INFORMATION Minister Burchell Whiteman proposed yesterday that overseas Jamaicans be allowed to elect a senator who would be responsible for representing their interests at the national level.

Whiteman, speaking in the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate, said such a move would recognise the contribution overseas Jamaicans make to the building of the country.

“Without prejudice to any decisions which may be made at a later stage, I believe we could give some thought as we revisit our parliamentary structures and arrangements, to giving the diasporic community a voice in the Parliament by having them elect one senator from either side (or as an independent) who would be responsible for representing their interests,” said Whiteman.

However, he did not say how overseas Jamaicans would vote for a senator, as senators, unlike their colleague parliamentarians in the lower House are selected rather than elected by voters.

Whiteman painted a picture of the vast influence wielded by overseas Jamaicans on national life.

“Quite apart from remittances, Jamaicans in the diaspora contribute on a daily basis through their interest in the conduct of our affairs at state and community level, the sharing of their opinions, their structured contributions to the shaping of policies. In particular situations they also use their political influence in their country or state of residence to influence decisions that may impact on us here at home or in the region,” Whiteman told the Senate.

With an estimated two million Jamaicans residing overseas, and whose contribution by way of remittances and other forms of assistance constitutes an economic and social mainstay, more attention has been focussed on this segment of the population in recent times.

Overseas Jamaicans send back an estimated US$1 billion each year to relatives and friends here, making remittances one of the fastest growing, and by far the largest net earner of hard currency eclipsing the traditional bauxite and tourism inflows. It is currently equivalent to about 15 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Also, between 1998 and 2002, more than 7,000 Jamaicans returned home, bringing to the economy an estimated J$4 billion in tangible value.

Speaking last year, University of Technology (UTech) chancellor and former general-secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers Union in Britain, Bill Morris, pointed to the significant revenue stream generated each year by Jamaicans living abroad, with estimated annual earnings of US$40 billion – 10 times what was earned by those living here.

He noted that such a reality presented a challenge to the government to find ways of gaining access to some of this resource, for investment, to foster economic development and wealth creation.

Meanwhile, Whiteman noted that Senator Delano Franklyn, the junior foreign minister, who first mooted the idea of voting by overseas Jamaicans in national elections was “working assiduously to interface with large segments of Jamaican communities in the countries of the developed world and elsewhere, and has arranged for a major conference to take place here”.

That conference scheduled for June 16 to 17 is expected to focus on the opportunities and challenges posed by the diaspora outside Jamaica.

But the idea of overseas voting remains controversial locally.

Opposition Leader Edward Seaga has opposed the idea claiming that there were more necessary and immediate reforms to be proposed and examined.

“How will you enumerate them and which constituency would they be put in?,” he asked last year at the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) western Kingston conference.

He also argued that the timing of the proposal was impractical.

The Electoral Advisory Committee (EAC) also rejected the notion of overseas voting, with EAC chairman Professor Errol Miller commenting at the time that the proposal was “fraught with insurmountable problems”.