A tragedy's toll - 9/11's impact on Jamaica's auto industry
Published:Sunday | September 11, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Brian Bonitto, Special Assignment Editor
Major Hugh Blake recalls watching television in disbelief as the second aeroplane crashed into the World Trade Center in the United States (US) a decade ago today.
Blake, general manager of Kingston Industrial Garage (KIG) - Jamaica's dealers of Ford, Subaru and Yahama motorcycles - and a former Jamaica Defence Force officer, said he immediately summed up the situation.
"I knew the consequence was quite grave and I knew it wasn't going to end immediately," he told Automotives.
The former army officer was on target with his apocalyptic assessment as 20 Jamaicans were among the 2,996 persons killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York. Then United States president, George W. Bush, subsequently waged a 'War on Terror' on the bombing's mastermind Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was killed on May of this year.
In the aftermath, many countries beefed up their anti-terrorism legislation and gave law enforcement officers expanded powers.
"This was a frightening experience for us here in Jamaica too. I remember the phone lines to the US being jammed with the volume of calls to that country," he recounted. "Global air travel came to a virtual standstill in the aftermath."
Despite global aftershocks, Blake said his company's operations with American brand Ford were not affected.
"There were no immediate effects to our operations at KIG," said the general manager. "We were adequately stocked at the time."
The operations of Jamaica's used-car dealers also appeared insulated from the ripple effects of the attacks.
"Most of our used-car imports are from Japan. So, the sector wasn't as hard-hit as it could have been," he said. "Only few local dealers buy America-made cars," said Ken Shaw, former president of Jamaica Used Car Dealers Association.
Bumpy ride
Shaw's new-car counterpart, Kent LaCroix, said it was somewhat of a bumpy ride for the Automobile Dealers' Association (ADA).
"We experienced a decline in new-car sales," recalled LaCroix, who was an ADA director in 2001 and is now the chairman.
LaCroix explained that the decline in new-car sales was linked to a reduction in tourist arrivals.
"After the 9/11, many people didn't travel and the travel industry is closely aligned to the car industry," he told Automotives. "So, if the visitors aren't coming then the demand for rent-a-cars will be minimised. And for that year, and the year after, rent-a-car companies didn't buy any cars," he continued.
Shalman Scott, who operated Champagne Tours and Car Rental in Montego Bay for more than 25 years, recalled watching the horrific event unfold on television back in 2001.
"I was at my office located at the Sangster International Airport when I saw the events unfolding," said Scott. "I remember seeing 'America Under Attack' flashing across the television screen. It was scary."
A former Montego Bay mayor, Scott said the fallout from the event was felt immediately.
"A significant amount of our tourists are out of America, and the fear of flying which was generated after the 9/11 attacks resulted in a precipitous decline in business," said Scott. "The immediate effect was massive cancellations within the industry, both in the hotels and ground transportation."
Scott said by the tourist-season start on December 15, the car-rental sector was visibly shaken.
The former mayor, who pulled the shutters down on his car-rental business in 2006, recalled a similar fallout in the sector during the 1990s.
"In 1991, when the US rescued Kuwait from the Iraqis, we had a similar drying up of business. But it wasn't of the same magnitude of the 9/11 attack," he said.
Scott said the tragedy showed the overreliance by Jamaica on the North American market.
"While we're grateful for North American visitors, we need to seek additional markets," he added.
And, as the world remembers the victims who perished in the tragedy, Major Blake said there is a lesson to be learnt from 9/11.
"It brings into sharp focus how vulnerable we are," he said. "And, also how social issues and other factors elsewhere can disrupt our operations here."