Caribbean & Central America - January 2023

*** JAMAICA REIMPOSES STATE OF EMERGENCY. On 28 December, Jamaica reimposed a 14-day state of emergency (SOE) in eight parishes, including in Kingston and in some central and western parts of the country, enabling the police to arrest people and search buildings without a warrant. The SOE was declared on 15 November, and then again on 6 December. On 5 October, the US State Department had issued a level 3 travel advisory for Jamaica indicating that US nationals should “reconsider travel” to Jamaica because of the threat of crime. The advisory said that “violent crimes, such as home invasions, armed robberies, sexual assaults and homicides, are common” and that “sexual assaults occur frequently”. It added that “local police lack the resources to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents”.

Reimposing the state of emergency on 28 December, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said: “While we have had reasonable success in controlling the number of murders leading up to and during the Christmas season, the threat levels for ongoing gang conflicts…[remain] elevated and extensive in scale.”

The opposition People’s National Party (PNP), led by Mark Golding, has opposed the extension of the SOEs, but Holness responded by saying: “We will use this tool as long as there is a threat to life and property…and on so extensive a scale that they will deprive citizens of their rights and freedom…The government will continue to be relentless in our efforts to control murders specifically and crime in general. We will continue to use all measures available to us. We will use the SOEs when necessary. Criminals and criminal masterminds can take no comfort that the time for declaration is short. We are and we will continue to use all lawful powers within our means to control crime and to save lives.”

*** NEW FERRY NETWORK PROPOSED FOR EASTERN CARIBBEAN. A study is being undertaken by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) for the introduction of new ferry services to connect the Eastern Caribbean. Four routes are under consideration, namely: 1) Colombia, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Trinidad & Tobago; 2) Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname; 3) Puerto Rico, Antigua & Barbuda; Guadeloupe, and St Lucia; and 4) St Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada, and Trinidad & Tobago. The latest study indicates that Route 2 (Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname) would have the best profit margins at 50% capacity. Route 4 would be important for the improvement of connectivity in the region, but it would require higher passenger transport capacity of at least 60% for the route. Route 1 (Colombia, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Trinidad & Tobago) “is not recommended in a first stage of implementation (pilot project) due to the long trajectory that it represents and its large time duration to be completed”.

The study adds: “Further political integration would be critical to ensure the success of the ferry service implementation. First, the Chaguaramas Treaty, which established the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom), should be revisited to identify opportunities for improvement, facilitating the entry of work vehicles (cargo trucks, etc) and ensuring free transit in the countries where the service would operate. Similarly, customs and immigration regulations for the flow of goods and people should be reviewed and improved to speed up the process and reduce transaction costs.” Port capacity is another key factor that needs addressing. The study warns about “the lack of efficiency in port infrastructure, measured in terms of availability of port equipment, labour, information systems, fluidity of the processing of ship arrival information, and registration of passengers and merchandise”. The study calls, as a next stage, for “an institutional consultation process with private sector representatives to specify the possible types of ships available, routes, and port improvements needed, as well as financing mechanisms”.