IN a research survey carried out by the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, it was revealed that most Jamaicans know little about the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
This was stated by SALISES's Head, Professor Neville Duncan, at the monthly Media Breakfast Forum, held at the Mona campus on last month
The survey was carried out among Jamaicans of voting age (18 years and over), who were randomly selected from the entire island using maps prepared by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN), for each parish. Findings are based on the opinions of 1,581 respondents who, in relation to Jamaicans of voting age, provide a sampling error of plus or minus two per cent.
"This," states Professor Duncan, "implies that the findings of the survey represent the opinions of 94 per cent of the Jamaican voting population."
"Respondents," reported Professor Duncan, "were asked which organisations they associate with Caribbean integration. These answers were recorded as unprompted responses."
The percentage of those who, unprompted, identified the institutions associated with regional integration were, reported and compared with the results of prompted responses.
Only 3.2 per cent identified the CSME as an institution associated with regional integration, in an unprompted response, while 30.2 per cent identified the regional institution when prompted.
"Basically," stated Professor Duncan, "the unprompted response showed an extremely weak association by Jamaicans of well-known institutions with regional integration. Even when prompted, only the West Indian cricket team, the University of the West Indies, the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM), the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), and the Caribbean Festival of Arts, score above a 50 per cent response.
"The proponents of regional integration have been doing an extremely poor job of promoting regional integration (in spite of the undoubted value and success of the already existing institutions)," Professor Duncan concluded.
The SALISES research survey team consisted of Dr. Patsy Lewis, Dr. Jimmy Tindigarukayo, Ms. Kristin Fox, Dr. Aldrie Henry-Lee and Professor Neville Duncan.
