In the latest report of the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index Jamaica ranked higher in the high development category. The index assesses life expectancy of the population, education, gender-related issues, and per capita income indicators. Again, we fell down badly on the issue of income inequality.

It is good that we have not fallen in some of the key areas of the index, but there is still a far way to go. As an independent nation, Jamaica is just 57 years old. Over the years we have missed significant opportunities in advancing the development of our people. Of course, part of the problem that has bedevilled us over the years is the tribal politics that we have practised that has caused underdevelopment of people, especially in the inner city. Recently, Prime Minister Andrew Holness toured a section of Tivoli Gardens in the Kingston Western constituency. He was appalled at the living conditions of residents in an area called “Rasta City”. The apartment buildings had deteriorated and generally there was all the indication of urban blight.

Holness recognised that these were not conditions of which any Government could be proud, acknowledging that this was not the only constituency that was suffering from this kind of deterioration in the housing stock and urban blight. And he was correct. Go to any constituency in the Kingston and St Andrew metropolitan area and you will be met with this kind of blight and urban decay. This is to be seen as well in the second city, Montego Bay, and other rural townships throughout the country. Poor streets, dilapidated and unpainted buildings, the absence of sidewalks and green spaces with parks where people can go and ease the tension and anxiety of living in difficult environments, tell the story.

The politics we have practised has not functioned in significantly alleviating this parlous state of underdevelopment. And neither can it. We have had Members of Parliament who boast of having presided over constituencies for decades and yet they have made no significant contribution to poverty alleviation or to lift their constituents out of the squalor which Holness lamented. It all has to do with how limited resources have been managed and the priority that has been afforded the allocation of these scarce resources. The excuse you get is that they lack resources, but they will not admit that they, by tribal, political acrimony, have contributed to these problems.

When it comes to income inequality we are in a very bad place. Economic growth and development are not mutually exclusive as they impact each other. I am no economist, but the distribution of income in any society is a function of growth and an indicator of the level of development that is taking place in the society over a period of time. So, the glaring income inequality that we have in Jamaica, especially compared with our partners in the Caribbean, shows how much we are lagging in the development of our people. It is not enough for the stock market to be registering the kind of growth that it is and yet the greatest majority of the citizens are not participating in it.

How we close the income inequality gap is a hard task with which the society will have to grapple. Since Independence, if not before, we have nurtured a culture of inequality which is not only seen in income distribution, but in gender and class biases. This exacerbates social tensions in the society of which the present crime wave may be an indicator. People have to be made to feel that they have a stake in this project called Jamaica and that they are not the ‘Lazaruses’, who have to be content with the crumbs that fall from the tables of the Dives among us. And, that they become real participants in creating their own prosperity than having to await the promises of politicians that may never meet fulfilment.

Jamaicans are willing to work out their own economic salvation with the fear and trembling of which they have become so accustomed. They only ask to be given a chance and that they are not used as mere pawns in other people’s games of personal enrichment. We have the resources, both human and material, to close the income inequality gap. If it widens it is to our peril. If it narrows then we will have reasons to rejoice. The prosperity and viable future of Jamaica depends on us having the courage to close it.

Rest well, Bishop Reid

This column would like to express condolence to the family and friends, and certainly the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, on the death of Bishop Alfred Reid who served the church faithfully as diocesan bishop. Bishop Reid did not only love the Church, but the Lord of the church. There were significant innovations during his tenure, especially in the area of the liturgy where he introduced indigenous elements to the Holy Eucharist. He has gone on to a well-deserved rest from his labours. Rest well, my brother.

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest and social commentator. Send comments to the Observer or stead6655@aol.com.