Everybody is talking about the upcoming summer Olympics and how many gold medals the Jamaican athletic team will garner. Nobody is talking about Jamaica owning the gold from which the medal is minted or the stadium in which the athletes display their amazing mental and physical prowess. The national attitude is the same toward music; another field in which Jamaica excels but from which it derives just a fraction of the benefits it could. Writing in the February 19, 2012 Sunday Observer, “Jamaica the land of Reggae”, David Mullings speaks a truth that exposes a troubling characteristic. We (Jamaicans) are like the man who, having received the goose that laid the golden egg as a gift, promptly eats it for Christmas dinner. I quote him. “This month is supposed to be Reggae Month in Jamaica, but it often seems to me that Jamaica has somehow lost its place as the home of Reggae music. The Grammy Awards nominate reggae albums that are not big sellers in Jamaica, the biggest reggae festivals are in Europe, foreign reggae acts are capitalising even better on our sounds, and an entire generation of Jamaicans is possibly missing out on our reggae heritage”.

Why is it that in sports we are satisfied with grandstanding in front of the world and seeing a handful of our sons and daughters become rich and famous, but never display enthusiasm toward making the country prosper from these endeavours? Why are there long lines of tour buses in front of Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley in Memphis and not Culture Yard in Trench Town, the cradle of Bob Marley; the man whom Time magazine declared the most important artiste of the 20th century? Instead of being zones of investment and opportunity, Trench Town, the birthplace of Reggae, and many of the communities from which our celebrated athletes hail, remain man-made zones of exclusion; places avoided by outsiders and where residents are held captive by poverty, crime and neglect. It’s time to reverse the curse; to transform zones of exclusion to zones of investment and opportunity.

The picture of the flourishing greenhouse farm accompanying this article is symbolic of the hope and potential existing within the communities identified as political garrisons by the National Committee on Political Tribalism (July 23, 1997). Located in the heart of Trench Town, the farm, a project of Agency for Inner-city Renewal (AIR), was managed by Richard Lambie, a Canadian born of Jamaican parents.

The design is 100 per cent Jamaican. It reflects the genius of Eric Budhlall and his wife Penny who believed that the techniques used in developing their commercial greenhouse farm in the hills of St Andrew could be successfully transferred to the low elevation of Trench Town when the experts were saying this could not happen. The real heroes of the story are the men of the community who endured weeks of training in greenhouse agronomics and construction and in entrepreneurship and financial literacy; who did the construction and planting, and are now reaping and selling.

Not every community has a legacy or an asset with commercial value like Trench Town does with Reggae music. But using the example of the greenhouse farm, each has within it the seeds (pun intended) of its redemption. For those who only see inner-city communities and the people residing there as social liability that need to be policed or sustained with handouts, think again. There is “gold” in these communities waiting to be mined. Mr Peter Moses, president of Citi-Bank Jamaica, the company that partnered with United Way Jamaica to provide funding for construction of the community greenhouse, another at Trench Town High School, as well as give assistance to one at nearby St Andrew Technical High School, concurs with this view. At the formal launch of the project he said the following. “Citi-Bank sees this project as it does any other, an investment that creates wealth and allows the real risk takers to benefit from the fruits of their labour. The fact that it is located in an inner-city community is especially rewarding, given the negative image and stereotypes, which no longer hold true.”

The Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP) is necessary in the immediate circumstance of widespread unemployment and an economy in need of a stimulus on the demand side, but the shortest route to real change is in developing and exploiting the entrepreneurial talent which many of our people are naturally endowed with. Beyond JEEP, government will need to launch a coordinated public/private/ civil society initiative like President Obama’s Startup America, designed to celebrate, inspire and accelerate entrepreneurship throughout the nation but targeted specifically at people and communities at the base of the economic pyramid.

The timing for such an initiative is now. Crime has reduced significantly in many of these communities. Big business is demonstrating a willingness to be partners for progress. Digicel is locating its global headquarters downtown Kingston just down the road from Tivoli. Adam Stewart’s Island Routes is working in partnership with a community group to bring tours and the famous Sandals brand into Trench Town. Lasco is exploring ways to generate more retail grocery sales within marginalised communities. Government must step in and provide the overall framework through a revitalised and well-funded Community Renewal Programme along with incentives, venture capital, training and municipal services.

“Transforming zones of exclusion to zones of investment and opportunity”, is a nice-sounding phrase. It must be made a reality if Jamaica is to dismantle political garrisons, get rid of crippling crime, and prosper.

–hmorgan@cwjamaica.com