Jamaica: Economic and Social Statistics

Political Party Performance At a Glance

• Election History By Year
• Economic Indicators
  • Balance of Trade
  • Net International Reserves
  • Population below the Poverty Line
  • Unemployment Rate By Year
  • Inflation Rate By Year
  • GDP Real Growth Rate
  • Exchange Rate By Year
  • The National Debt
  • Tourist Arrival By Year
  • Total Agricultural Output
• Murder Rate
  • Policing Killings By Year
  • Year To Date Murder Rate
  • Total Murders By Year
• Political Party Scandals By Year
• Social Activism,Organized Protest & Rallies

Election History

Year	Winner	Notes
1944	JLP	The JLP won the election with 23 seats, PNP won 4: ***Universal Adult Suffrage***
1949	JLP	The JLP won the election with 17 Seats, PNP won 13 seats
1955	PNP	The PNP won the election with 18 Seats, JLP 14 seats
1959	PNP	The PNP won the election with 29, JLP won 16 seats in a 45 seat house
1962	JLP	The JLP won the election with 26 seats and 50.04% of the votes: ***Independence***
1967	JLP	The JLP won 33 constituencies with 62.3% of the votes while the PNP took 18 with 37.7% of the votes
1972	PNP	The PNP with 69.8% of the vote to the JLP's 16 seats with 30.2% of the votes
1976	PNP
1980	JLP	The JLP took 51 seats with 85% of the votes while the PNP won 9 seats with 15% of the votes
1983	JLP	PNP boycott the election
1989	PNP	PNP:45 75%, JLP:15 25%
1993	PNP	PNP:52 40.07%, JLP:08 26.28%
1997	PNP	PNP:50 JLP:10
2002	PNP	PNP:34 JLP:26
2007	JLP	JLP:32 PNP:28
2011	PNP	PNP:42 JLP:21
2016	JLP	JLP:33 PNP:30

Economic Indicators

The National Budget (JA$ Billion)

Year	Expenditure	Revenue	Notes
2009-2010	$593		The country's public-debt obligations (principal and interest) amount to nearly 56 per cent of the total Budget while interest obligations amount to nearly 45 per cent of the 2009-10 recurrent Expenditure Budget
2010-2011	$503.9		Debt servicing is now 47 per cent of the total budget. This Budget started low but was hit by a number of Supplemental Budgets.
2011-2012	$536
2012-2013	$612		More than 54% of $612 billion Budget to service loans and interest
2013-2014	$520.88
2014-2015	$539.3

Trade Deficit

• Jamaica's trade deficit swelled to more than 3 Point 2 Billion U.S dollars (US$3.2 Billion) over the January to August of 2011 period while the import bill which reached over whopping US$4.3 billion dollars, exports earnings was only US$1.1billion dollars
• Jamaica’s trade deficit with the US and other nations declined to US$1.349 Billion in 2009 from US$2.745 Billion in 2008

Trade Surplus With CARICOM: 2010

• Antigua and Barbuda (US$4.9 million)
• Grenada (US$1.8 million)
• Montserrat (US$500,000)
• St Kitts (US$3.2 million)
• St Vincent (US$2.4 million)

Trade Deficit With CARICOM

• In 2011 between January and August Imports from CARICOM reached over US$766 Million
• In 2011 between January and August Exports to CARICOM was valued at US$45 million.
• In 2010 between January and August the trade deficit grew by 320-Million U.S. dollars.
• Between 2009-2010 Jamaican exports to Caricom markets grew by more than 70 per cent, to US$209.1 million ONLY!!
• In 2008 Jamaica’s trade deficit with the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) ballooned to US$1.6 Billion Dollars

Balance of Trade with Trinidad and Tobago:

• In 2008 Jamaica Imported US$1.4 Billion worth of goods from Trinidad and Tobago
• In 2008 Jamaica Exported US$19 million to Trinidad and Tobago
• In 2009 Jamaica's trade deficit with Trinidad and Tobago stood at US$616 million
• In 2010 Jamaica's trade deficit with Trinidad and Tobago stood at US$702 million

Jamaica Import Source

• In 2008, 40 per cent of Jamaica’s import was from the United States,
• 17.6 per cent came from Trinidad
• 11.7 per cent from Venezuela

Balance of Trade (US $Dollar)

Year	Balance	Import	Export	Notes
2006	$-3,666,525	5,650,427	1,983,902
2007	$-4,587,771	6,892,971	2,305,200	3 Months After Election
2008	$-5,666,718	8,162,874	2,496,156
2009	$-3,738,260	5,057,631	1,319,371
2010	$-3,889,391	5,226,763	1,337,372
2011	$-4,990,459	6,614,757	1,624,298	Election: December 29th
2012	$-4,996,000	6,706,000	1,746,000
2013		6,172,000	1,634,000
2014		5,909,000	1,482,000
2015		4,256,000	1,179,000

Jamaica is the 144th largest export economy in the world and the 73rd most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI). In 2014, Jamaica exported $1.43B and imported $5.8B, resulting in a negative trade balance of $4.38B. In 2014 the GDP of Jamaica was $13.9B and its GDP per capita was $8.88k.

Net International Reserves (NIR: U.S. $)

Year	Amount	Notes
2006	$2.35b	Record High
2007	$2.067B	Month Before Election
2007	$1.877B	3 Months After Election
2008	$1.49B
2011	$1.96B	Election: December 29th
2012	$1.77B	3 Months After Election
2013	$890.43M	As of Sept...
2014	$2.2B

Population below the Poverty Line

Year	Percent	Notes
1990	28.4
1992	34.2
2002	19.7
2003	14.8
2007	9.8	Election: September 3rd
2009	16.5
2010	20.3
2011	???	Election: December 29th
2012	???
2013	???

Unemployment Rate By Year:

Year	Percent	Notes
2000	15.5
2001	15
2002	14.2
2003	11.8
2004	12.2
2005	11.2
2006	10.3
2007	9.8	Election: September 3rd
2008	10.5
2009	11.4
2010	12.4
2011	12.9	Election: December 29th
2012	12.8	Down from 14.1%
2013	16.30	As of: April 2013
2014	13.8	As of: July 2014
2016	13.5	As of: February 25 2016

Inflation Rate:

Jamaica's Financial Year is from March to March

Year	Rate	Notes
1987	11.2
1988	8.6
1989	16.12	Election: February 9th
2000	8.142
2000	8.142
2001	6.881
2002	6.991
2003	14.6
2004	11.6
2005	11.3
2006	5.6
2007	9.306	Election: September 3rd
2008	22.016
2009	9.569
2010	11.7
2011	6.0	Election: December 29th
2012	8.0
2013	7.64	As Of: Sept, 2013
2014	6.7
2016	3.7	lowest in 50 years, As of: February 25 2016

source: digjamaica.com

GDP Real Growth Rate: Constant Prices

Year	Percent	Notes
1987	7.7
1988	-3.993
1989	4.7	Election: February 9th
1990	4.875
1991	1.032
1992	1.743
1993	1.7
1994	0.9
1995	2.521
1996	-0.243
1997	-1.595
1998	-1.011
1999	1.048
2000	0.97
2001	1.345
2002	0.97
2003	3.502
2004	0.97
2005	1.444
2006	2.991
2007	1.432	Election: September 3rd
2008	-0.915
2009	-3.046
2010	-1.217
2011	1.5	Election: December 29th
2012	-0.5
2013	1.3
2014	1.8	For 2nd Quarter of 2014 and 1.4 per cent for 1st Quarter
2015	???	1st Qtr. 0.4%, 2nd Qtr. 0.6%, 3rd Qtr. 1.5%, 4th Qtr.?

• Debt to GDP Ratio: 127% of GDP down from 145% of GDP in 2011 • Debt 2007: $923 billion, 2011: $1.6 trillion, 2016: $2.1 Trillion • Debt to GDP stood at 115.2 per cent in 2007-2008 when the JLP took state power and moved to 126.7 per cent in 2008-2009. The debt further increased to 142.5 per cent in 2010-2011

The Jamaica Gleaner DigJamaica Statistic Portal, Jamaica’s Real GDP % “Growth”

Exchange Rate:

Year	Rate	Notes
2006	65.76
2007	69.03
2008	72.23
2009	87.89
2010	87.41
2011	86.34
2012	92.65
2013	105.58	As of Nov 11th
2014	112.90	As of Nov 9th
2016	121.68	As of: February 25 2016

The National Debt

World Economic Forum Global Competitive Index for 2011 indicated that Jamaica had dropped 12 places in the ranking of 142 regional economies. Jamaica had a ranking of 107 among the142 nations included in the 2011 Index.

As Of:	Total Debt	Notes
2007	$850 Billion
2011	$1.6 Trillion	140% of GDP
2012	$1.7 Trillion
2013	$1.8 Trillion	As of: Oct, 2013
2016	$2.1 Trillion	As of: February 25 2016

Jamaica External Debt (Billion US$):

Year	Rate	Notes
2000	3.8
2001	4.7
2002	5.2
2003	5.3
2004	4.96
2005	5.96
2006	7.16
2007	7.38	Election: September 3rd
2008	9.66
2009	10.2
2010	10.56
2011	12.66	Election: December 29th
2012	14.7
2013	13.82

Tourist Arrivals

Total Visitor (Stopover + Cruise Passengers) arrivals by air and sea hit a record 3.07 million in 2011, an 8.4 per cent hike year-on-year, which beat the previous record set six years ago.

While to the numbers look good, I would like to know how it translate to Gross and Net hard earnings, having large number means nothing if the money generated is air lifted/repatriated back to the home country of the hotel owner, not to mention these big hotel mostly exist in a tax free world. An Idea of what we earn vs. what we could earn would be nice, anyway something better than nothing.

Minister of Tourism Ed Bartlett said that many destinations are retaining as low as seven cents of every dollar tourists spend, noting that much of the tourist dollar "goes back to where it came from". He pointed out that research has shown that only about three per cent of the produce from the agricultural sector currently goes into tourism "We quarrel about export issues and trade issues and competition in the global market for our commodities and agricultural produce, and we're sitting right here with an export industry that has the capability to absorb every kilo of our supplies, every unit, and we ignore it," Tourism earnings leaking from region — Bartlett

An independent study by Wealthy Foreign special interest Lobbyist of the Jamaican Tourist Industry proclaimed that tourism contributes 19.5 per cent of GDP, generates one in four of all jobs and is the leading export industry as oppose to the STATIN figure of 7.3% GDP contribution. These people do not want to pay their fair share of taxes and would like nothing more than to continue enjoying the good life at our expense. So they commission a bogus study to Big Up themselves, trying to tell us that STATIN in wrong and they are right. These Foreign owners have been exporting their super profit for decades and would like nothing more than to continue doing so while making marginal contribution to the Jamaican economy. They feel that if they throw the words “Oxford and Economist“ around enough then we will be so impressed and believe every word. It is only when the Government started to look at their low contribution that they now see fit to commission this study in order to protect their interest.

Profit Repatriation-Up-by-more-than-75%

Stop Over Visitors (Only) By year

For 2017 the Tourism Minister declared that Jamaica had 4.3 million arrivals. This figure comprised 2,353,461 stopover arrivals and 1,946,780 cruise passengers, providing a revenue flow of approximately "gross" US$3 billion,”. 

Year	Total	Notes
2003	1,350,285
2004	1,414,663
2005	1,478,663
2006	1,905,678
2007	1,700,785	Election: September 3rd
2008	1,767,271
2009	1,831,097
2010	1,921,678
2011	1.95 Million	Election: December 29th
2012	1.97 Million
2013	2 Million

There are times I wonder if we really need a tourism ministry. As far as I am concern that sector can manage itself. With these idiots in the ministry racking up expenses claiming they are God Gift to tourism when that sector has been trending up year after year regardless of who is in power. Even during the invasion of Tivoli tourism was NOT affected as seen by the numbers of visitor arrivals during that period.

For 2017 the Tourism Minister declared that Jamaica had 4.3 million arrivals. This figure comprised 2,353,461 stopover arrivals and 1,946,780 cruise passengers, providing a revenue flow of approximately "gross" US$3 billion,”. Please keep in mind that over 78% of all that revenue is extracted out of the country and goes back to source. Many are saying that even before the tourist finished their vacation the money they paid for the vacation is already back in their home country who owns the majority of our Hotels.

Most of these hotels exist TAX free, import tax free and bypass local sources and are FREE to repatriate their earnings and pay close to minimum wage to the people working in the hotel. A friend of mine called a hotel in Jamaica to book a family vacation and that toll free number was answered in Kent UK, their payment went to Kent UK for a vacation in Jamaica. So that money did not even make it to Jamaica but their vacation was counted as revenue to Jamaica.

If I am going to go out of my way to support a local industry then that local industry had better show where the earnings from that local industry is invested into Nation Building of the country they earn that money from. Until then tourism is nothing but glorified prostitution use to build another man's country.

Jamaica Total Agricultural Output (Tonnes)

The Government cannot and should continue to give importers, wholesalers and retailers import waivers to import products that our farmers already produce or can produce, that is undermining the farming sector and kicking away the legs from under the farmers… On one had you are telling the farmers to be more competitive while you are giving the people they are competing with the advantage. We understand that Jamaica signed various free trade agreements but why make it easier for them… Agriculture Sector accounts for 16.4% of the labour force as at January 2014. Output Year/metric tonnes

Year	Total	Notes
2003	491,473
2008	400,110
2009	489,672
2009	489,672
2010	500,305
2011	??	Election: December 29th
2012	610,138
2013	615,000

IMF Austerity • Jamaica Stock Market made world record in 2015 • Jamaica moved up 5 places in the 2015 Forbes Best Countries to do Business Report • Jamaica Decline on the Human Development Index from 96 to 99 out of 188 as Austerity took its toll. • Primary Surplus of $55.8 billion, above target of $50.5 billion • International Rating Agency continues to upgraded Jamaica’s Credit ratings over the years, Moody’s, S&P and Fitch all upgraded Jamaica. For the most part IMF Austerity did what any Austerity was design to do put our financial books in a much better shape which will give the next Government the much needed wiggle room. Austerity did not produced the much need growth which to me was marginal and mediocre at best with none of the positive effects really passing down to the ordinary man on the street but Austerity was never design for growth but a period of sacrifices design to reverse the many decades of irresponsible fiscal and economic policies we the Jamaican people allowed. That said we cannot and should not undermine its positive effect because I believe our current financial status set the stage for a next Government with some imagination and innovation to do some good. I just do not see Imagination and Innovation coming from both the PNP and the JLP. However this is about passing the baton and moving from strength to strength so which ever party wins the election can win that leg of the race.

Crime Statistics

Yearly Death By Police

Year	Murders	Notes
2002	133
2003	113
2008	224
2009	253
2010	382	73 People was Killed in 2 days during the Dudus Affair. Between years 2000 and 2010 there was 2,220 fatal shootings by police but only 2 police officers have ever been charged.
2011	213	Election: December 29th
2012	219	nearly 30 of them was killed in March alone

Murder By Month By Year

Month	2012	2011	2010	2009
Jan - Mar	272	242	428	359
April	070	093	137	123
May	119	102	184	155
June	088	089	098	123
July	087	104	086	163
August	102	103	082	143
September	093	094	078	134
October	077	100	108	178
November	086	101	128	149

Jamaica Total Murders By Year:

Year	Murders
1998	953
1999	849
2000	887
2001	1100
2002	1045
2003	975
2004	1471
2005	1674
2006	1340
2007	1583
2008	1618
2009	1683
2010	1428
2011	1124
2012	1087
2013	1200
2014	1005
2015	1192
2016	1350
2017	1616
2018	1287

Jamaica Political Party Scandals By Year:

Year	Scandal	Notes
1989	The Zinc Scandal ($500 million)	In the zinc scandal of 1989, some $500 million of hurricane relief zinc from overseas destined for poor people were diverted to political favourites and never reached the intended beneficiaries.
1991	The Furniture Scandal ($10.6 million)	The furniture scandal which involved more than $10 million being spent to furnish, among other places, a town house for the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Ben Clare.
1991	The Shell Waiver Scandal ($29.5 million)	PJ Patterson was the responsible minister who had authorized a $29.5 million waiver on duties to the Shell Company in 1991. This led to the resignation of then Finance Minister P.J. Patterson from the Cabinet
2001	The NetServ Scandal ($220 million)	The NetServ scandal, where the Government paid out more than $200 million to the failed IT company despite due diligence reports which warned against doing business with the firm.The scandal led to the loss of $220 million after investigations revealed that its operations were no longer viable. The company started operations in June 2001 with high expectations of creating some 3,000 jobs in the same year and 10,000 jobs by 2004.The company failed to get anywhere near those goals and went into receivership in December 2001 with only 209 employees. The issue resulted in calls for the removal of Minister of Commerce Phillip Paulwell, but the Prime Minister downplayed criticism of the minister calling his actions "youthful exuberance".
2002	NHDC and Operation Pride ($5.5 billion)	NHDC and the Operation Pride housing projects that it administers. There are allegations of corruption and mismanagement at the NHDC, where there was a $35 million overpayment on a Operation Pride housing project. Racking up a massive $5.5 billion in misappropriated funds, investigations showed the funds were due to cost overruns that surmounted the original cost in 10 of 100 Operation Pride Projects between 1997 and 2002. The person who figured prominently in the scandal was Dr. Karl Blythe who later resigned as minister.
2006	The Trafigura Scandal	Rocked the PNP in 2006 after it emerged that the then governing party accepted a $31-million gift from the Dutch firm Trafigura Beheer which, at the time, had an oil-lifting agreement with Jamaica. The party has since said the money was returned.
2006	Solid Waste Scandal ($2 billion)	After investigations into the awarding of contracts to some consultants and maintenance service providers showed that certain procedures pertaining to the awarding of contracts had not been followed. In a damning report to Parliament, Contractor-General Derrick McKoy noted that $1.4 billion was for the collection of sweeping contracts; $401 million for maintenance services; $35 million for motor vehicles and $25 million for consultancy services. The eruption of the scandal led to the resignation of that board and the installation of a team led by former Town Clerk Errol Green.
2006	The Whitehouse scandal ($2 billion)	The Whitehouse scandal followed afterwards as investigations revealed that cost overruns during the construction of the 400-room hotel amounted to US$45 million. The scandal erupted in calls for a forensic audit into the construction of the hotel. Government named president of the Incorporated Masterbuilders Association, Don Mullings, Head of a team in October, but Mullings resigned a month later following accusations by the JLP that he was tied to the PNP. The JLP argued that Mr. Mullings received $2 billion in Government contracts through his company, M&M Jamaica Limited, and as such was not qualified to lead the team. Another team, to be led by Desmond Hayle, president of the Jamaica Institute of Architects, was subsequently named by the Prime Minister. Mr. Hayle was a member of the team that was to be led by Mr. Mullings.
2007	Cuban Light Bulb Scandal	The project involved the distribution of four million free Cuban light bulbs island wide and allegation was made that $114 million was improperly spent on the distribution of four million energy-saving light bulbs donated by the Cuban Government to the people of Jamaica by Kern Spencer. In January 2008, the auditor-general reported that about 176,380 of the four million bulbs, costing approximately $92 million, could not be accounted for.
2009	The Dudus Scandal	In August 2009, the JLP-formed government received what would turn out to be a tenure-defining extradition request. The delay in signing the extradition warrant sparked much controversy, one can clearly say that all hell broke loose when the Bruce Golding led Government decided to take on the United States of America and put Jamaican’s US visas at risk. This resulted in the mother of all standoff between the JLP Government and the mother of all Garrisons, the JLP's strong hold and constituency Tivoli Gardens. The army incursion into Tivoli Gardens resulted in 73 civilians killed in 2 days, 2 policemen and 1 soldier dead, and numerous others injured. Armed gangs performed military style coordinated attacks on police stations and which left 2 of them on fire. Certain sections of the corporate area became a war zone all because the Prime Minister and the Government tried to prevent the extraction of one of their Activist/Gunman/warlord/gang leader/enforcer and financial backer
2009	The Manatt, Phelps & Philips Scandal	The Manatt, Phelps & Philips scandal was spawned by the Christopher 'Dudus' Coke extradition request. The Manatt mess, as it is called in some quarters, is undoubtedly the biggest scandal to hit the ruling JLP since the party came to power in 2007. It was reported that the JLP Government paid an American law firm to lobby the US Government to drop the extradition request, this was denied by the Government over and over and over again and the then Prime Minister over and over until finally the Prime Minister admitted that he had in fact paid the law firm but when he paid the law firm he did so as leader of the JLP and not the Prime Minister… (I could not make this stuff up even if I tried ... That was the mother of all excuses)
2009	Mabey and Johnson Bribery Scandal	The infamous Mabey and Johnson bridge-building bribery case that implicated former State Minister in the Ministry of Transport and Works, Joseph Hibbert. In July 2009, the British engineering company, Mabey and Johnson, confessed that it had tried to influence officials in Jamaica and Ghana to get public contracts. However, the JLP reiterated its belief in Hibbert's innocence.
2009	Hon. Mike Henry: House Purchase/Upgrade Scandal	In August 2009, Mike Henry, minister of transport and works, was hauled over the coals after a Sunday Gleaner investigations, revealed that a total of $50 million had been spent for the purchase and upgrade of the minister's state-owned house. In an attempt to put the prickly issue to bed, Henry told the media that he would address it in Gordon House. The Sunday Gleaner's revelation of the Port Authority of Jamaica's purchase and refurbishment of the house, which was part of the assets of the defunct Jamaica Omnibus Service, triggered a firestorm of criticisms. Henry reportedly justified the expenses as he suggested that the house was in poor condition and he was not accustomed to living in squalor.
2009	Tourism Minister Office Scandal	In October 2009, another Sunday Gleaner investigation revealed that the New Kingston-based headquarters of the Ministry of Tourism spent $8.4 million to retrofit the minister's offices between May 2008 and March 2009, in the midst of the severe economic downturn and significant shortfall in funding for the agency. In January 2008, months before the completion of this project, Prime Minister Bruce Golding issued instructions for Cabinet to curtail expenditure. But this did not seem to apply to the tourism ministry.. he too it seemed was not accustomed to working in squalor.
2011	Hon. Mike Henry: JDIP Scandal	In a nut shell, money that was to be used for infrastructure development was used to purchase furniture because Mike is not accustomed to living or working in squalor. In one of her findings, Monroe Ellis said contrary to the provisions of the Government’s procurement guidelines, the NWA used the sole source method to award a contract to China Harbour Engineering Company for approximately $102 million to refurbish its corporate offices, without the required approval of the National Contracts Commission. That issue was raised yesterday at the PAC which also heard that five 40-foot containers of furniture valued at $62 million were discovered by Contractor General Greg Christie yesterday on the premises of the NWA and that they had been procured using funds allocated for the Palisadoes Shoreline Protection and Rehabilitation Works Project. Transport and Works Minister Mike Henry submitted his resignation to new Prime Minister Andrew Holness, NWA CEO Patrick Wong was also forced to resign.
2011	The Denial Of US help and Spy Plane Scandal	When news broke in America that the Jamaican Government requested the United States help during the Dudus extradition saga and the incursion of Tivoli and that a spy plane was used, the Jamaican Government went into the mother of all denial. When quizzed about the issue, the then Minister of Information Daryl Vaz, had denied Jamaica had received any external help. National Security Minister Dwight Nelson said he checked the records at the ministry and the Jamaica Defense Force and found no request for assistance from the United States. These bold face denials went on for days. An investigative piece in the American magazine, The New Yorker, revealed that despite the Jamaican Government saying otherwise, a U.S. spy plane did in fact take surveillance imagery of Tivoli Gardens on May 24, 2010 during the security operation. The Department of Homeland Security incident report and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Authority have confirmed that the plane assisted the Jamaican Government during the Tivoli operation. It also said that the P-3 Orion passed information to U.S law-enforcement officers stationed at the U.S. embassy, who then provided that information to Jamaican authorities. Like a Jedi Master performing the Jedi mind trick National Security Minister Dwight Nelson said “There was no spy plane”, "... but di trick neva work". The P-3 Orion was witnessed by people on the ground and pictures of it above Tivoli was taken and distributed. The then Prime Minister Andrew Holness was forced to admit that the country entered into an agreement with the United States government to carry out surveillance during the security operations in Tivoli Gardens, West Kingston. The thing is all of this smoke and mirror lies was not necessary as most Jamaicans not only welcome but wanted help From the United States to deal with the situation and did not see the big deal or any reason to lie about it, asking for US help in this case was a good thing. The lie was not called for and so an unnecessary scandal was created for no reason at all. Wired: Jamaica Massacre
2012	Desecration of the Jamaica Flag Scandal	The scandal involves the swearing in ceremony of the Montego Bay mayor, during the ceremony it was noticed that the Backdrop which was to depict the Jamaican flag was missing the colour green which is also the colour of the opposition Jamaica Labour Party. It seemed that some low class dirty, moron decided to instruct the contractor to leave out the green from the backdrop, it was the most low class, disgusting and arrogant thing to do. Now instead of analyzing and investigating the situation before responding the PNP Government came out with a number of conflicting responses/bold face lies. (1)The Contractor ran out of Green (yeah right) (2) We do not know who told the contractor, (3) That person named by the contractor does not work for the office of the Prime Minister, we do not know who that person is, (4) The Swearing in ceremony was planned by the outgoing JLP administration and (5) The person who do not work for us and who we do not know have now resigned (6) We will launch a full investigation. Initially, Mayor Harris had apologised for the debacle and said that he had nothing to do with the decoration, which featured a huge black cloth with a gold soltire in the form of the Jamaican flag. Yesterday, Minister Arscott apologised for what he termed “the inadvertent misuse of the colours of the Jamaican flag” at the swearing-in ceremony. Local Government Minister Noel Arscott said that special assistant Courtney Hume, who is alleged to have instructed the decorator to leave the green out of a stage backdrop designed to depict the Jamaican flag at the March 29 swearing-in ceremony of new St James councillors, has resigned. The PNP issued an official apology and the Opposition demand that the Mayor resign.
20??	????	It is not if but when ...It Is Inevitable, the political class is genetically predisposed to Scandal

Mass Social Activism/Movements,Protest and Rallies:

All progressive societies have dynamic and well organized groups designed to push progressive Nation Building Agendas. These progressive societies understand that the people are an integral part of Government, a vital part, a valid branch of Government. It is not vote and forget but vote and engage, they understand that the concept of Government is not limited to the elected officials alone but extends to the entire population who must communicate their desires, their intentions and displeasure by organized mass protest and rallies designed to send strong messages to the Elected Officials, kind of like guiding sheep in the right direction.

When I say protest and mass rally I am not talking about the infrequent block road by 20 people because police killed one of their loved community murdering dons/warlord. I am talking about organized protest and Mass rallies that transcend the political divide, transcends race, transcends education level and transcends class. Rallies and Protest so big that it shuts down an entire country or a Capital City and says to a Government we are mad as hell and not taking it anymore, do your job OR no, no you are heading in the wrong direction this is the direction we want to go OR address these issues now!

Politically motivated protests are almost always organized with the intention of destabilizing the country and the existing Government so as to propel the opposing party into power. It is almost never organized for the greater good of the country but for the selfish needs of that party for power. Progressive Pro-Active organized groups do not care about which party is in power, there purpose is the same regardless of party because their sole intention is to force the Government of the day to do the right thing by the people.

Year	Mass Rallies	Notes
1979	Gas Riot	Not a socially conscious Mass Rally but a smash and grab organized by opposing the Political Party, VIOLENT PROTESTS, looting and shootings triggered by a hike in fuel prices brought Jamaica to a standstill rioters started fires, looted shops and set a large sugar cane plantation ablaze. Block roads and charge motorist a fee to pass.
1985	Gas Riot	Not a socially conscious Mass Rally but a smash and grab organized by opposing the Political Party, VIOLENT PROTESTS, looting and shootings triggered by a hike in fuel prices brought Jamaica to a standstill rioters started fires, looted shops and set a large sugar cane plantation ablaze. Block roads and charge motorist a fee to pass.
1999	Gas Riot	Not a socially conscious Mass Rally but a smash and grab organized by opposing the Political Party, VIOLENT PROTESTS, looting and shootings triggered by a hike in fuel prices brought Jamaica to a standstill rioters started fires, looted shops and set a large sugar cane plantation ablaze. Block roads and charge motorist a fee to pass.
2011	Occupy Half-Way-Tree	Only a handful of Persons turned out(20) for the Occupy Half-Way-Tree protest organized by Child rights group “Hear the Children's Cry” and the “New Nation Coalition” who chained themselves to a median near the historic clock in Half-Way-Tree Square in protest against what they say were "Inequities and Injustices in the Jamaican society".
2012	Police Corruption and Killings	Jamaicans for Justice Called for a mass protest but ONLY 60 People turned up.
	Government Corruption, Lies and Empty Promises	No Mass Rally or Protest have ever been organized to send a strong message to the Government that this is a serious issue and needs to be addressed A.S.A.P. Both the people, Political Parties and the Government continue to “Pay Lip Service” to this matter in order to score political points. I do believe that even if a Mass Rally or a Protest was organized that only a hand full of people would bother to show up, unless off course you get a sound system, some semi-literate DJ’s and hand out free rice from the back of a truck.
	Increasing Murder/Crime Rate	No Mass Rally or Protest have ever been organized to send a strong message to the Government that this is a serious issue and needs to be addressed A.S.A.P. Both the people, Political Parties and the Government continue to “Pay Lip Service” to this matter in order to score political points. I do believe that even if a Mass Rally or a Protest was organized that only a hand full of people would bother to show up, unless off course you get a sound system, some semi-literate DJ’s and hand out free rice from the back of a truck.
	Economic Mismanagement and Hardship	No Mass Rally or Protest have ever been organized to send a strong message to the Government that this is a serious issue and needs to be addressed A.S.A.P. Both the people, Political Parties and the Government continue to “Pay Lip Service” to this matter in order to score political points. I do believe that even if a Mass Rally or a Protest was organized that only a hand full of people would bother to show up, unless off course you get a sound system, some semi-literate DJ’s and hand out free rice from the back of a truck.
	Crumbling and/or missing infrastructure	No Mass Rally or Protest have ever been organized to send a strong message to the Government that this is a serious issue and needs to be addressed A.S.A.P. Both the people, Political Parties and the Government continue to “Pay Lip Service” to this matter in order to score political points. I do believe that even if a Mass Rally or a Protest was organized that only a hand full of people would bother to show up, unless off course you get a sound system, some semi-literate DJ’s and hand out free rice from the back of a truck.
	Child abuse on rise in Jamaica	No Mass Rally or Protest have ever been organized to send a strong message to the Government that this is a serious issue and needs to be addressed A.S.A.P. Both the people, Political Parties and the Government continue to “Pay Lip Service” to this matter in order to score political points. I do believe that even if a Mass Rally or a Protest was organized that only a hand full of people would bother to show up, unless off course you get a sound system, some semi-literate DJ’s and hand out free rice from the back of a truck.