Kingston Alive

Kingston:--This city differs sharply from the Jamaica that Madison Avenue sells the world. Physically and psychically removed from the island's pristine North Coast many Americans know, neither the real nor the romanticized Kingston bear relation to the rest of the island. The difference seems more than what a capital usually represents. It's organically removed from the rest of the country, and could well be somewhere else in the world. Almost like New York's relationship with the rest of the United States, Kingston has a life separate and apart from Jamaica. Its history, of course, could be the culprit.

Bucanneers once turned it into one of the richest cities on earth. Sugar and bauxite made its port famous. More recently, its ghettos spawned reggae, and now dancehall has given it a lore larger than its life of 1 million people. Youth around the world imitate a Kingston style, movies explore its intrigue, sociologists publish its human drama extensively, and politicians and drug lords exploit its weaknesses. Only spitting distance from Cuba and not much further from Miami, Kingston today may either be on the edge of something substantial or spinning a top in mud. There is bustle here, and money is visible in lifestyle and real estate.

Banking is big, though now roughing out a dry spell. The country's bankers used to make enormous profits from government paper. With some tightening in the system they're frantically merging to gain competence and efficiency. The newly liberalized economy and its consequent right sizing has caused dislocations. The middle and professional class have lost jobs. Mortgage rates are prohibitive, other credit is astronomical and school fees and the cost of food can bankrupt the most resourceful. Of course, that's what Jamaicans are, resourceful, and vibrant and extremely entrepreneurial.

While they cuss every single institution daily on the popular radio talk shows, they cope with adversity with a massive concentration. They reorder their lives quickly to meet new circumstances; when the country took a democratic socialist path in the 1970s; when it swung conservative in the 1980s; after a devastating hurricane in 1989; and now in the unforgiving liberalized, right-sizing 1990s. A frontier mentality, where anything was possible, is now giving way to a practical reordering of priorities. Most people spend more wisely, convinced that a brief spell of plenty may not return soon. A fine irony here is that everyone seems to have some sort of second job (or income earner) in a country where unemployment is over 20 percent. Jamaicans have always been traders, so scores of people hop to Miami frequently to return with goods to sell. Despite much criticism, Prime Minister's P.J. Patterson's Government seems to be getting a grip on the economy.

The dollar is gaining strength daily, the country's net international reserve is at an all time high, and inflation slid to one percent last month. The People's National Party, which finished its annual conference this week, seems set to take a third term in office. Apart from the economy, the Government has moved steadfastly to improve the quality of life for ordinary Jamaicans. Although not to everyone's satisfaction, there have been reforms in election procedures, the public service, the police force and in land distribution. Patterson has reintroduced national youth service and launched a campaign for better values and attitudes.

The government has displayed its empathy for the poor with a sizable social investment fund. It has also raised the minimum wage to help close the wide gap between Jamaica's rich and poor. Stark divisions in this society can be traced to a tradition of callous social inequity. That's why Jamaicans are so quick to move elsewhere in the world given the slightest opportunity. More Jamaicans inhabit cities of the North than walk the sunny streets of Kingston. Some say they are searching for a sense of purpose lost in the disparities at home. Their remittances keep many of the urban poor out of trouble.

Others in the harsher sections of the inner cities vent their frustrations mostly on each other. But lately crime seems to be rapidly moving uptown. At the same time, it has come under control in tourist resorts as the Government begins decisively to protect the country's largest foreign exchange earner. Government has also been investing lately in infrastructure improvement and development, anything to make this place more tourist friendly. There have even been gains in environmental protection as well, and eco-tourism is developing rapidly to appeal to a new kind of visitor. Polls in the U.S. show that Americans are most anxious about health care. In Mexicans unemployment is the big issue.

Jamaicans, however, are acutely concerned about crime and violence. A new police commissioner takes over this week with a mandate to put a lid on violent crime. Despite the curbs on inflation, the cost of living here remains high by any standard. Good restaurants have New York prices, designer goods double that, and everywhere you look, Mercedes and BMWs clog the roads. With all their problems, the most irritating issue in Kingston is a product of more well off societies: traffic has become unbearable.