Vision 2030 Jamaica: National Development Plan

Jamaican society

     Jamaica has many ethnic groups that form its society. There are Jamaicans of Irish, Japanese, African descents and some from other nationalities. The religious diversity is very wide (going through Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Rastafari).

     In Jamaica the families are traditional. The members are very united. Parents are very rigid. Although they are severe, they are also very loving and always very involved in all stages of their children's lives.

                  

      Some cities in Jamaica experience a high level of violence and crime, especially Kingston, Montego Bay and Spanish Town. In 2005, Jamaica had the highest murder rate of the world and the Jamaican Parliament decided to retain the death penalty. The rates of violence against homosexuals are alarmingly high too.

     













       

Education in Jamaica

      Education in Jamaica has influences from the British system and is classified into three degrees: Primary, which is normally the first phase of compulsory education and starts at age of six; Secondary, which is normally the second phase education and may or may not be compulsory. It exists in traditional high schools and in other second level institutions; Terciary, which is normally the third phase of education and is not compulsory. It leads towards a degree or professional accreditation.

      Each year a significant number of the student population simply passes through the school system without acquiring the requisite skills and knowledge necessary for them to become meaningful and productive members of the society. 

    

        Sadly, not much has been done to change this situation.

Jamaican Government

        Jamaica is an independent commonwealth realm since 1962, and it has two different governments: parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. It has Queen Elizabeth II serving as the Jamaican Monarchy. She is also chief of state of fifteen other countries and resides most of the time in the United Kingdom.

       The monarch, on the advice of the Prime Minister of Jamaica, nominates the governor-general; the governor-general appoints the entire Cabinet and the Executive power is vested in the Cabinet . Legislative power is exercised in both: the government and parliament. The monarch and the governor-general’s role is largely ceremonial.

       A bipartisan joint committee drafted the current Constitution of Jamaica in 1962. The Constitution determines a parliamentary system whose political and legal traditions resembles those of the United Kingdom.

      The Parliament of Jamaica is bicameral. It consists in the House of Representatives (Lower House) and the Senate (Upper House). The Members of the House are known as Members of Parliament and they are directly elected. The governor-general for the prime minister’s post can appoint the member of the House of Representatives, if this one is judged capable. The power often alternates between the People's National Party - current administrative and legislative power - and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).  

     

     Portia Simpson-Miller is the current Prime Minister of Jamaica, and she acts as the head of government.  

Jamaican Economy

     Jamaican’s economic freedom is the 52nd in the world rank of Index (2013) and the 9th out of 29 countries in the South and Central America/ Caribbean region. Bellow, you can see some facts about Jamaican economy:

Currency	Jamaican dollar (JMD)
Economic freedom score	66.8
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)	$24.8 billion
GDP growth	0.9% (2012)
GDP per capita	$9,100 (2012)
Unemployment	12.6%
Inflation	7.5%
Population bellow poverty line	16.5% (2009)

      Jamaica has natural resources and an ideal climate conducive for agriculture and also tourism. First, the agriculture, especially of sugar and bananas, was the main economic activity in Jamaica but, in the 1940s, the bauxite-alumina industry was established and shifted the Jamaican’s economy from agriculture. Nowadays, Jamaica is one of the world leaders of these minerals.

      

   In the secondary industries, the manufacturing sector is an important contributor. Food processing, oil refining; chemicals products, assembled electronics, textiles, apparel and etc are the main manufactures.

        

    But it is the tourism that moves Jamaican economy. The beautiful beaches and the cultural diversity are great attractions for foreigners. From January to August 2013, Jamaica received 2.09 million visitors. The most visited places are: Montego Bay, Negril Beach, Ocho Rios and Port Antonio.

     The country faces some serious problems, like corruption and poverty, but has the potential for growth and modernization.

Jamaica - Second Presentation (Group 04)

Jamaican Folklore

    In Jamaica, folk tales are really taken seriously by some people. Some of these stories are originally from Africa and some of them are taken more seriously than others. While ones are only for entertaining people as the Anasi Stories, some involving supernatural creatures such as Duppies and Rolling Calves are truly believed in or just speculated about by many.

     Here are some Jamaican tales, but if you believe or not, it is up to you:

  · Ol' Heige: She is a witch who sucks people’s breath when she sheds her skin and turns into the form of an owl. She is specially dangerous to babies. If you find an Ol' Heige's skin you just need to put salt and pepper on it and she will be incapable to put her skin back on because it will burn her. Without it she can be killed. You can protect the babies by placing an open Bible in their cradle or using some charms.

  ·   The White Witch of Rose Hall:

       Annie Mae Patterson and her parents (an English woman and an Irish man) moved to Haiti when she was 10 years old. While in Haiti, she got interested in voodoo and learned about it from her nanny who was Haitian. When her parents died she was raised by her nanny until she turned 18, and then her nanny died too. As she was growing, she was becoming an expert at Voodoo.She moved to Jamaica in order to find a rich husband to make her fortune and as she was very pretty, she found one fast. 

          She met and married John Palmer. He was the owner of the Rose Hall estate, but just a few months after their wedding she was growing tired of her husband. Because of that, she had a lot of affairs with slaves that worked for John. One day he caught Annie with a slave in bed, he beat her but she didn't let that be. She killed John and inherited his possessions. Annie was very cruel with the slaves who worked at the estate. She would kill or torture any slave who didn't please her and sometimes she would only do that to show to the other slaves what she was capable to do. She married twice after her first wedding and like her other husband, they died, presumed murdered by Annie who was after their wealth. The husbands were buried by some slaves and before they came back to the estate she already had killed them. The name White Witch of Rose Hall was given to her because of her cruel behavior and her Voodoo rituals.

          Annie wanted to win the love of a man called Robert Rutherford, however he was in love with Millicent, the granddaughter of an Obeah( Jamaican word usually used to denote witchcraft) man. Trying to have Robert, she cursed Millicent and little time after that Millicent died. Outraged by Millicent's death the Obeah man with many angry slaves killed Annie brutally then buried her in a very deep hole. The slaves burned Annie’s things, afraid of being haunted by her spirit. A Voodoo ritual was made when she was buried but it is said it was not made correctly and her spirit still haunts the house on the Rose Hall estate.

    Jamaican people also have some unusual customs and beliefs that may be interesting to other people, here are some of them:

·         It is bad luck to marry on yout birthday;

·         To dream of losing a tooth means someone is going to die;

·         The best day of the week for beginning a journey is Monday as one should never travel on Sunday. However, the best day to go looking a job is Tuesday. If a person fails to get a job on Tuesday, he should not try again until the following Tuesday;

·         Just before the last breath leaves the body, water must be put in the mouth of the dying person to help them on their journey.