Sri Lanka versus Jamaica

Thanks to Prof. Damith Wickramanayake (Computer Science UTECH) and his wife, Sharlene, I just spent a delightful, entertaining, and educational three weeks in Sri Lanka.

Like Jamaica, Sri Lanka is an island nation and a former British colony (formerly known as Ceylon). It looks a lot like Jamaica, too, only much larger, lusher, more populated, and cleaner.

After travelling over much of the island on well-maintained, mostly pothole-free roads, using their cheap, reliable public transportation system the question that kept popping in my head was how come we in Jamaica can't get these basic things right?

Why is it so hard for us to even keep our tiny island clean?

It has to do with a lack of respect by our politicians for the people.  Keeping the environment clean for its citizens is a basic necessity!

Sri Lanka has twenty-two million people and is about five times the size of Jamaica, yet I only saw one place as dirty as most places in Jamaica. That was at the bus terminus in Anbalagoda, near Galle, where both local and city-to-city buses pick up and drop off their passengers.

You know how they keep their island clean? Simple. They pick up the refuse constantly, day and night, for on almost every road you travel, you run into vehicles working, be they small garbage trucks, tractor-drawn carts, and even three-wheel-drawn carts, all picking up and hauling away garbage.

So, if a third world country with seven times our population and about five times as much rainfall as we get can do that, what's stopping us?

And talking about rainfall, their water does not settle on the roads and create potholes, so why does ours? 

Sheer political corruption, for if the contractors we employed were professional instead of being mainly political hacks, they would be putting in proper drainage and building solid roads so we wouldn't be throwing away the billions we do and getting nothing but potholes in return.

The other basic thing I mentioned was how they move their twenty-two million people effectively, cheaply, and quickly. The transportation sector is highly subsidized to make sure their low-paid masses can get around easily and on time.

They use a combination of rail, private bus, cars, three-wheelers, bikes, public bus, taxis, ride-share and you don't wait for hours to move from any point to where you are going. 

They even have their own airline too and the service is excellent!

I have used them all, and the prices on the ground are ridiculously low.

Sri Lanka is not a wealthy country with mineral resources like bauxite. Their economy earns from manufacturing, remittances, exports (mainly tea and rubber), agriculture, and tourism. Their tourism arrivals are not even as high as ours, as in 2024, they had just over two million arrivals, whereas we had over three million.

 So, where is all our money going? Why can’t we see it in basics like good roads, proper transport, and a clean environment?

I have news for you, though. It wasn't always like this, for in 2022, being pushed to the brink because of mismanagement and political corruption, the people rose up and took action.

At that time, the GDP was revised down to a -7.3% growth rate, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka. And inflation had climbed to 70% in what was described as a debt-ridden nation.

The people naturally blamed their political leader, President Gotabaya, and his cabinet for their economical malaise, took to the streets, and literally chased him out of town.

An interim government was formed, and in 2024, President Dissanayake, who campaigned on an anti-corruption, pro-poor platform, became president.

In 2024, Sri Lanka's GDP grew by 5.0%, marking a strong recovery from the 2022 crisis, according to Wikipedia.

 Sure, there are problems there as salaries are extremely low and poverty is pervasive. But things are extremely cheap.

I had been alerted by my generous host, Professor Damith, that things were extremely reasonable there, but had no idea how cheap they were until I got here! 

For example, I paid about J$ 50 for local bus fare on a government bus. Less than Ja$500 on a four-hour train trip. Ja $375 for a solid phone charge cord, 30 cents for a cup of coffee, and on and on.

It's surreal.

Cultural differences

Of course, things are not all hunky dory for despite Sri Lanka having had the first female prime minister in the world, (Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the international airport is named in her honour), I find women in my age group and even younger, reticent about being treated equally in the domestic environment. 

Shrinking violets, to put it mildly!

 However, I understand the younger generation is having none of that, so it’s changing rapidly and the escalating increase in the divorce rate seems to be bearing that out! (From 5% to 50% in the last few years, according to Professor Damith.)

Another big difference is that Sri Lankans are big organ donors. According to a senior surgeon with whom I was speaking, this is because Buddhists have a giving culture. So not only are they quick to donate some organs when they are alive, but a vast number have living wills authorizing their organs to be harvested when they die. He informed me that each year they reap so many eyes, that it’s Pakistanis who benefit most, as there is no need for so many in Sri Lanka!

I am still a bit puzzled about a characteristic I observed there, though, for in general, they appear to be quiet and peaceful people in their interactions with one another. In other words, when I travelled on crowded buses or trains, all was quiet. No boisterous shouting/cursing or loud music like at home.

 Yet they do not seem to have a problem with violent upheavals!

So, between 1983 and 2009, they had a long, brutal civil war, which I am told left over 130,000 people dead in its wake. And during the political upheaval in 2022, when the president was literally thrown out of office, many people were killed and wounded.

Could this be a perfect example of still waters running deep?

 RE food, See:

 https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2025/05/omg-im-allergic.html

 NBA.  Most Sri lankans are dedicated Buddhists and keep the most beautiful and intricate shrines in their homes.

 

 

Hypocrisy to the nth degree!

 When I heard the hullabaloo coming out of the Peoples National Party (PNP), private sector and a few other hypocritical mouths, because MP Warmington declared that opposition Leader Mark Golding’s color should disqualify him from becoming prime minister of Jamaica, I had a good laugh.

For wasn’t this the same party that was able to remain in power for eighteen years, not because they had good policies, but because they were able to convince most Jamaicans that Seaga, a white man could not lead Jamaica because of his color?

How the world turns!

P.J. Patterson, who led probably the most corrupt regime in the history of my poor beleaguered country, could never have stayed in power for 14 years, were it not for the race card that the PNP played consistently.

Where were all those people who are now protesting about Warmingiton’s comments, during that period?

Jamaica’s motto is “Out of many one people” is strictly aspirational in my view, as race baiting is an integral part of our culture.

I am not saying I support racism now, any more than I supported it when Seaga was head of the Jamaican Opposition JLP. 

Of course not.

What is double amusing too, is to hear some well-known apologists even trying to promote Mark Golding on the basis of what his late father did for the country.

The late Professor Sir John Golding, was an orthopedic surgeon who was key to helping to contain the polio epidemic that hit Jamaica in the 1950's. When he saw the level of disability that it caused especially among the poor, he established the Hope Institute to make and supply prosthetics for those affected.

In addition, he opened the Hope Valley Experimental School which was the first and only school in the Caribbean to integrate disabled and normally able children. Other initiatives included a company to employ the disabled, a farm for the handicapped, a Cheshire village a fairground to employ the handicapped and to raise money for a rehabilitation center, a prosthetics and orthotics center, a physiotherapy school and a hospice.

So yes, the late Professor John Golding was a great man.

However, the last time we Jamaicans elected a prime minister on the basis of what his father had done, it proved to be a great disaster and even thrust us in a civil war.

Yes, I am referring to the late Michael Manley, who sailed to leadership of the PNP on the coattail of his father, National Hero Norman Manley.

Oh, how we lived to regret it!

Let’s not do the same crap again, as that damage was too devastating and long lasting.

Out of many one people is a great aspiration yes.

But judge Mark Golding on his ability and policies and stop the hypocritical nonsense about not bringing people's color into political discussions.

The PNP started the trend, now they and their apologists need to cut out the hilarious side show about color and demonstrate to the country what they are capable of doing.

Corruption killing Jamaica

“Mi nuh come fi count cow, mi come fi drink milk.”

That is a popular proverb in Jamaica and I swear it’s the motto of most of our politicians.

While the majority will not admit that it is their motto though, I once heard a politician who was a deacon in a church, saying it quite unabashedly!

He clearly realized that we Jamaicans do not really take public corruption seriously, as we refuse to connect the dots.

Our poor country has suffered immensely and unnecessarily as a result of our tolerance of political corruption though.

Sadly, the corruption in Jamaica has become so entrenched that this story published in the Gleaner of December 5^th, 2021 entitled “US$100-million gap, Financial review uncovers missing funds CAP paid to Jamalco” barely elicited a collective yawn.

 That is not millions, but billions!

This latest revelation has made the other recent scandals at Petrojam, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Airports Authority and on and on, seem almost insignifican. But when they are all added up, we begin to see the extent to which this country is being ravaged by the few politically attached, who are rarely ever brought to justice.

For the benefit of the uninformed, CAP a publicly-owned a bauxite producer and alumina refinery which is flush with money. And when you consider the terrible unmitigated damage that the bauxite mining industry has done to our environment over the years, this revelation is even more devastating.

What is sad is that while the majority seem happy to accept the theft/misappropriation of the country’s resources, (the refrain often is “di other side do it to”) they fail to understand how this endemic corruption is causing the violent crime about which everyone is bawling.

Let me put it simply.  

I am old enough to remember the days when violent crime was the exception not the rule, as every community had organized activities for the youth. This was facilitated in community centres which were properly equipped with cricket fields, football fields and all sorts of other sporting/domestic science activities, to keep young people fully engaged while they learnt competitiveness and even new skills after school.

Due to the perennial ‘lack of funds’ since the 90’s however, these facilities were scrapped so it’s the gangs and the guns that the young people now have available to keep them occupied and socialized in the wrong areas.

Don’t believe me. Just go into the archives and read the myriad of reports that have been done on how to reduce violent crime and you will see the most common recommendation is; social intervention at the community level, not States of Emergency.   

Even if we must use States of Emergency occasionally to deal with special situations, do we have adequately trained and renumerated police for this to be successful?

Absolutely not.

Our police force is notoriously corrupt and ineffective. Could it be because we are only able to recruit mostly from the bottom of the barrel because of the poor renumeration and working conditions?

I certainly think this is the major problem.

Yes, there is a direct connection between our resources constantly being stolen and misappropriated, whether through central government, local government or the myriad of uncontrolled government boards, many of which exist simply as feeding trees for the political elites and their henchmen.

Oh yes, we are sometimes appeased by announcements of steps to be taken to minimize corruption, but don’t hold your collective breaths. For Jamaica does not suffer from a lack of laws and regulations but from the absence of enforcement.

So, while it is required that public bodies all present audited returns annually, some are even decades in arrears. In the meantime, the horses have long bolted with our resources and there are never any consequences, while the people perish.

And we will continue to perish and be held hostage by violent criminals, until we the populace, connect the dots between the massive corruption in government and violent crime and rise up, determined to bring it to an end.

 https://youtu.be/OWfyPuF80cQ