Orville W. Taylor, Contributor
APART FROM this being my mother's 80th birthday and thus a celebration of the beginnings of the trouble that I am causing among the hypocrites, May is one of the most important months in our history.
Indeed as we speak, history is being made in May. Just this month, Justice Bryan Sykes handed down a judgment nullifying the permission given by our misnomered National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), for construction of the Bahía Príncipe hotel in Peartree Bottom, Runaway Bay, St. Ann.
It is a solid judgement and no 'Psyches'. He ruled that the vanguard of our national resources and, therefore, our very physical existence, NEPA, had failed to adhere to the required standards for evaluating the impact of the project. In quick defence, rookie Spanish Ambassador, Jesús Silva Fernandez, noted that the reason for the quashing of the NEPA-granted permit was for a breach of the procedure in granting it and not because the hotel was actually endangering the environment.
NEPA DROPPED THE BALLS
Well, only time will tell, but a lot of Jamaican environmentalists don't share that view. NEPA has 'dropped the balls' on several occasions. Some noted examples are Nightingale Grove, the proposed cemetery in Burnt Ground, Hanover, and the improper management of the crocodile population in Greater Portmore. According to environmental advocates, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as many other cases of the agency's dereliction of duty will come to light and to court.
Pat Francis, outgoing president of our investment-seeking body, JAMPRO, was visibly upset over the judgement and kept lamenting the lack of seriousness about foreign investment.
Now, whether it is JAMPRO or the disappearing Jamaican turkey buzzard that it sounds like, there is no dead meat to eat in Jamaica's procuring foreign investment. It is never investment at all costs, especially since we don't own the land of wood and water, but we borrow it from our grandchildren. True, we welcome foreign investment but it must come sensitive to our larger developmental goals.
Furthermore, the Spanish do not have a historically-good record when it comes to non-white people. Despite having the same first name as our Lord, the ambassador's surname is pronounced like the 30 pieces of metal for which one of the persons closest to him sold him out. Somebody in Jamaica betrayed the interest of future generations.
While I doubt that His Excellency is racist, prejudiced or unfair, it must be noted that he is here to ensure and protect Spanish interests, whether or not they coincide with ours. In any event, my sense of history makes me nervous of the second coming of the Spanish.
Despite having a black co-navigator, Alonzo Pietro, Christopher Columbus reportedly 'discovered' Jamaica and set off one of the biggest acts of genocide in history. Landing in Jamaica in May 1494, just a few miles away from the hotel site, he set the stage for the expatriation and enslavement of our African ancestors and the annihilation of the indigenous population.
CRUELTY
With a cruelty that can only be described as barbaric, Columbus and his Spanish colleagues used to play vile games such as the beheading of 'Indians' with one swipe of the sword. The poor Tainos were so completely exterminated that they only survive on our coat of arms. So little is known of them, that for 500 years, we thought that they were Arawaks.
By the way, did you know that their dogs were barkless and were called 'Alcos?' Maybe the confusion was caused because small dogs normally yelp, "Arawak, Arawak," when struck or in sudden pain.
Still, there might have been some rationale for the anti-colour behaviour of the Spaniards. Though they are somewhat embarrassed about it, the Spanish people were conquered by the black Moors, from around 711 A.D. to the middle of the 1200s. Their expulsion was not complete until 1492, the same year Columbus set sail on his first voyage. During the first 80 years of Moroccan occupation, the Spanish were allegedly required to hand over 100 white virgins per year as tribute. This horrendous act would not only put ants in the white milk but ultimately led to the creaming of the black coffee in North Africa.
Most importantly, it produced deep-seated mutual resentment, as the Spaniards were brutal in their retaliation and ultimate routing and 'deportation' of the Moors. Since then, there has not been much to impress regarding black-white relations in the Latin world, and the treatment of black people has been the worst of all the European conquerors. Indeed, much has been written about the hidden African presence in Latin America. By the way, did you know that the only former Spanish colony in Africa is Equatorial Guinea? They have a population of 530,000 and their official language is Spanish.
SIGNIFICANCE OF MAY
Anyway, on the topic of independence and nationalism, May is significant to other former Spanish colonies. Mexicans and others in solidarity, celebrate the fifth of May (Cinco de Mayo) because of the repelling of an invading French army in the Puebla Region in1862. Incidentally, the first non-'Indian' to explore that region was the freed African slave, Esteban. He was killed in May 1539.
May is also the month when we dispensed with Empire Day, Queen Victoria's birthday and replaced it with our own Labour Day. Since 1972, it has become a source of national pride and cleaning up of the environment. Our theme this year was protecting the environment. Whether in English or Spanish, "Me llamo Jamaica!"
On a sad note, on Thursday we lost Desmond Dekker, the first Jamaican who sold a gold record and placed Jamaica on the music map in 1969. Poor mi Isrealite, aha!
Dr. Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona.
