Dawn Ritch, Columnist

I have no confidence in CARICOM, the CARICOM Single Market Economy, the Caribbean Court of Appeal, or anything to do with the Caribbean.

I'm a Jamaican, I pay Jamaican taxes, and don't think that our Government should use our taxes to embroil us in anything Caribbean.

All the other Caribbean islands have ever meant to me is competition. As it is, they have already produced two Nobel Laureates and we have none. So I tremble for our tourism. They are likely to have the sense not to harass their visitors.

This means they can charge higher room rates than we do, and their real estate is more valuable than ours. These are hardly endearing characteristics to a Jamaican. Trinidad's oil wealth and investment here only add salt to our wounds. Their guargantuan trade surplus with our island feels like gummy cow pat on our shoes.

Bound to go wrong

Anything we do with Trinidad is bound to go wrong. Anything we do with the Caribbean can't go right. Look at ICC Cricket World Cup (CWC). I was watching the sports news on television recently, while waiting for the weather report, which is usually far more interesting. Suddenly, on the screen was a CWC match in Guyana, and there was only one human being in the stands, and he was black. This spells financial disaster.

Shortly after that, I heard that ebay had tickets for the Super Eights, or finals of CWC, for sale at deep, deep discounts. The irony is that Jamaica has had the biggest turn-out so far. But it seems that not a single hosting Caribbean island had experienced an increase in tourists. Rather, there had been a decrease during CWC.

Some say it's because of the murder of the Pakistani coach here in Jamaica. It took place within 24 hours after that country was eliminated in the competition. One thing is certain, none of us would have been upset by their elimination. But some ungrateful Pakistanis say it was our fault.

After a brilliant opening ceremony staged by Jamaica, things took a turn for the worse early in the competition. On the second day of play, according to one newspaper, liquor ran out by 10:30 a.m. at Sabina Park. This was absolutely unheard of. I marvel at the discipline of the capacity crowd in not rioting.

A Barbadian company, God-dard's, were the official licensed caterers. When the local sporting public is reduced to taking to the stadium mixed alcoholic beverages strapped to their bodies in catheter bags, one can only describe the catering as grossly inadequate. The Jamaican company J. Wray and Nephew got the pouring rights for the rum. But I have been assured by the company that they are not responsible for pouring the rum.

Recently, there was a discussion among some experts from the tourism industry and the Opposition on one of the radio talk shows about the poor attendance at Cricket World Cup. I was startled to learn that the United States had an input in the security arrangements regionwide, and the institution of the CARICOM visa. One would assume that it was Europe and the European owners of the International Cricket Council who were responsible.

Poor attendance at cwc

To my alarm, I also heard that even after being involved in the security arrangements, the U.S. had subsequently issued a travel advisory on the Internet saying the ICC Cricket World Cup was a target for terrorists. Cricket fans were turned off, and our regular visitors failed to materialise. With friends like the United States, who needs enemies?

Except, of course, the ICC themselves and the other Caribbean islands. The world organising body for cricket gets to have the cream in income, and we get to keep the expenses. It would have made far more sense from every point of view had Jamaica hosted the competition on her own. This is the worst kind of federation.

There would have been fewer stadia for one thing, and a vastly smaller carbon footprint. Not that we ever had the airline seats to fly them from island to island anyway. Only a madcap idea of Caribbean integration could have conceived such a nonsense.

The European Union, itself celebrating 50 years of non-existence except for a hugely expensive bureaucracy in Brussels answerable to no electorate anywhere, is very keen on the CARICOM Single Market Economy. They can't even agree a constitution of their own, yet, they're happily dictating one to us. And all because they give us foreign aid. Caribbean economic union ought to be no concern of theirs. They've been unable to achieve one of their own even after 50 years.

Somebody obviously thought it would be very nice if all the Caribbean islands got together and hosted Cricket World Cup, only to forget to send the fans. Then the Americans came on board for security reasons, only to torpedo the ship.

In circumstances like these, I would sue both the ICC and the American government for loss of enjoyment, loss of income and malicious perfidy. Sue them and demand that they make restitution.

Certainly I hope that our own government doesn't join with those of the other Caribbean islands to get involved in such a lawsuit. It would be sure not to work out. One or more of them would meet the defendants in some outside corridor, and try to strike a secret deal in return for dropping the matter.

There is no comfort in thinking that the Caribbean islands would never be able to pull it off. They have just successfully staged the third-largest sporting event in the world. I put nothing past them.

I long for the day when we row our own boat, but things have taken, it seems, an irreversible step in the other direction. Even Prime Minister Mrs. Simpson Miller says she's interested in knowing what the rest of the region thinks about reparations for slavery from European powers. Why bother ask them?

Economic interests

Poor European powers, they're a shadow of their former selves. Today, they let the Americans bully them into repudiating their own economic interests. How much money could we really get from Europe anyway? I feel almost sorry for them. Reparations is a kind of tax.

It would be better to find a way to make China responsible for slavery and tax them instead. They're the ones with the money today, everybody kowtows to them. They are bankers and manufacturers to the United States. There is already a body of research and thought today which holds that China discovered the New World, and not the Europeans.

Perhaps the rest of the Caribbean could be persuaded to set up a commission of inquiry into the matter. It would be sure to cause confusion, and turn their attention elsewhere.