Howard HamiltonIT'S THAT time again, when we make wishes and resolutions. I tend to keep my resolutions to myself. I find that my success rate is better that way. However, my wishes I share freely and, in doing so, I intend to take full advantage of this column.
I wish that the Government would come to its senses and shift horse racing and other forms of gambling that we may opt to introduce in the future to a ministry that combines Sport, Entertainment and Tourism.
My reasons have to do with the fact that the mind-set at the Ministry of Finance is incapable of seeing any value in racing but as a source of revenue. I have been convinced of this for some time and have not kept my opinion a secret.
A Ministry of Sport, Entertainment and Tourism would be able to perceive additional dimensions and racing could be exploited for its entertainment value, bringing a richer and more varied tourism product offering to the market.
I wish to see a much broader view of tourism product development taken in the coming year. Apart from the potential offered by a new paradigm of racing, we could and should be making much better use of the resources we have at Milk River and Bath in St. Thomas.
We have long been aware of the potent restorative powers of the waters at these two spas, but have been content to allow them to degenerate into public embarrassments. Both sites offer great potential for development as elegant renunciation centres for well-heeled but ageing 'beautiful people.'
I wish to see the Government come to its senses on the issue of casinos in Jamaica. The vast public revenues that other competing destinations are deriving from this business could have rectified untold social problems that are now threatening to drag Jamaica under.
Casino-type gambling is widespread in Jamaica, to an extent that may rival many of the legal gaming jurisdictions in the region, yet the Government refuses to take the simple step of acknowledging this and regulating this activity and demanding its slice of the pie for the public revenue fund.
I remain mystified by this and also remain adamant that, if any single thing has a chance of quadrupling the tourism industry
s yield, its casino gaming. I remain convinced that it will make a significant impact on employment in the industry and could enable our access to major group and convention business by providing the means to build a suitable convention centre in Montego Bay or Kingston capable of attracting groups of far greater size than we now attract.
I wish to see the end of the claiming race system in racing in Jamaica. Modelled on perceived success abroad, the system was thought to be a way to bring the 'small man' into the industry by creating a level playing field.
The only thing that it has succeeded in levelling is the standard of performance and calibre of participation in the industry.
I have written unapologetically in the past year that the horse racing industry is not for wimps or 'small men'. It demands healthy resources and high standards. As soon as attempts are made to compromise those standards, the animals are the first to suffer. There are compelling humanitarian reasons as much as there are compelling practical and business reasons why we should do away with this perverse aberration in an otherwise dignified and noble sport.
I wish to see Caymanas Park become much more than it has been and far more than it is today. I wish to see it blossom into a complex that embraces a variety of entertainment offerings, a complex at which racing can co-exist with musical entertainment, dining out, family outings and elegant, relaxed days outdoors for young and old alike.
I have offered suggestions for the formula that would make such a vision a reality and would be happy to share them again whenever I thought that they may be taken seriously.
Finally, I wish to see a calmer, more civil Jamaica. I know that, against the background of 2002, it seems that I have saved the toughest wish for last, but my faith in Jamaica's capacity for renewal, though severely tested in recent times, remained intact.
Perhaps last year was the edge of the abyss and from now on we will be in retreat from it. I hope so.
I travelled a lot last year and I was struck by the extent to which civility and decorum still prevail in other regional states, while they seem to have disappeared from daily life here in Jamaica.
I hope that we have bottomed out in the decline of popular culture and that our music will, once again, reflect the best of what is Jamaica.
Knowing that there is something of a cause and effect relationship, I therefore wish for all our citizens access to the opportunities they need to make better lives for themselves and their families, so that they too may share the pleasure of a return to a calmer, more civilised national temperament.
