WHILE we agonise every day that Jamaica is not attracting the level of foreign direct investment (FDI) that would spur growth and provide jobs, we are steadily perfecting the art of scaring off potential investors with our penchant for squabbling as soon as a prospective investment deal comes in sight.

The latest example is the proposed US$5-billion investment in a cluster of projects including Vernamfield, Caymanas Economic Zone, a dry dock facility, and a commodity port involving German engineering company, Krauck Systems, and United States-based financier, Anchor Financial Group. The project is expected to be completed by the last quarter of 2016, in time for the opening of the expanded Panama Canal.

But we don’t seem to be learning.

Just before that, the fodder for our insatiable appetite for a nice juicy fowl fight was Hong Kong-based Energy World International (EWI) which had proposed to build a 381-megawatt energy generation plant that would go a far way in helping to solve our crippling energy problem, frequently blamed for our inability to grow our manufacturing industry and attract investors.

Prior to that, there was US-based consortium Azurest Cambridge which had wanted to invest US$690 million in an energy facility that would shave off a big chunk of the cost of electricity to Jamaican consumers.

For sure, in the case of Azurest and EWI, there were problems with delivering on their commitments in their respective Memoranda of Understanding (MOU). That, for us, is not the issue. If we were living in a perfect world, we would not expect the kind of problems that led to the scuttling of those projects. The fact is that the bigger the project, and the bigger the layout of money, the bigger the problems are likely to be in achieving their realisation. What will make the difference, however, is our own attitude towards the initial proposals.

Our attitude is that somehow we are entitled to big investments and we are doing the investors a favour for choosing us over other possible locations, or the prospective investors are thieves coming here to rip us off. It gets worse as soon as the politicos jump in with no more than an intention to spoil the party, lest it might come to fruition and spoil their chances of election.

Perhaps Industry Minister Anthony Hylton was too previous — another of our political diseases — in announcing the US$5-billion investment project even before he had signed an MOU. Or perhaps he was pandering to suffering Jamaicans who are impatient to hear of a big breakthrough that would help ease our economic problems. Either way, we will mark him down for that.

But let us be clear. No investor wants to put his money in a toxic environment where political opponents are squabbling over the projects, even while talks are at a nascent stage. No investor likes to negotiate in public. At the first sign of trouble, the typical investor will cut and run.

Right now, we have a reputation for slugging it out as investors look on in shock. For the sake of the nation, the Government and Her Majesty’s loyal Opposition need to sign their own Memoradum of Understanding in which they agree on the terms of engagement once an investor starts showing interest in Jamaica.