Time to modernise banana production

THE EDITOR, Madam:

JAMAICA HAS benefited immensely from its banana sector for many years. This important sector continues to be one of the main agricultural activities of our nation.

It also continues to have a very serious efficiency problem. As it is now, our industry cannot compete with those from other areas of the world, especially Central America.

One of our main purchasers of bananas is the European Union. Some time ago, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) began to demand that Europe end its policy of preferential treatment for banana imports from the Caribbean. The WTO demanded that Europe give equal access to their banana market from all producing regions. This is one of the policies the WTO that we oppose for the wrong reasons.

It is a very well established fact that the banana industry in Jamaica, and the Caribbean, continues to be woefully inefficient. Modern production methods continue to pass the industry by.

Lack of foresight

It is largely as a result of our lack of foresight and our taking for granted Europe's policy of preferential treatment why the industry was not modernised.

The threat from Central America is a wake-up call to our industry. We must modernise or be left behind.

When are we going to realise that inefficient and labour-intensive industries are a thing of the past? We must now move forward. We still refuse to see the immense gains of the future if we make the sacrifice to modernise today.

I still cannot understand that instead of finding ways to improve the banana industry, we see the threatened action of the WTO as an evil, spiteful act. We had all the time in the world to modernise the industry, but we choose not to. The brain power and efforts that are being used to persuade Europe into continuing its preferential treatment of our bananas would be better spent finding the quickest ways to make our industry competitive. Like many other things, it seems that we have to be forced to do what is not only right, but necessary.

I am etc.,

MICHAEL A. DINGWALL

E-mail:

dingwallmichael@yahoo.com

Kingston

Via Go-Jamaica

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