Will Jamaica Self-Destruct? Essay -- essays papers

Will Jamaica Self-Destruct?Jamaica is an island paradise, located in the northerly Caribbean, approximately 145 km south of Cuba and 160 km west of Haiti, with a population of about 2,553,600 unrivalled thousand million people in 1997 and a land area of 11,000 km/sq. The country has had a low and bulletproof population growth rate of 1.0 percent in 1997. Tourism is Jamaicas most important industry besides the mining of bauxite (accounts for more than half of exports). It is the countrys largest foreign exchange earner, (generating approximately US$965 million annually) and is still one of its fastest growing industries. These profitable service industries matter on the island and its inhering beautypure air, abundant sunshine, and clean light-haired beaches. This industry is evidence to the close relationship between economic intimately being and the quality of the natural environment. You aint gonna miss your water, until your rise runs dry.No matter how you treat him, The man will never be satisfied. (Bob Marley, 1980)Tourism is twain Jamaicas largest foreign exchange earner and one of its fastest growing industries. A recent environmental study accredited by the Organization of American States (OAS) surveyed the natural resource base (which supports tourism) and think that this base is heavily stressed in and around the three briny tourist centers (Negril, Montego Bay, and Ocho Rios). The problem is that these areas now support large populations of tourists with high-income lifestyles and these impacts harm both the environment and the people of Jamaica. It could also spoil Jamaica and lead to its own ravaging of the land and its deeply engrained culture and roots.Jamaicas natural resourcestropical temperatures, secure beaches, clear C... ...conomy, R 062059Z, July 1994.Government of Jamaica, Organization of American States, Economic epitome of Tourism in Jamaica, September 1994. Also, visit the web sight http//www.oas.orgwellness Analysis, C ountry Health Data of Jamaica, last revised10/19/99, http//www.paho.org/english/sha/prifljam.html.Myers, Fletcher & Morgan, A lawyers Guide to Jamaica, no date, http//hg.org/guide-jamaica.html , 4/2/00.Seagrasses Policy and Regulation natural Resources Conservation Authority Coastal Zone Management Division, April, 1996, http//www.nrca.org, 4/6/00.Water Resources Authority, display 10, 2000, http//www.wra-ja.org/index.htm , 4/2/00.U.S. Department of State, Background Notes Jamaica, March 1998. Released by the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs. No author, U.S. Department of State, March 1998, http//www.state.gov/www/background_notes/jamaica_0398_bgn.html