The matter and practice of divestment in Jamaica weighs heavily on my mind. It disturbs me to see how successive governments have frivolously handled the limited assets of our nation.

It is believed, and often asserted, by Jamaican government officials and technocrats that divestment is necessary in order to have greater efficiency and better management of the products and/or services being divested. I recall Aubyn Hill, former CEO of the Sugar Company of Jamaica (SCJ), now Senator, in a television interview some years ago, saying that the divestment of the assets of the SCJ, which included Frome, Monymusk and Bernard Lodge estates, was the “best decision” the Government made. Now if Hill says divestment is good business then it is; but for whom?

In some cases, divestment works well to get rid of unprofitable entities, but that in itself raises the question: Why are these entities unprofitable in the first place? I believe the Jamaican Government has failed over the years to properly manage the nation’s most valuable resources and assets largely resulting from a lack of foresight, discipline and transparency.

Corruption has ostensibly crippled the Government’s management capability. Gaining political advantage is often to the detriment of proper governance, since so much time and resources are spent to subvert the rival party. The corrupt practice of employing loyal party supporters and friends and family members of party donors or close affiliates have also caused serious breaches in the management of the nation’s business. The diagnosis of the plaguing problems in the system by the same politicians who created them is often bleak and the only solution seems to be “sell it!”

Unfortunately Jamaica has been suffering from a “mi cyaan badda” syndrome, which has no available vaccine. The continued divestment of the nation’s assets is an indictment on the Jamaican people who barely have anything left to call ours. We are a proud nation of land, wood and water, but most of the good land is sold and the price of what is left is set beyond the pockets of the vast majority; the wood is underutilised and there is no enforced policy to recycle vegetation lost as a result of land clearing activities such as construction; and water, which is in natural abundance, is still scarce for many Jamaicans. To add to that, there is word in the wind that the National Water Commission may be divested.

After selling the national airline, bauxite, one international airport — seeking to sell the other — the sugar industry (which still hasn’t recovered), the Government is now seeking to rid itself of its 19.9 per cent stake in the Jamaica Public Service — the country’s central provider of electricity.

The decision of government over the years, where the selling off of assets is concerned, is nothing short of blatant laziness and lack of political will. Our leaders have continuously sought to fix immediate economic issues by generating quick revenue for the moment through divestment, while failing to plan for the foreseeable future. The planning expected of government have been relegated to campaign promises which equate to giving the people baskets to carry water. I have not seen concrete plans by recent governments to achieve real economic growth; only politicians scrambling to find the quickest route to gather funds to plug a gap in the budget for the time being.

The almost total dependence on foreign investments and private sector players shows that the government only wants to be regulator and collector, not producer. This is simply not enough. It is a shame to be frank. The reckless and short-sighted divestment of our assets must end, and the leaders need to put their brains to work. We have allowed foreign governments and organisations to do the thinking for us for far too long, and only the blind has not noticed that it is they who are reaping the benefits and not us.

Instead of divesting, we need to “return to/or strengthen the core values and attitudes which guided our parents and foreparents. These include: trust, honesty and truthfulness, respect, forgiveness and tolerance, love, peace, unity, discipline, responsibility, cooperation, integrity, punctuality and good work ethic.” (

Vision 2030 Jamaica, National Development Plan). What we need from the Government is not more divestment, but discipline, responsibility, cooperation, integrity and strong work ethics. We deserve better, we can do better, and demand better from those whom we have entrusted the management of this country.

Derville Lowe, MBA (International Business)(South Korea), is a researcher at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Jamaica. Send comments to the Observer or drvlllowe@yahoo.com.