THE EDITOR, Sir:
HAVING listened to the raging controversy with regards to the Carib Cement issue, I have finally decided to register my opinion. I must make a few observations before anything else. Firstly, never mind the advertisement by the JMA, Carib Cement is no longer a "Jamaican" company in the truest sense but in reality it is a subsidiary of TCL group which is based in Trinidad.
An argument can be made for Carib Cement once being a Jamaican manufacturing concern but not now. It can be argued that directions, policy and company vision along with raw material import comes from Trinidad and the profits made here flow right back to Trinidad. It can also be reasonably argued that Carib Cement employs no more or no less persons directly or indirectly than its competitors. Accordingly, their argument about Jamaican jobs being put at risk would basically be the same as it concerns Mainland Hardware, directly or indirectly as Carib Cement are importers just like its competitors. Ironically, one can query of Caribbean Cement, if their operations here 'support jobs and the development of skills in other countries'; specifically Trinidad. I have noted that in all the advertisements that Carib Cement has put out they seek to point out the history of the company, failing to point out that that history now counts for nothing but nostalgia as the company is now just a Trinidadian subsidiary with the requisite Trinidadians in almost all, if not all senior and junior management positions. Carib Cement has not to my mind in all their advertisements specifically addressed the salient issues posed by Mainland Hardware which that:
a) They are also importers of cement and the reason if any, why they have to import and what they import.
b) What the value of their inputs and imports from Trinidad are in respect to their operations.
c) What is there that Carib Cement imports from outside Jamaica (in particular Trinidad) that can't be found here, for example, in Clarendon? Essentially, my own opinion is that TCL, through their subsidiary Carib Cement, seems to want a guaranteed way to increase their profits to the detriment of fellow companies and importers like itself. Incidentally, I would like to know what exactly are TCL's plans in relation to the entire Caribbean and their regional cement company operations. In regards to their ads showing lower level employees. I must admit to feeling somewhat offended. Those particular ads are examples of classic plantation psychology by TCL. Showing these lower level Jamaican employees in these ads gives the impression that all Jamaica is at risk simply from competition, which is somewhat cruel. I am sure that Mainland Hardware could show the faces of their Jamaican employees too, the only difference being that they could also show the faces of the Jamaican owners unlike Carib Cement and their parent TCL. It is vitally important that as the decision is made in respect to any proposed tariff, thorough representation is made of all contending points of view and not just that of the monopolies.
I am, etc.,
O'NEIL BROWN
Attorney-at-law
