Letter of the Day | Are reparation claims reality or fantasy?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The study quantifying reparations unveiled last week informed us that, among others, Jamaica is entitled to receive approximately US$10 trillion in grant reparation payments from the United Kingdom (UK). It could be more, as the study is not complete.

With my basic maths, I did some calculations. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the UK in 2021 was about US$3.1 trillion. The UK’s national debt is 85 per cent of its GDP. If the UK’s GDP remains stable, US$10 trillion would represent three years of its GDP. If this US$10-trillion payment is made over 20 years, from my rough estimates, Jamaica should receive US$500 billion per year. This would be about 33 times Jamaica’s GDP in 2021 which was estimated at US$15 billion. Note that Jamaica’s national debt is now about US$14 billion, which would thus be easily erased. Assuming this phenomenal sum generates economic activities, Jamaica’s per capita income could be boosted into high-income levels. The UK’s 2021 per capita income was about US$42, 000. Jamaica’s was US$5,184.

Clearly, the reparation claim would be paid from the British Treasury and thus by the British taxpayers. Most likely, the UK would require a loan, as it did to pay the 1834 compensation to the planters. Whether The Guardian newspaper, the Anglican Church, other institutions and the ancestors of other British beneficiaries of slavery would offer to help finance it, is another question. Selling the crown jewels and British royal properties would only contribute about US$20 billion, if they can be sold. How receptive will the British government and the taxpayers be to these exceptional claims, with serious economic implications, especially in these times?

It was said that the claims should be included in an agreement establishing a development fund, which should be without political influence. Well, an agreement, if binding, means government-to-government negotiations, one would think. These would involve, under normal circumstances, the foreign ministries, the finance ministries, the attorneys general, and others, given the technicalities and complexities that would be involved. However, that reparations were not mentioned in the communiqué of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) foreign ministers meeting held in Jamaica last month. There was no indication, at least not in the media, that this matter was raised with the UK foreign secretary on his recent visit. Also, are studies being done looking at the total sum of development assistance provided by Britain and the European Union through the years, and their impact?

What concrete measures have Jamaica and CARICOM partners taken, since 2013, to place reparations on the agenda of the UK government. Or, for CARICOM, is this really an academic exercise?

M. THOMAS