ndependence (1962)

Main article: Independence of Jamaica

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall during a visit to Jamaica in 2008
Jamaica slowly gained increasing independence from the United Kingdom. In 1958,
it became a province in the Federation of the West Indies, a federation among th
e British West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence by leaving the federat
ion in 1962.
Sndependence (1962)
Main article: Independence of Jamaica
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall during a visit to Jamaica in 2008
Jamaica slowly gained increasing independence from the United Kingdom. In 1958,
it became a province in the Federation of the West Indies, a federation among th
e British West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence by leaving the federat
ion in 1962.
Strong economic growth, averaging approximately 6% per annum, marked the first t
en years of independence under conservative Jamaica Labour Party governments; th
ey were led successively by Prime Ministers Alexander Bustamante, Donald Sangste
r and Hugh Shearer. The growth was fueled by strong private investments in bauxi
te/alumina, tourism, the manufacturing industry and, to a lesser extent, the agr
icultural sector.
The optimism of the first decade was accompanied by a growing sense of inequalit
y among many Afro-Jamaicans, and a concern that the benefits of growth were not
being shared by the urban poor.[citation needed] Combined with the effects of a
slowdown in the global economy in 1970,[citation needed] the voters elected the
PNP (People's National Party) in 1972. They tried to implement more socially equ
itable policies in education and health, but the economy suffered under their le
adership. By 1980, trong economic growth, averaging approximately 6% per annum,
marked the first ten years of independence under conservative Jamaica Labour Par
ty governments; they were led successively by Prime Ministers Alexander Bustaman
te, Donald Sangster and Hugh Shearer. The growth was fueled by strong private in
vestments in bauxite/alumina, tourism, the manufacturing industry and, to a less
er extent, the agricultural sector.
The optimism of the first decade was accompanied by a growing sense of inequalit
y among many Afro-Jamaicans, and a concern that the benefits of growth were not
being shared by the urban poor.[citation needed] Combined with the effects of a
slowdown in the global economy in 1970,[citation needed] the voters elected the
PNP (People's National Party) in 1972. They tried to implement more socially equ
itable policies in education and health, but the economy suffered under their le
adership. By 1980, ndependence (1962)
Main article: Independence of Jamaica
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall during a visit to Jamaica in 2008
Jamaica slowly gained increasing independence from the United Kingdom. In 1958,
it became a province in the Federation of the West Indies, a federation among th
e British West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence by leaving the federat
ion in 1962.
Strong economic growth, averaging approximately 6% per annum, marked the first t
en years of independence under conservative Jamaica Labour Party governments; th
ey were led successively by Prime Ministers Alexander Bustamante, Donald Sangste
r and Hugh Shearer. The growth was fueled by strong private investments in bauxi
te/alumina, tourism, the manufacturing industry and, to a lesser extent, the agr
icultural sector.
The optimism of the first decade was accompanied by a growing sense of inequalit
y among many Afro-Jamaicans, and a concern that the benefits of growth were not
being shared by the urban poor.[citation needed] Combined with the effects of a
slowdown in the global economy in 1970,[citation needed] the voters elected the
PNP (People's National Party) in 1972. They tried to implement more socially equ
itable policies in education and health, but the economy suffered under their le
adership. By 1980, ndependence (1962)
Main article: Independence of Jamaica
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall during a visit to Jamaica in 2008
Jamaica slowly gained increasing independence from the United Kingdom. In 1958,
it became a province in the Federation of the West Indies, a federation among th
e British West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence by leaving the federat
ion in 1962.
Strong economic growth, averaging approximately 6% per annum, marked the first t
en years of independence under conservative Jamaica Labour Party governments; th
ey were led successively by Prime Ministers Alexander Bustamante, Donald Sangste
r and Hugh Shearer. The growth was fueled by strong private investments in bauxi
te/alumina, tourism, the manufacturing industry and, to a lesser extent, the agr
icultural sector.
The optimism of the first decade was accompanied by a growing sense of inequalit
y among many Afro-Jamaicans, and a concern that the benefits of growth were not
being shared by the urban poor.[citation needed] Combined with the effects of a
slowdown in the global economy in 1970,[citation needed] the voters elected the
PNP (People's National Party) in 1972. They tried to implement more socially equ
itable policies in education and health, but the economy suffered under their le
adership. By 1980, Independence (1962)
Main article: Independence of Jamaica
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall during a visit to Jamaica in 2008
Jamaica slowly gained increasing independence from the United Kingdom. In 1958,
it became a province in the Federation of the West Indies, a federation among th
e British West Indies. Jamaica attained full independence by leaving the federat
ion in 1962.
Strong economic growth, averaging approximately 6% per annum, marked the first t
en years of independence under conservative Jamaica Labour Party governments; th
ey were led successively by Prime Ministers Alexander Bustamante, Donald Sangste
r and Hugh Shearer. The growth was fueled by strong private investments in bauxi
te/alumina, tourism, the manufacturing industry and, to a lesser extent, the agr
icultural sector.
The optimism of the first decade was accompanied by a growing sense of inequalit
y among many Afro-Jamaicans, and a concern that the benefits of growth were not
being shared by the urban poor.[citation needed] Combined with the effects of a
slowdown in the global economy in 1970,[citation needed] the voters elected the
PNP (People's National Party) in 1972. They tried to implement more socially equ
itable policies in education and health, but the economy suffered under their le
adership. By 1980, Jamaica's gross national product had declined to some 25% bel
ow the 1972 level. Due to rising foreign and local debt, accompanied by large fi
scal deficits, the government sought International Monetary Fund (IMF) financing
from the United States and others.
Economic deterioration continued into the mid-1980s, exacerbated by a number of
factors. The first and third largest alumina producers, Alpart and Alcoa, closed
, and there was a significant reduction in production by the second-largest prod
ucer, Alcan. Reynolds Jamaica Mines, Ltd. left the Jamaican industry. There was
also a decline in tourism, which was important to the economy.
Independence, however widely celebrated in Jamaica, has been questioned in the e
arly 21st century. In 2011, a survey showed that approximately 60% of Jamaicans
would prefer to become a British territory again, citing as problems years of so
cial and fiscal mismanagement in the country.[33][34]
Government and politics
Main article: Politics of Jamaica
Further information: Foreign relations of Jamaica and Republicanism in Jamaica
Inside the Jamaican Parliament
Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, with Queen Eli
zabeth II serving as the Jamaican monarch.[35] As Elizabeth II is shared as head
of state of fifteen other countries and resides mostly in the United Kingdom, s
he is thus often represented as Queen of Jamaica in Jamaica and abroad by the Go
vernor-General of Jamaica.[36]
The governor-general is nominated by the Prime Minister of Jamaica and the entir
e Cabinet and appointed by the monarch. All the members of the Cabinet are appoi
nted by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister. The monarch an
d the governor-general serve largely ceremonial roles, apart from their reserve
powers for use in certain constitutional crisis situations.
Jamaica's current constitution was drafted in 1962 by a bipartisan joint committ
ee of the Jamaican legislature. It came into force with the Jamaica Independence
Act, 1962 of the United Kingdom parliament, which gave Jamaica independence.
The Parliament of Jamaica is bicameral, consisting of the House of Representativ
es (Lower House) and the Senate (Upper House). Members of the House (known as Me
mbers of Parliament or MPs) are directly elected, and the member of the House of
Representatives who, in the governor-general's best judgement, is best able to
command the confidence of a majority of the members of that House, is appointed
by the governor-general to be the prime minister. Senators are nominated jointly
by the prime minister and the parliamentary Leader of the Opposition and are th
en appointed by the governor-general.
Political culture
Jamaica has traditionally had a two-party system, with power often alternating b
etween the People's National Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The par
ty with current administrative and legislative power is the Jamaica Labour Party
, with a one-seat parliamentary majority as of 2016. There are also several mino
r parties who have yet to gain a seat in parliament; the largest of these is the
National Democratic Movement (NDM).
Administrative divisions
Main article: Parishes of Jamaica
Jamaica is divided into 14 parishes, which are grouped into three historic count
ies that have no administrative relevance.
Cornwall County Capital km2 Middlesex County Capital
km2 Surrey County Capital km2
1 Hanover Lucea 450 6 Clarendon May Pen
1,196 11 Kingston Kingston 25
2 Saint Elizabeth Black River 1,212 7 Manchester
Mandeville 830 12 Portland Port Antonio 814
3 Saint James Montego Bay 595 8 Saint Ann St. Ann'
s Bay 1,213 13 Saint Andrew Half Way Tree 453
4 Trelawny Falmouth 875 9 Saint Catherine
Spanish Town 1,192 14 Saint Thomas Morant Bay 743
5 Westmoreland Savanna-la-Mar 807 10 Saint Mary Port Mar
ia 611 Water supply and sanitation
Main article: Water supply and sanitation in Jamaica
Water supply and sanitation is characterized by high levels of access to an impr
oved water source, while access to adequate sanitation stands at only 80%. This
situation affects especially the poor, including the urban poor many of which li
ve in the country's over 595 unplanned squatter settlements in unhealthy and uns
anitary environments with a high risk of waterborne disease. Despite a number of
policy papers that were mainly focused on water supply and despite various proj
ects funded by external donors, increases in access have remained limited (1% fo
r water and 5% for sanitation between 1990 and 2004).
The responsibility for water and sanitation policies within the government rests
with the Ministry of Water and Housing, and the main service provider is the Na
tional Water Commission. An autonomous regulatory agency, the Office of Utilitie
s Regulation, approves tariffs and establishes targets for efficiency increases.
Communication
Main article: Telecommunications in Jamaica
Jamaica has a fully digital telephone communication system with a mobile penetra
tion of over 95%.[122]
The country's two mobile operators FLOW Jamaica (formerly LIME, bMobile and Cabl
e and Wireless Jamaica) and Digicel Jamaica have spent millions in network upgra
des and expansion. The newest operator, Digicel was granted a licence in 2001 to
operate mobile services in the newly liberalised telecom market that had once b
een the sole domain of the incumbent FLOW (then Cable and Wireless Jamaica) mono
poly. Digicel opted for the more widely used GSM wireless system, while a past o
perator, Oceanic (which became Claro Jamaica and later merged with Digicel Jamai
ca in 2011) opted for the CDMA standard. FLOW (formerly "LIME" pre-Columbus Comm
unications merger) which had begun with TDMA standard, subsequently upgraded to
GSM in 2002, decommissioned TDMA in 2006 and only utilised that standard until 2
009 when LIME launched its 3G network.[123] Both operators currently provide isl
andwide coverage with HSPA+ (3G) technology. Currently, only Digicel offers LTE
to its customers [124] whereas FLOW Jamaica has committed to launching LTE in th
e cities of Kingston and Montego Bay, places where Digicel's LTE network is curr
ently only found in, in short order.
A new entrant to the Jamaican communications market, Flow Jamaica, laid a new su
bmarine cable connecting Jamaica to the United States. This new cable increases
the total number of submarine cables connecting Jamaica to the rest of the world
to four. Cable and Wireless Communications (parent company of LIME) acquired th
e company in late 2014 and replaced their brand LIME with FLOW.[125] FLOW Jamaic
a currently has the most broadband and cable subscribers on the island and also
has 1 million mobile subscribers,[126] second to Digicel (which had, at its peak
, over 2 Million mobile subscriptions on its network).
Digicel entered the broadband market in 2010 by offering WiMAX broadband,[127] c
apable of up to 6 Mbit/s per subscriber. To further their broadband share post-L
IME/FLOW merger in 2014, the company introduced a new broadband service called D
igicel Play,[128] which is Jamaica's second FTTH offering (after LIME's deployme
nt in selected communities in 2011[129]). It is currently only available in the
parishes of Kingston, Portmore and St. Andrew. It offers speeds of up to 200 Mbi
t/s down, 100 Mbit/s up via a pure fibre optic network. Digicel's competitor, FL
OW Jamaica, has a network consisting of ADSL, Coaxial and Fibre to the Home (inh
erited from LIME) and only offers speeds up to 100 Mbit/s. FLOW has committed to
expanding its Fibre offering to more areas in order to combat Digicel's entranc
e into the market.
It was announced that the Office and Utilities Regulations (OUR), Ministry of Sc
ience, Technology, Energy and Mining (MSTEM) and the Spectrum Management Authori
ty (SMA) have given approval for another mobile operator licence in January 2016
.[130] The identity of this entrant was ascertained on May 20, 2016, when the Ja
maican Government named the new carrier as Symbiote Investments Limited operatin
g under the name Caricel.[131] The company will focus on 4G LTE data offerings a
nd will first go live in the Kingston Metropolitan Area and will expand to the r
est of Jamaica thereafter.
See also
Index of Jamaica-related articles
Outline of Jamaica
Nuvola Jamaican flag.svgJamaica portal Caribbean map blank.pngCaribbean port
al Flag of CARICOM.svgCaribbean Community portal Commonwealth Realms map2.pngCom
monwealth realms portal
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