|
Major Conference Of Overseas Nationals To Be Held In June 16
& 17, Jamaica Conference Center, Kingston
 The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) is stepping
up efforts to resolve some of the worrying concerns of Jamaicans
overseas and to strengthen linkages among Jamaicans in the Diaspora.
Plans are well advanced for a major conference to be held in June
that will target influential Jamaicans residing mainly in the United
Kingdom (UK), the United States (US) and Canada.
State Minister in the Ministry, Senator Delano Franklyn, told JIS
News in a recent interview, that the conference aimed, first of
all, to update nationals overseas on specific aspects of national
development. "Secondly, it will signal to them that we do not
underestimate their importance and thirdly, that we want to create
a mechanism to facilitate their continuous contribution and involvement,"
he indicated.
There are approximately five million Jamaicans living around the
globe. Just over half of that number reside in Jamaica. A Planning
Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) study last year reported that in the
last 50 years, at least one million Jamaicans migrated to the UK,
the US and Canada, 59 per cent of whom settled in the US. Their
contribution to Jamaica's economy and growth over the years has
been phenomenal and continues to grow.
For example, remittances have grown exponentially over the last
10 years, rising to US$1.3 billion last year, which exceeds the
amount earned in the same period through tourism. Cash grants and
donations from Jamaican associations and groups overseas also bring
untold relief each year to local schools, hospitals, welfare organizations,
church groups and individuals.
In New York alone, there are at least 50 known Jamaican alumni
associations that actively lobby support to provide grants, gifts
and other assistance for their alma mater back home.
These groups, once organized and unified, can accomplish much more
for those they are trying to serve here in Jamaica. So too can the
many influential Jamaicans who have risen to positions of prominence
and who are able to influence the choice of their respective government
leaders and help to determine what issues are given attention in
their houses of parliament.
Nowhere is this influence more strongly demonstrated than in the
UK, where there are some 36 marginal constituencies won largely
on the basis of the Caribbean national support that exist in those
constituencies. "The dominant player in those Caribbean populated
areas are Jamaicans," said Senator Franklyn, "but the
power these groups have to positively affect Jamaica's development
does not now manifest itself."
A similar view was expressed by Jamaican-born New Jersey Council
Woman, Elsie Foster-Dublin, at a symposium last August, titled:
The Jamaican Diaspora - Reciprocal Relations the Way Forward.
She said it was imperative that successful Jamaicans abroad be
engaged in finding ways to support their homeland. She called for
increased communication between Jamaica and its Diaspora, the provision
of a clearing house for humanitarian aids, incentives to encourage
investment in the country and an educational alliance between academia
and college students in New Jersey and those in the universities
in Jamaica.
That symposium was a precursor to the ministry's conference scheduled
for June 16 and 17 at the Jamaica Conference Centre. Its theme will
be: The Jamaican Diaspora: Unleashing the Potential.
The planning committee, chaired by Grace, Kennedy and Company's
Douglas Orane, has among its objectives: to strengthen the linkages
among Jamaican communities overseas; to create the platform for
increased business contracts between Jamaicans at home and abroad;
to create a platform to comprehensively involve more overseas Jamaicans
in the political, social and cultural life of Jamaica; to elicit
ideas from the Diaspora community for the formulation of public
policy and to see the formation of high-powered lobby groups in
the US, Canada and the UK to assist Jamaica in international trade.
Three hundred and fifty Jamaicans are expected to attend, including
60 each from Canada and the UK and 130 from the US and 100 from
Jamaica. A number of local agencies are expected to speak to some
of the pressing issues that have been frequently raised by Jamaicans
overseas.
For example, senior representatives from the Passport Office will
address concerns about time delays and other problems accessing
passports through Jamaican embassies abroad, while staff from the
Registrar General's Department, the Titles Office and the Customs
Department, are expected to speak about ways they could make it
easier for Jamaicans living abroad to utilize their services.
Interactive discussions will seek out measures that could be adopted
to reduce the hassles faced by returning residents, and for second
and third generation Jamaicans to feel connected with the island.
Thorny issues such as the deportee situation and measures being
taken to stem crime and violence here and abroad, will also be on
the table for discussion.
Several other agencies are expected to attend to disseminate information
on how overseas Jamaicans could access services here and JAMPRO
representatives will speak on possibilities for investment, expanding
further on discussions that have been ongoing between the Jamaican
overseas community and the foreign ministry.
"While we remain grateful for the support.there continues to
be a need for even greater levels of participation in our economy,
through direct investment," Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade
Minister, K.D Knight, told several community organizations, Jamaican
philanthropic and service groups in Washington DC, Virginia and
Maryland in the US recently.
Another pressing subject on the table will be the issue of donations
and what steps the ministry is taking to make it easier for donors
to clear their goods through customs.
Currently, the government is developing a policy, which, according
to Senator Franklyn, would make it much easier for persons wanting
to donate items and will "rid the system of bureaucratic bungling,
which act as an inhibiting factor."
"It is going to be important to have the input of all stakeholders
and we are hoping that by the end of this year, we will be able
to have something (a policy) which will guide the overseas community,
our missions abroad, guide customs and the ministries here in Jamaica
(about) what are the requirements when we are facilitating persons
who wish to make donations," he told JIS News.
Another expected outcome of the two-day deliberations is the institution
of a Jamaica Day, that will be separate and apart from the Jamaica
Independence Day and the Jamaica Emancipation Day celebrations,
and will not be a public holiday.
"The idea is to identify a particular day, which can be used
to commemorate and celebrate Jamaican together, so that Jamaicans
in the UK, Canada and the US, who want to put on activities on that
day can do so," the State Minister stated.
|
