what they want. Granted that tourism has done well for the Jamaican economy byway of value added tax (VAT) and other tariffs. It is having a detrimental effect of the working class because when prices increase they are less likely to decrease and the taxes do not exclude the citizens of Jamaica.
On a personal note, I have a friend who lives in the Cayman Islands who constantly ships large barrels of non-perishables to her mother and daughter in Jamaica. She says it is much cheaper to do that than to send the money to buy it there. For those of us who are Guyanese with loved ones back home, the principle is all too familiar. In all my travels, to the Caribbean, Trinidad, Cayman Islands, Guyana, U.S Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, I’ve found Jamaica to be one of the more costly islands. You see, when foreigners visit for vacation purposes, the cost they incur is as temporary as the length of stay. But when someone has to live there everyday, cost becomes a different issue. Moreover, it adds to burden when employment is less than fruitful and wages are meager. A few years ago, Jamaica’s immigration laws was more favorable to its citizens; Jamaican nationals could easily go to the Cayman Islands and seek a work permit and work for a maximum of seven years. Many with families did but now the laws have changed. Jamaican nationals need a visa to enter the Cayman Islands that is no more that 45 minutes by flight. Cayman Islands is a sort of haven for Jamaicans because the dollar value is high ($1U.S = .80 cents Caymanian dollar) and there are opportunities for lucrative careers, so individuals on a work permit could afford to dwell and forward money to their families back home
The Caribbean in general is very costly in my opinion whether you are vacationing and I have noted, residing. This phenomenon is not indicative of Jamaica alone. Trinidad and Tobago is similar, so is the Cayman Islands and Barbados.
I have written this piece to highlight an issue that is much deeper than what I have elucidated. When cost of living for a given is affected in a negative way, economical growth becomes unstable. The economical burdens plaguing the Jamaican economy affects the working calls the most as it does in any economy. It would be more than healthy for the Jamaican economical system it the government were to give cost reductions to citizens and long term residents because, the money that would otherwise be spent in the county is now being spent abroad and thus supporting a foreign economy. Would it not be wise to implement such a plan that favors the denizens? Your comments are more than welcome….
View our photo gallery of Jamaica.
Andrew
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