Jamaica and the Panama Canal

"From its central situation as regards the other West Indian islands and the fact of it being in the direct track between Europe, the United States and the Isthmus of Panama, Jamaica furnishes special advantages and conveniences for trade and commerce between these points. When the ship canal uniting the Atlantic and Pacific is completed, Jamaica will undoubtedly be of great strategic importance upon the new trade route." (Handbook of Jamaica, 1911)

The Handbook of Jamaica (HoJ), which was published annually between the 1880s and the 1970s, ran this statement in its chapter, 'Description of Jamaica, Population, &c', year after year, when the Panama Canal was under construction by the United States between 1904 and its opening in 1914. Many Jamaican labourers worked on this project in one of our early waves of migration.

Now that the canal is being expanded to accommodate much larger 'Post-Panamax' vessels by doubling the capacity of the waterway by 2015, the same expectations that Jamaica stands to benefit have come up. The expansion project will create demand for ports that can handle these super-sized Post-Panamax ships. Miami and a number of other ports on the US Eastern seaboard are already ready, having done the necessary upgrades.

Using remarkably similar language to the Handbook of Jamaica 100 years ago, current Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce Anthony Hylton says the Logistics Hub Project will allow Jamaica to take full economic advantage of the opportunities presented by the widening of the Panama Canal.

Trade route shift a plus

The shift in major trade routes from just those between Europe and North America to include Asia, he says, will benefit us, because with the expansion, vessels will be increased by about three times the size of existing vessels. "What that means is that countries like China and Japan, wanting to get their goods to market, will see that coming through the Panama Canal is the preferred route ... . We seek, through this Logistics Hub, to recognise those shifts in global trade ... to recognise the opportunities presented to Jamaica, because Jamaica would be the first and nearest country out of the Panama Canal," Minister Hylton says. Nicaragua, in collaboration with the Chinese, has recently announced its own canal project.

And Jamaica has the comparative advantage of geography over any other country in the Caribbean basin, just like the Handbook of Jamaica noted a century ago; and some of the deepest harbours in the Southern Hemisphere are on our south coast. Cow Bay in neglected St Thomas, earmarked for development as part of the Logistics Hub, has one of the deepest harbours in the world, with a 51-metre depth.

We are aiming to match the world's leading hubs like those in Rotterdam, Singapore and Dubai. The minister says Jamaica is positioning to be the link in this hemisphere to the ports of Rotterdam in Europe, Dubai in the Middle East, and Singapore in the South East, adding that there is a need and demand in the global trading system for a fourth hub.

But there have been substantial concerns about whether Jamaica can pull off the US$8-billion Logistics Hub project in time and in a manner to benefit from the 2015 opening of the expanded Panama Canal. It would be a pity to miss the boat twice.

Copies of the Handbook of Jamaica are held by the National Library of Jamaica (NLJ). And as the executive director of the NLJ, Winsome Hudson, reminded those of us who attended its refreshing 'Coffee, Tea and History' event in Chantal's rains last Thursday morning, the National Library is not a museum, but one of Jamaica's finest research resources for our history and culture. So I popped out of the tour of the library with the viewing of books and pamphlets, maps and postcards, newspapers and posters, audio and audiovisual recordings and photographs, and with the assistance of very helpful librarians quickly had in hand my note from the Handbook of Jamaica, 1911, on Jamaica and the Panama Canal. A statement which I knew was there from previous use of the HoJ.

The Deposit Act requires that creators deposit copies of their works with the NLJ. I was happy to have obeyed the law with a deposit of The Story of the Telegraph in Jamaica, which I have co-authored, with research at the National Library providing a wealth of valuable information in the book.

Martin Henry is a communication specialist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and medhen@gmail.com