Peter Espeut | A realistic new year

As the new year begins, there is so much on the national plate that one could write about. The big four of COVID-19, conservation, crime, and corruption immediately come to mind.

After taking us into community spread in September 2020 by an election close fought without proper pandemic protocols, and into a third wave with the premature opening up of the entertainment sector, the Holness government has taken us into the fourth wave by easing the curfew regime and gathering limits before consistent attainment of a five per cent positivity rate, considered the indicator of a pandemic under control.

Their COVID-19 mantra is “balancing lives and livelihoods”, but their approach has never been balanced; human life is of infinite value, and cannot be traded for economic growth without breaching moral and ethical principles. They knew the fourth wave was imminent – and announced it’s coming like John the Baptist announced the coming of the Messiah; but opened up the economy anyway. They certainly helped it along. Not everyone is prepared to have their life traded for the livelihoods of others.

Human life is not that cheap!

As we head this month for 100,000 detected infections (undetected infections number many multiples of this) and 2,500 deaths attributed to COVID-19, we can conclude that much of this morbidity and mortality was avoidable.

FAILED BALANCING ACT

The other failed balancing act before our eyes is the environment versus development trade-off, especially in the area of mining and quarrying. Extractive industries are unsustainable because the natural resources they exploit are not renewable, so there is no such thing as ‘sustainable mining’. Those who support development that is sustainable cannot support mining.

Many people do not realise that the Holness administration has removed the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA) – the Government’s environmental watchdog – from the Ministry of the Environment and placed it in the Office of the Prime Minister. Last year, Prime Minister Holness overturned the quite correct decision of the NRCA to refuse a permit to mine the ecologically sensitive Puerto Bueno Mountain. That speaks volumes as to where this Government stands on the protection of Jamaica’s natural heritage.

I guess if human life is cheap, the health of the natural environment is even cheaper.

What is planned for Jamaica’s Cockpit Country is nothing short of ecocide. To their credit, both our political parties promised that there would be no mining in the Cockpit Country. The Cockpit Country is where the cockpits are – undulating areas of karst limestone terrain supporting unique wildlife and vegetation.

The first ‘samfie trick’ was to try to fool the public that the small area that they have defined as ‘The Cockpit Country Protected Area’ (CCPA) is the same as ‘The Cockpit Country’ they promised not to mine. To do this, the Government had to ignore – no, disregard – the boundaries of the Cockpit Country as defined by their own consultants they hired to determine where the cockpits are.

The truth is that the real Cockpit Country is much larger than the CCPA, so that – in fact – the Holness administration intends to mine in the real Cockpit Country, in breach of their promise.

When they offered an area of the Cockpit Country in St Ann and Trelawny (outside their CCPA) to a bauxite company to be mined, this generated howls of protest from residents (who will be displaced), and from environmentalists who seek to promote sustainable development of Jamaica’s natural resources. The mining company hired pro-mining consultants to conduct an environmental impact assessment (EIA), which proposed a phased mining plan. Environmentalists exposed the many flaws in the EIA, and the NRCA rejected it.

This week, the Holness administration has tried another Puerto Bueno Mountain reversal. On Monday, they announced that they have given a five-year permit for mining in only a small area of St Ann. Close examination shows that this is the phase one proposed by the EIA; the company is entitled to apply for phase two within the five years. In effect, they are accepting the rejected EIA! This is the Government’s second Cockpit Country ‘samfie trick’. They must think we are fools!

GOVERNMENT’S MANTRA

The welfare of residents – and the health of the Cockpit Country – are being sacrificed at the altar of the economy. The government’s mantra should be ‘We put the economy first’. If anyone in the Holness administration has a sensitive conscience, this should cause sleepless nights.

I need to make it clear that I do not think that if the other party were in power, they would behave any differently to the Holness administration. This is true for COVID-19, and for conservation, and also for crime. No Jamaican government has been successful in reducing violent crime and extortion, because neither of our major political parties have severed their links with garrison dons, gangs and political thugs.

No Jamaican government has succeeded in escaping the taint of corruption because both our major political parties have collaborated in declining to put in place effective anti-corruption legislation and enforcement. Political contributions are still made in secret, as are the declarations of assets of politicians and public servants.

The support by Jamaicans of our political process remains at an all-time low. Should the Government call local government elections, the low turnout will break all previous records, and show a reduction in the already-low support enjoyed by the Holness administration (only 21.34 per cent of those registered to vote). I do not expect the embarrassment of local government elections any time soon.

The hope for 2022 lies in the Jamaican people, who will continue to make their way, despite COVID-19, crime, political corruption and environmental degradation.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist and environmentalist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com .