Quarterly Jamaica Diaspora & Returnee Update — | Q3 2003

Quarterly Update | July–September 2003 | Jamaica Homes News

Key Takeaways: Q3 2003 in Six Lines

• North American blackout August 14 plunges Jamaican diaspora hubs into darkness
• Iraq occupation deepens with no end in sight; diaspora opposition hardens
• SARS travel restrictions ease as Toronto Caribbean community cautiously recovers
• Jamaica tourism sector records strongest summer arrivals in three years
• Caribbean cricket achieves mixed results; diaspora fans follow closely
• Returnee consultations intensify as Biennial Conference planning advances

The Great Blackout: 55 Million Without Power Across North America

At approximately 4:11 pm on August 14, 2003, a cascade failure in the North American power grid plunged 55 million people across the northeastern United States and parts of Canada into darkness. New York City, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit and Ottawa were among the major cities affected, and the outage — the largest in North American history — lasted between hours and days depending on location. For the Jamaican diaspora communities concentrated in New York’s outer boroughs, in Toronto’s Scarborough and Jane-Finch neighbourhoods, and in other affected cities, the blackout was an immediate and disorienting experience.

In New York, where memories of the 1977 blackout and its associated looting remain part of community history, the 2003 event was handled with remarkable calm. Community radio stations that maintained emergency power stayed on air, providing information and a point of connection for isolated residents. In neighbourhoods with large Jamaican populations — the Bronx, Flatbush, Crown Heights, Jamaica in Queens — the informal mutual aid networks that characterise diaspora community life activated quickly: people checked on elderly neighbours, shared food from refrigerators that would soon warm, and gathered on stoops and street corners in the warm summer evening with the pragmatic sociability that is a hallmark of Caribbean community culture.

The blackout, which lasted less than 24 hours in most affected areas, had limited lasting economic impact. But it prompted renewed attention to the vulnerability of North American infrastructure and, for the diaspora community, a particular awareness of how disruption to communication and transport systems affects people’s ability to stay connected to family across borders. Several community organisations used the blackout’s aftermath to promote emergency communication planning — ensuring families had agreed protocols for contact in the event of infrastructure failure.

Iraq: An Occupation Without a Clear Exit

The summer of 2003 has confirmed that the swift military victory declared by President Bush on May 1 — beneath the famous “Mission Accomplished” banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln — was followed not by peace but by the beginning of a grinding and costly occupation. The months of July, August and September have seen a sustained insurgency develop across Iraq, with US and British military casualties mounting weekly. The bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad on August 19, which killed 22 people including UN Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello, marked a devastating escalation and signalled that no institution — not even the UN, which had opposed the war — was beyond the reach of the violence.

For the Jamaican-British community, which participated in the February 2003 anti-war demonstrations in overwhelming numbers, the summer has brought grim confirmation of their predictions about the post-invasion period. The Blair government’s credibility has been severely damaged by the Hutton Inquiry into the death of Dr. David Kelly, the government weapons expert who died in July 2003 after being identified as the source for a BBC report alleging that the government’s dossier on Iraqi WMD had been “sexed up.” The inquiry has exposed the inner workings of Downing Street’s communications apparatus and has deepened public scepticism about the honesty of Blair’s case for war.

Toronto Recovers from SARS; Caribbean Community Rebuilds

The SARS outbreak that struck Toronto in the spring of 2003 — the most severe outside Asia — has now largely subsided, with the World Health Organisation removing Toronto from its list of SARS-affected areas in July. The outbreak, which killed 44 people in Canada and caused enormous disruption to the city’s economy, had a disproportionate impact on communities concentrated in the healthcare sector, including a significant number of Jamaican-Canadian nurses, cleaners and care workers in the affected hospitals. Several community members were quarantined, and the anxiety within the Jamaican-Canadian community during the peak of the outbreak was intense.

Toronto’s recovery has been rapid and the summer has seen a return of normal activity in the city’s Caribbean communities. The annual Caribbean Carnival — Caribana — was held in late July and early August, providing a much-needed moment of collective celebration after the fear and disruption of the spring. Attendance was lower than in previous years, reflecting both lingering caution about large gatherings and the economic impact of the SARS period on many community members’ finances. But the festival’s staging was itself seen as an act of communal resilience, a declaration that Caribbean culture in Toronto is not diminished by adversity.

Jamaica Tourism: Best Summer in Three Years

Jamaica’s tourism sector has recorded its strongest summer arrivals in three years, with visitor numbers from North America and Europe recovering significantly from the post-September 11 slump and the broader travel disruption of 2002 and early 2003. The Jamaica Tourist Board has reported particular growth in repeat visitors from the United States — a market that is most sensitive to security perceptions in Jamaica and that had shown the steepest decline after the terror attacks. The north coast remains the primary destination, with Montego Bay and Ocho Rios leading in hotel occupancy, but the south coast and rural Jamaica are also seeing growing interest from a traveller demographic that wants a more authentic experience beyond the all-inclusive resort.

For the diaspora, a strong tourism sector matters in multiple ways. It supports employment for family members on the island, creates demand for the kind of property investment — villas, apartments, guesthouses — that many diaspora members have made or are considering, and generates foreign exchange that supports Jamaica’s broader macroeconomic stability. Tourism’s vulnerability to external shocks — as demonstrated by 9/11 and SARS — also reinforces diaspora arguments for a more diversified economic base, a theme likely to feature prominently in the 1st Biennial’s economic development working groups.

Remittances: Sustained Strength Through the Quarter

Remittance flows to Jamaica have remained strong through the third quarter of 2003, consistent with the multi-year trend of growth that has made diaspora financial transfers the island’s most reliable source of foreign exchange. Money transfer operators serving the UK-Jamaica, US-Jamaica and Canada-Jamaica corridors have reported steady volumes, and the progressive reduction in transfer fees — driven by competition and advocacy — has meant that families on the island are receiving more per dollar sent than at any previous point. The Bank of Jamaica is expected to confirm another record year for total remittances when full-year data is compiled.

Returnee and Investment News: Biennial Planning Accelerates

The formal announcement expected in the final months of 2003 of the 1st Biennial Jamaica Diaspora Conference for June 2004 has already begun to generate momentum in diaspora investment circles. Property agents in Kingston and on the north coast report increased levels of serious enquiry from diaspora buyers — enquiries that have moved beyond the exploratory to the specific, with potential buyers asking detailed questions about title, planning permissions, management options and mortgage availability. The sense that the Biennial will provide a framework for investment that did not previously exist has encouraged people who had been waiting to commit to take concrete steps.

Returnee networking within diaspora communities has also intensified. In London, informal gatherings of Jamaicans who have already returned and are visiting relatives in the UK, or of those who have made the decision to return within the next 12 to 24 months, are providing peer-to-peer intelligence that no official publication can replicate. The practical detail of life as a returnee — which parishes are safe, which contractors are reliable, how to navigate the bureaucracy of property transfer, what the real cost of living looks like month to month — circulates in these networks with an informality and honesty that official investment promotion material cannot match. This community of returnees and near-returnees is, increasingly, a critical part of the diaspora’s infrastructure for sustainable re-engagement with Jamaica.

Jamaica Diaspora & Returnee Quarterly Update — Edition 93, covering July to September 2003. Published by Jamaica Homes News on 2 October 2003.

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