April 2011
Your Positive Connection To Jamaica
Investing in Jamaica I – Jampro event London. The 17th of March saw three members of Jamaica’s Parliament, two High Commissioners and others gather together for a day of talking. Brand Jamaica was the main theme. Setting out all the reasons to invest in Jamaica at this time was an objective. Now is a unique time to be advertising Brand Jamaica. As everyone knows, the 50th Independence Day coincides with the Olympics. Puma are already covering Manhattan billboards with Jamaica branded training shoes. And Jampro has its “Meet Jamaica 2012” campaign. Investors are now very keen on items where Jamaica’s quality really counts. Like cocoa, Blue Mountain coffee, honey. Or like hotels that are flexible enough to deal with individuals’ particular needs. Quality and “value added” are so vital.
Issue 6
There is a long pass between “say” an “do” There are people who talk a lot about the things they are going to achieve but actually do nothing in the end; and there are those who say little but do a lot.
Please email your favourite proverbs to: lillalee@bhj-ltd.com
Investing in Jamaica II - BHJ’s Brixton event London, again. Eighty people gathered together on 12 April to hear about owning property in Jamaica. ‘The Woman of Proverbs’ - Lorlett Hudson – chaired a full and stimulating evening at The Brix, in the basement of St Matthew’s church. People came from far and wide, responding to our flyers, hair salon adverts and an article in the weekly Gleaner. Many also came via social media, including Blacknet, Facilitators For a Better Jamaica (FFBJ) and Twitter.
We learnt that Jamaican ginger is so top quality that the Japanese wanted to buy every last piece. Blue Mountain coffee is so top quality and reliable that it never needs to be sampled at the docks. Honey production could double. Leon Hamilton (JN), Lillalee Wright, Barbara Ledgister & Tamoy Carter
Lillalee Wright described how the origins of Bespoke Homes Jamaica lay in the difficulties her mother had experienced in finding the right home, in the right place, at the right time, at the right price. BHJ now had real estate for sale as well. And partnering with others had created an umbrella group – a one-stop Jamaica property shop. Now the Government wants to sell lots of land and some businesses. It might sell at relatively low rates if you have a good project. Tax incentives vary by sector. Certain crops attract no tax for 10 years. ICT has “exemption from taxes on income and profits in perpetuity”. The Jampro website has much more information. The message was “So what’s stopping you?”. As ‘Butch’ Stewart said: “If you want a make money, come to where the rum comes from”.
Vasle Atkinson of Jamaica National Building Society gave a comprehensive description of borrowing (and other financial) options. A similarly wide range of legal issues came from Barbara Ledgister. And Keith Williams of SNL Properties set out options for buying from large developers. The evening ended with a thought-provoking presentation from Sylbourne Sydial, the founder of FFBJ. Two lucky winners went away happy with our door prizes. Written feedback included: “very good event”, “Well organised meeting”, “very good information”. As all the food and drink were finished too, we reckon it was a splendid evening for all.
Bespoke Homes Jamaica Telephone 020 3318 0993 Mobile 077 5157 2691 www.bhj-ltd.com lillalee@bhj-ltd.com
April 2011
Issue 6
Your Positive Connection To Jamaica
Phoning home
Help with high energy prices?
Debate raged about the takeover of Claro by Digicel. Though having only a small share of the market, Claro innovated a lot. We will have to wait and see how far the cell phone user ends up with less choice. Meanwhile, Digicel profits were up 33% in quarter 3 of 2010.
All the world is struggling with oil above US$100 per barrel. Petrol prices in Jamaica are around $100 a litre. Last week the Government helped by cutting ad valorem tax on petrol from 15% to 10%, saving the motorist around $5 a litre. And there are some glimmers of hope on electricity pricing. People are always complaining about the Jamaica Public Service company (JPS). But at the London seminar (see p. 1), the head of JPS – Damian Obiglio – stressed some positive pointers. For example, he is proposing a Liquid Natural Gas plant that will help cut costs. And JPS has already announced that it will borrow US$208.7m this year to fund capital investment, much of it for the hydro-electric plant being built at Maggoty, St Elizabeth. Again, operating costs will fall.
Jamaica’s telecoms infrastructure saw plenty of good news. There was completion of the nationwide SuperWiFi broadband network by the Portland-based company, Dekal Wireless. The service is now available across 30 urban areas, with roaming possible via the integrated network. A major fibre-optic cable that is linking Cuba to Venezuela via Jamaica reached St Ann a few weeks ago. As part of the deal, LIME will generate new income for Jamaica by carrying voice and data traffic from Cuba to Europe. All the cabling should be completed by June. And LIME completed its regional east-west cable, linking the island to the British Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic. This will do much to cope with the expected growth in internet use.
What about solar energy? Damian Lynn is intent on promoting solar energy use. He leads Alternative Power Sources, a company that supplies housing developments with various energy solutions. And he’s president of the Jamaica Solar Energy Association. As Mr Lynn said: “Renewable energy is the way forward. It is a growing market. While the amount of money needed to implement energy conservation projects is high, the long run paybacks are worth it.” (Reporter: Christopher T. Taylor)
Letter From Jamaica
Lesser Known Facts According to the Guinness Book of Records, Jamaica has the most "churches" per square mile of any country in the world. And the figure of more than 1,600 is still growing.
BHJ recently started sending a Letter From Jamaica – from our Spanish Town base to our friends & colleagues in England. Each weekend when there’s no BHJ Newsletter, we will try to send a Letter, to look at a topic in a fuller but more lighthearted way. So far we have covered the UK-Jamaica Investment Seminar, Crime, and Building Jamaica. Register for your Letter From Jamaica at www.bhj-ltd.com
Bespoke Homes Jamaica Telephone 020 3318 0993 Mobile 077 5157 2691 www.bhj-ltd.com lillalee@bhj-ltd.com
April 2011
Your Positive Connection To Jamaica
Issue 6
Focusing on St Thomas
Mending the Mangroves
Each issue of BHJ News focuses on a parish. Last month we had St Ann and now it is St Thomas.
Portland Bight, Clarendon attracted much attention in February on World Wetlands Day.
St Thomas is the birthplace of Paul Bogle, one of the seven National Heroes. He led the Morant Bay Rebellion in 1865, to demonstrate against the treatment of ex-slaves. Bogle was in touch with William Gordon, who raised matters in Parliament. Both were executed in October 1865.
The Mocho Community Development Association and five other groups replanted 200 mangrove trees in the Salt River community. The project in the Burial Ground area aims to revive the lost biodiversity of the degraded mangroves caused by hurricanes Ivan and Dean. Most funding came from the Global Environment Facility – part of the UN’s response to Global Warming. Referring to Portland Bight, Hyacinth Douglas of GEF said it has “... significant value for the country. Notably, there is a range of fish species, extensive fish life and several small cays. This will help uplift the livelihood of rural vulnerable people.”
Paul Bogle & Morant Bay PC building
Jamaica’s two other specially protected areas are Black River Lower Morass and the Palisadoes . (Reporter: Christopher T. Taylor)
While five parishes cover a smaller area than St Thomas, only three have a smaller population. At the 2001 Census, St Thomas had 91,600 people. Facebook members may like to follow the community group, St Thomas, Jamaica Revitalization.
Eating Home Grown Minister of Agriculture Christopher Tufton recently repeated his call for people to ‘Grow what we eat. Eat what we grow.’ With UN backing, the $17.2 million campaign, partly funded by the EU, aims to increase local production while encouraging local consumers to make healthy choices by eating local produce. New figures from the SIJ showed earnings from non-traditional exports increasing by 55 per cent, from US$342m in 2005 to US$530m in 2009. Within that total, earnings growth for some of the key products saw yam increase 60%, papaya 36%, sauces 68% and baked products 62%. (Reporter: Christopher T. Taylor)
(Port Royal mangroves pictured)
Mending the Roads Good news for motorists and tourists alike, as the National Works Agency gets ready to begin a new series of road patching across the island. Trelawny and St Thomas will see some major gains – especially Falmouth to Springvale and Morant Bay to Cedar Valley. Several urban centres will also gain. There has already been good progress to rehabilitate a range of local roads from the US$400-million Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme. These include road rehabilitation, retaining walls and river training works.
Bespoke Homes Jamaica Telephone 020 3318 0993 Mobile 077 5157 2691 www.bhj-ltd.com lillalee@bhj-ltd.com
April 2011
Your Positive Connection To Jamaica
Shining Light for Economy? JPS recently funded the promotion of 12 small Jamaican companies at the International Food and Drink Expo in Birmingham. Under a deal that is part of Jampro’s Meet Jamaica 2012 programme, JPS will pay between £20,000 and £2.6m to enable the companies to market their products in Britain. Honeykist Apiaries and Pedro Plains Jamaica Jerk were among the beneficiaries. Good news for other products with high “value added” includes Jamaican cigar manufacturing. Adduci Cigars has signed a deal to acquire the Royal Jamaica brand. The deal involves the acquisition of a factory in May Pen, to enable production to be brought back from the Dominican Republic. Joseph Adduci sees much potential in Jamaican cigars. He plans to employ 3,000 Jamaicans, as he takes Royal Jamaica from its current 70 countries to his target of 200. Meanwhile, Noranda Aluminium has just completed a US$8m port expansion at its Discovery Bay bauxite facility. Output will increase 20%. The Government was supported by US law firm Baker & McKenzie for its financial reform plans that aim to make Jamaica an investment centre. The incentives were “almost second to none”.
Jamaica Heritage and Other Things Find that book on Jamaica culture, heritage & other things Jamaican on 07812 591 080 - or: www.promotingourheritage.co.uk
Facilitators For a Better Jamaica FFBJ for news, debate, events and much, much more On Facebook: Facilitators FB Jamaica
Issue 6
BHJ – “Practical Property Solutions for Your Safe Passage to Jamaica” Here at Bespoke Homes Jamaica we bring only positive news. There is too much bad news around. Let’s celebrate our heritage, our “now” and our future. Let’s work for a better Jamaica - a better future for all of us.
Opportunities in St Thomas Pictured below is one of our “For Sale” properties. Currently commercial use plus a one-bed flat & garage, it could easily be converted to be fully residential. An ideal opportunity for someone who wants to develop a property.
Yallahs, St Thomas - J$8m The Yallahs property can also be bought as a package including a nearby bar (overlooking the sea) & lounge, plus planning for a 32-room guesthouse. On the market for J$22m, if bought with the first property you might negotiate a deal.
Bespoke Homes Jamaica Practical Property Solutions for Your Safe Passage to Jamaica www.bhj-ltd.com info@bhj-ltd.com 020 3318 0993 Follow BHJ on Facebook and Twitter For instant news, follow us on: www.facebook.com : Bespoke Homes Jamaica http://twitter.com/BespokeHJamaica
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Please comment to The Editor, S Taylor: stuart@bhj-ltd.com
Bespoke Homes Jamaica Telephone 020 3318 0993 Mobile 077 5157 2691 www.bhj-ltd.com lillalee@bhj-ltd.com