Bamboozled again?

By Gordon Robinson

Jamaica has wasted almost all its natural resources, but rescue could be on the way from an unlikely source: bamboo.

Did you know bamboo, capable of growing four feet a day, is the world's fastest-growing woody plant? Did you know bamboo can be grown without irrigation, pesticides, or fertilisers (i.e., organically)? The demand for bamboo in the making of floors and furniture is growing in the USA faster than Chris Christie can empty a KFC bucket. Bamboo, sustainable manufacturing's new poster boy, can be a source of carbon credits for Jamaica and applesauce (you work it out; it's comic) from environmentalists.

What do Jamaicans know of bamboo? Well, we know Holland Bamboo, a truly magnificent sight in its prime, was one of the most photographed natural wonders. Today, close attention from hurricanes Gilbert (1988) and Ivan (2004), together with Government's accustomed inattention, has reduced Holland bamboo coverage's thickness significantly. Although a restoration project by TPDCo, NEPA and the agriculture ministry is rumoured to be ongoing, I suspect this bureaucratic ensemble is tripping over their turf boundaries rather than planting more bamboo or pruning dead bamboo, which is what's required. Remember, bamboo grows faster than Usain Bolt's bank account.

Ask any Jamaican male about American demand for bamboo. They'll burst into song:

Well, I ask my lady what should I do

to make her happy and make love true.

She said 'the only thing that I want from you

is a little, little piece of the big bamboo.

With the big, big bamboo, bamboo.

O la la la la la la la la.

Working for the Yankee dollar.

Bamboo has unlimited potential. It's all the rage in America where it's the new 'wonder plant'. Bamboo affects more than 1.5 billion people worldwide; has more than 1,500 uses (so far); is highly sustainable; sequesters up to 40 per cent more carbon dioxide than a forest of trees the same size; and is stronger than steel. You heard me. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the big bamboo.

Well, I gave my lady a sugar cane.

Sweet up the sweets I did explain.

She gave it back to my surprise.

She liked the flavour but not the size.

She want the big, big bamboo, bamboo. O la la la la la la la la. Working for the Yankee dollar.

In 2006, bamboo was first officially classified as a 'wood', and now that it's dawned on America that bamboo grows in the South, Jamaica is again looking like being caught napping while America cashes in on another Jamaican indigenous product.

transformational

Currently, while we talk, talk, talk, Colorado has legalised ganja, while Washington, DC, and California aren't far behind. Before Andrew Holness can say "transformational" three times, America will be the world's main ganja supplier and, as usual, we'll be left holding the spliff. America beating us out on weed ain't so bad. But, the big bamboo, too?

Well, I gave my lady two coconuts.

She said, 'I like it; it's ok but

the only thing that worries me

what good are the nuts without the tree?

I want the big, big bamboo, bamboo.

O la la la la la la la la.

Working for the Yankee dollar.

The Big Bamboo, the most famous of all calypsos (probably the best ever written), has been covered by everybody who's anybody, including Sparrow, Lord Creator and The Merrymen, whose unique arrangement (Straker, Hunte, Gibbs) made it their biggest hit. Many believe Emile Straker is the author, but its origin is shrouded in mystery and it's most likely written by a widely travelled Trinidadian calypsonian named Cecil Anderson (known worldwide as Duke of Iron), who first recorded it. He accompanied his 1956 recording with a wicked clarinet that ensured the lyrics couldn't be misunderstood.

Ghana's 'Garden City', Kumasi, long-time suppliers of forest timber and wood, recently found its forest resources declining at such an alarming rate that could see Ghana running out of forest cover in 20 years.

Ghana's government, recognising bamboo's potential as an alternative to timber, introduced a programme to identify sustainable ways of bamboo sector development. In the Ashanti Region, believed to hold Ghana's third-largest stock of naturally growing bamboo, the Millennium Villages Project in Bonsaaso is working with communities to identify land suitable for bamboo cultivation.

Worldwide demand for bamboo in the construction/real estate sector for bamboo furnishings is booming. Ghana and the USA are off and running. Jamaica? I know. Me, Teacher! Me, Teacher! We're marching for peace.

Peace and love.

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.